TANGED AND SOCKETED DAGGERS, OR SPEAR-HEADS, HALBERDS, AND MACES.
BEFORE passing to the leaf-shaped swords, which would seem naturally
to follow in order after the blades last described, it will be well to
notice two sets of weapons which, though in many respects identical
with daggers, may in the one case have served as spear-heads, and in
the other most probably as the blades of battle-axes or halberds. To
the first of these two classes the term “Arreton Down type” has been
conventionally applied, as it was in the hoard found at that place that
the largest proportion of such weapons occurred; and, indeed, until
that discovery the type appears to have been unknown.
The tanged blades are still rare, but have now been found in several
other places besides the Isle of Wight. The centre of the blade is
usually thick and strong, showing a central ridge and having the sides
more or less decorated with flutings or lines where the metal is
reduced in thickness. The tang, unlike that of the daggers described
at the beginning of the last chapter, is long and narrow, and tapers
away from the blade. At its end is a hole for a rivet or pin. In one
instance a ferrule was found upon the blade, as will be seen in Fig.
324. This figure is copied from that in the _Archæologia_[959] which is
taken from a drawing made in 1737 by Sir Charles Frederick. Upon the
ferrule are a number of raised bosses in imitation of rivets, but there
seems to be no rivet-hole in the ferrule itself, though there is one in
the end of the tang of the blade with the rivet still in it.
Accounts of the discovery of this and other weapons at Arreton Down,
near Newport, in the Isle of Wight, were communicated to the Society of
Antiquaries in the years 1735 and 1737, and the latter has been printed
by Mr. A. W. Franks, F.R.S.[960] At least sixteen articles were found
in a marl-pit, and they are said to have been arranged in a regular
order. Of these, nine were of this tanged type, but varying in details.
[Illustration: Fig. 324.—Arreton Down. ½]
[Illustration: Fig. 325.—Stratford-le-Bow. ½]
One (Fig. 328) was provided with a socket; two were dagger blades,
already mentioned (one of which is given in Fig. 306), and four were
flanged celts, like Fig. 8, but varying in size. Six specimens from
this hoard are now in the British Museum. Mr. Franks, in the paper
already mentioned, regards these tanged weapons as spear-heads, and
is I think right in so doing; the blades, however, present such close
analogies with the daggers from the Wiltshire barrows, and the socketed
variety (Fig. 328) is so dagger-like in character, that it is hard to
speak with any degree of confidence upon this point.
In 1855 Mr. Franks observed that the type was quite new to him, but
since that time several other specimens have been found besides those
from Arreton Down. One of these, discovered in the River Lea at
Stratford-le-Bow, Essex, is now in the British Museum, and is shown
in Fig. 325. As will be seen, it has a rounded midrib, with several
parallel grooves on each side of it engraved or punched on the blade.
Some of the weapons from[961] Arreton Down are of nearly the same
description, but the midrib is more ridged, and is ornamented with
rows of engraved or punched dots. One has a double crescent-shaped
line of dots punched in at the base of the blade.
I have a blade (10 inches) of the same form and character, but without
any engraved dots upon it, from Burwell Fen, Cambridge. The parallel
flutings on the blade appear to have been produced in the casting, and
not by engraving or punching. The hole in the tang was also made in
the casting, being irregular in form. It is nowhere less than ¼ inch
in diameter. Another weapon (7⅛ inches) of the same character, but
apparently without any fluting, was found near Newbury,[962] Berks.
[Illustration: Fig. 326.—Matlock. ½]
[Illustration: Fig. 327.—Plymstock. ⅔]
Such blades are of extremely rare occurrence in Ireland, but one (9
inches) closely resembling Fig. 325 was found in the county of West
Meath, and is now in the collection of Mr. Robert Day, F.S.A., of Cork.
A slightly different variety of blade is shown in Fig. 326. It is
ridged along the centre, and has a groove on each side running
parallel to the edge, such as would afford facility for sharpening
the edge by hammering it out. The end of the tang has been broken off
at the hole. This specimen is said to have been found near Matlock,
Derbyshire, and is in my own collection.
One with much broader and deeper grooves on each side of the midrib
(10 inches), found in Swaffham Fen, is in the Museum of the Cambridge
Antiquarian Society.
A nearly similar blade, but with four slight channels on either side
instead of one, is in the museum at Copenhagen, and is said to have
been found in Italy.[963]
Another of these blades, but without any lateral flutings, and in
character similar to Fig. 324, was found near Preston,[964] in the
parish of Plymstock, Devon, and is shown in Fig. 327. It is now in the
British Museum. In this instance, as at Arreton Down, the accompanying
articles were flanged celts like Fig. 9, of which there were sixteen,
and three dagger blades (see Fig. 301). There was also a narrow chisel
(Fig. 190).
Two specimens from Suffolk (8 inches and 10½ inches), one of them
from Hintlesham,[965] formed part of the collection of the late Mr.
Whincopp, and are now in the British Museum.
One of the Arreton Down[966] specimens, without a ferrule, is also
much of this type.
[Illustration: Fig. 328.—Arreton Down. ½]
In the Arreton Down hoard there was a single example of a weapon of
this kind which was provided with a socket for the insertion of a
handle or shaft, instead of having a tang. Fig. 328 is copied from the
engraving published in the _Archæologia_.[967] As will be observed,
the socket part is made to abut on the blade, much after the manner of
a dagger handle, and has cast upon it two bosses in imitation of the
heads of rivets for securing the blade. A weapon (8¼ inches), which
there can hardly be a doubt is the original from which Sir Charles
Frederick made his drawing for the Society of Antiquaries, is now
in Canon Greenwell’s collection, and I know of no other example. It
differs from the socketed knives in the character of the blade, which
is thicker and more highly ornamented, like some of the daggers from
the Wiltshire barrows. Whether it was itself intended to be a dagger,
or whether it was the head of a spear or lance, I will not attempt to
determine.
What has somewhat the appearance of being a weapon of the same
character was found in a moss near Campbeltown,[968] Argyleshire,
together with a bronze sword. It may, however, as already suggested,
be merely a socketed knife.
A very beautiful weapon of this kind is in the museum at Lausanne. The
blade is ornamented somewhat in the same manner as that of Fig. 328.
The socket is shorter and ornamented with parallel rings and bands
of triangles, alternately hatched and plain. There appear to be six
rivets, and what may be termed the hilt has a deep half-oval notch in
it, like that which is common on swords and daggers. The margin of
this notch is decorated with punctured dots. It was, I believe, found
near Sion, Valais, with portions of what may have been the ornaments
of a sheath, and also with a long narrow celt, flanged at the upper
part. The general resemblance between the Swiss and the English
specimens is very remarkable.
An Egyptian[969] blade, with the side edges slightly curved inwards,
and with the socket rather shorter than in Fig. 328, is in the museum
at Boulaq. It is attached to the socket by three rivets.
[Illustration: Fig. 329.—Årup. ⅓]
The second series of blades of which it is proposed to treat in this
chapter are usually from six to sixteen inches long, rather broad at
the base, and not unfrequently curved longitudinally. This latter
circumstance, as well as their shape and weight, proves that some of
these broad blades were not intended for use as daggers; and this being
admitted, it seems to follow that others, which resemble the curved
blades in all respects except their curvature, must be regarded as
belonging to the same class of weapons. What these weapons were may
I think be best shown by some examples from Scandinavia and Northern
Germany, which also show the manner in which similar blades were
attached to their shafts so as to form a kind of halberd or battle-axe.
That which I have selected by way of illustration is one that is
engraved in Dr. Oscar Montelius’ “Sveriges Forntid,”[970] who has
kindly lent me the block of Fig. 329. In this instance the scale
adopted is one-third linear measure. In A is given a view of the upper
end, seen from above, and in B a view from behind the blade, showing
the great projection of the rivet-like knobs. The handle as well as
the blade is in bronze. This specimen was found at Årup, in Scania.
Another is engraved in Lisch’s “Frederico-Francisceum.”[971] It was
found, with two others, at Blengow, near Buckow, Mecklenburg Schwerin,
and is regarded by Lisch as a kind of battle-axe, or possibly as a
“commander’s staff” or bâton of honour. Good examples of the same kind
are in the museums at Malmoe and Kiel, and others have been described
by Klemm.[972] Two have been found near Neu Ruppin. Others are in
the Schwerin Museum. Another, with a separate socket, having three
rivet-like bosses upon it, is in the Berlin Museum.[973] There can be
little doubt that this last-mentioned weapon is a representative of
an earlier form, when the shaft was merely of wood and the transverse
blade was secured in it by means of three rivets. An intermediate
form, in which the blade fits into a kind of open-work bronze socket
for receiving a shaft, is preserved in the Berlin Museum.[974]
[Illustration: Fig. 330.—China. ½]
An instance of the use of an analogous form of weapon in another part
of the world is afforded by some bronze blades from China, of which
one is represented in Fig. 330. For the loan of the original of this
figure I am indebted to Mr. A. W. Franks, F.R.S. As will be readily
seen, the blade is adapted for being attached at nearly a right angle
to a shaft, into which the flat tang behind the stop-ridge would be
inserted, and the blade would then be secured in its position by laces
or straps passing through the slots at the base of the blade. The
antiquity of such weapons in China it is hard to ascertain, but they
probably date back to a period many centuries remote from the present
day.
Several of them are engraved in a Chinese work on antiquities, “The
Golden Study,” to which Mr. H. N. Moseley, F.R.S., has kindly called
my attention. What appear to be bronze spear-heads and swords are
figured in the same work.
A bronze weapon of the same kind, but with a socket, which, like
the blade, is highly ornamented, was found on the Yenissei,[975] in
Siberia. There is the figure of a kind of antelope projecting from the
socket opposite the blade. Another, from Viatka, in Russia, has the
head of an animal in the same position.
An iron weapon with a socket at right angles to the blade, from the
Inwa,[976] Perm, appears to be a halberd of much the same kind.
This form of weapon closely approximates to the Australian
“malga”[977] and to some other wooden weapons in use in New Caledonia.
As it is in Ireland and Scotland that the most characteristic of the
halberd blades have been discovered, it will be well to commence with
the examples from those countries rather than with those from England.
In Fig. 331 is represented a fine specimen of a form not unusual in
Ireland, though the central rib is somewhat more ornamented than is
generally the case. The rivets, as usual, are three in number, and
are still preserved in the blade. In this case they are about ⅜ inch
in diameter and ¾ inch between the heads, which are about ⅝ inch in
diameter and have been carefully hammered into an almost hemispherical
form. The midrib ends abruptly in a straight line where it abutted on
the shaft. The metal appears to have a considerably less proportion
of tin to copper than is usual with bronze weapons. It looks in fact
almost like pure copper.
[Illustration: Fig. 331.—Ireland. ½]
This coppery appearance is by no means uncommon in these blades.
I have another specimen of the same form (9¾ inches), but without
the bead on the midrib. It was found at Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. A
specimen much like Fig. 331 is termed by Vallancey,[978] “the brass
head of a _Tuagh catha_, a general name for the war-axe.” “The large
rivets of this weapon show it was mounted on a very strong shaft.”
Sir W. Wilde has described, under the two distinct headings of “Broad
scythe-shaped Swords,” and “Battle-axes,” the weapons which I have here
classed together. Of the former he mentions forty-one specimens in the
Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, of the latter but two or three.
The “swords”[979] he describes as thick, heavy, and round-pointed,
averaging about 12 inches in length by about 2½ inches in breadth
at the base; twenty-two of the blades being curved. With the strong
blades, however, he classes some which are quite thin and flat, and
which have more the appearance of having been intended for daggers.
The curved shape is much against their having been attached to staves
“spear-ways;” so that Wilde’s other suggestion of the scythe-shaped
swords having been mounted like axes, or “affixed to long handles like
modern halberds,” seems much more reasonable. As to the shorter and
broader blades, whether curved or not, he appears to have had no doubt
of their being a kind of battle-axes.
Wilde has inferred from the large size of the rivets, some being 1½
inches in length and nearly 1 inch across the burr or head, that they
must have been attached to massive metal handles, of which, however,
no fragments have been preserved. If this view had been correct, the
disappearance of the handles would be a remarkable circumstance;
but the large rivets appear rather intended for securing the blades
to wooden shafts, the disappearance of which from ordinary decay is
exactly what might be expected. In one instance there are large conical
washers or broad rings of bronze 1¼ inches in diameter beneath the
rivet-heads, and these in the case of a metal handle would have been
superfluous.
Wilde appears to me to have fallen into another error with respect
to the antiquity of this form of weapon.[980] Arguing from the fact
that many of the specimens are formed either of red bronze or of pure
copper, he thinks it probable that, like the celts of that material,
they are of immense antiquity. And in another place he says that their
antiquity may be gathered from the fact of many being of copper, the
use of which metal invariably preceded that of bronze. As I have
already had occasion to observe, it is perfectly true that many of
these blades have the appearance of being made of copper, but the
absence of tin in their composition has not as yet been proved. Even
were they of pure copper the form and character of the blades show them
to be derivatives from the dagger, as the dagger itself sprang from the
simpler knife; and the cause for using a less proportion of tin, or
indeed none of that metal in them, appears to me to have been the wish
to make them less brittle than if they had been of bronze. A weapon
used as a battle-axe would not be less deadly from having a somewhat
duller cutting edge than if formed of bronze, and should it get bent
in an encounter, the straightening of it might quickly be effected,
while the loss of a blade by its breaking would be irreparable. I
have elsewhere contended that the Hungarian perforated double-ended
axes (like pick-axes) of copper, with but little or no tin in them,
were made of this material, not because tin was unknown, but because
the ductile and malleable copper was found better adapted for certain
purposes than the more fragile bronze. In the same manner copper rather
than brass sets or punches are in use among engineers at the present
day, when an intermediate piece of metal is required to convey the
blows of a hammer to an iron key or other object which would be injured
by receiving the blows direct.
Sir William Wilde, in his Fig. 360, has shown a hollow tube of bronze
as forming the handle of a wide halberd blade; but this juxtaposition
of the two objects has been questioned. Not only are the projecting
spikes upon the tube somewhat inconsistent with its use as a handle,
but from a comparison with some similar objects since discovered there
can be no doubt of the presumed halberd shaft being in reality a
portion of a trumpet.
[Illustration: Fig. 332.—Cavan. ½]
The blade which is figured in connection with this handle was found
near Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, and closely resembles Fig. 332 both in
form and size, being 7⅜ inches long and 8⅝ inches wide at the base, in
which are two rivet-holes and also two notches in the margin. It has
a kind of treble midrib. The blade shown in Fig. 332 has but a single
midrib, but near the edges and following the same curve is a minor
ridge. A section is given at the side of the figure. The original
was found near Cavan, and is in my own collection. From the absence
of rivet-holes it seems doubtful whether it was ever mounted on a
shaft so as to form a complete weapon, unless, indeed, the sharp base
was merely driven into the wood. The metal appears to have a larger
admixture of tin in it than is usual in the scythe-like blades. I am
not aware of the existence of any other specimens of this very broad
form besides the two now mentioned.
A curved blade, of much the same section as Fig. 332, but 15½ inches
long and 3¼ inches broad at the base, found at the foot of Slieve
Kileta Hill, Co. Wexford, is in the British Museum. It has three stout
rivets.
[Illustration: Fig. 333.—Newtown Limavady. ½]
[Illustration: Fig. 334.—Ballygawley. ½]
The long and narrow blade shown in Fig. 333 seems also to belong to
the category of halberds, though the rivet-holes are smaller than
usual, and the blade itself thinner. It is strengthened by a number
of small converging ribs formed in the casting, instead of by a broad
midrib, and is also straight and not curved. The original was found
near Newtown Limavady, Co. Derry, and is in the collection of Canon
Greenwell, F.R.S.
The shorter and much more massive blade shown in Fig. 334 is also
in Canon Greenwell’s collection, and was found at Ballygawley, Co.
Tyrone. It has probably seen much service, as what appear to have been
the original three rivet-holes have in two cases been partly closed
by hammering, while in the third the base of the blade has broken
away. In order to make use of the weapon, three fresh holes have been
drilled rather farther from the base, in which the rivets are still
preserved.
[Illustration: Fig. 335.—Falkland. ½]
[Illustration: Fig. 336.—Stranraer. ¼]
Some of the Irish[981] blades are more rounded than this at the point,
and have been secured to the shafts by four rivets arranged as in Fig.
336. There is also occasionally a shoulder between the blade and the
part let into the handle, as in that from Stranraer.
[Illustration: Fig. 337.—Harbyrnrigge. ½]
[Illustration: Fig. 338.—Shropshire. ¼]
In Fig. 335 is shown another blade much like that from Ballygawley,
but found near Falkland, Fifeshire. The metal appears to be nearly
pure copper, and it is doubtful whether it ever had more than one
rivet-hole, though there are notches for the reception of two besides
the rivet still left in the blade. It would, however, be fairly
secured in its handle by a second rivet in the notch on the left,
while a third at the back of the midrib would prevent the blade from
being driven into its handle by a blow.
In the Antiquarian Museum at Edinburgh are several of these
halberd-like blades, some of them curved. One from Sluie,[982]
Edinkillie, Elginshire, is 11 by 3½ inches, and has four rivet-holes
arranged in a semicircle. It was found with two flat celts. Three
others, from 10 to 13½ inches by 3 inches, were found together at
Kingarth,[983] Bute. They are described as of reddish bronze.
The original of Fig. 336 was found near Stranraer,[984] Wigtonshire,
and is now in the Antiquarian Museum at Edinburgh. It is 12½ inches
long and 4½ broad, and weighs nearly 1¾ lbs., so that if mounted as a
halberd, it must have been a formidable weapon. The rivets are an inch
in length.
In England and Wales the blades which can with any degree of confidence
be regarded as those of halberds are by no means common. I think,
however, that the example from Harbyrnrigge,[985] Crosby Ravensworth,
Westmoreland, shown in Fig. 337, must be looked upon as a halberd
rather than as a dagger. It is in the collection of Canon Greenwell,
F.R.S.
Another blade of much the same character is shown on the scale of
one-fourth in Fig. 338. It was found in Shropshire,[986] but the
exact locality is not known. Another (11¼ by 4 inches), bearing much
resemblance to that from Shropshire, was found near Manea,[987]
Cambridgeshire. It is provided with four rivets, and has a small rib
running down the thickened centre of the blade. It is now in the
Museum of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society.
The late Mr. J. W. Flower, F.G.S., bequeathed to me a blade of this
character (9¾ by 3½ inches) thickened out in the middle like Fig. 334,
and with three large rivet-holes in the base, which is somewhat of a
trefoil form. It was found with broken sword-blades and spear-heads at
Stoke Ferry, Norfolk, and appears to be formed of copper.
The only Welsh example which I have to mention was found in the parish
of Llansanffraid,[988] Cwm Deuddwr, Radnorshire. It is 9 inches long
and 4 inches wide, and weighs 15 oz. In form and character it closely
resembles the Irish and Scotch specimens (Figs. 334 and 335), having a
plain midrib, bevelled edges, and three rivet-holes.
A large blade, with a strong midrib and three rivets, found in
Zealand, and engraved by Madsen,[989] may have belonged to a halberd
of this class.
I have already mentioned the halberd blades from Scandinavia and
North Germany, and have seen but one example from any of the western
countries of Europe. This is from Spain, and was found near Ciudad
Real. It is about 8¼ inches long, and more T-shaped at the
base than any British specimen, the blade suddenly expanding from 2
inches in width to 5. In this expanded part are the usual three rivets,
each about 1 inch in length. The discovery of a weapon of this type in
Spain seems to lend support to those who maintain that there was some
connection between the Iberians and the early inhabitants of Ireland.
The curious similarity of some of the Portuguese forms of flint arrow-
and javelin-heads to those of Ireland is also worthy of notice.
[Illustration: Fig. 339.—Lidgate. 1/1]
[Illustration: Fig. 340.—Great Bedwin. ½]
[Illustration: Fig. 341.—Ireland. ½]
Besides the battle-axe or halberd there is another form of weapon for
hand-to-hand encounters—the mace—of which it will be well to say a
few words; for though I do not for a moment believe that the bronze
mace-heads so frequently found in this and other European countries
belong to the Bronze Age, yet by many they have been classed among the
antiquities of that period. These weapons vary considerably in size and
weight, but the cuts will show the more common forms.
That shown in Fig. 339 is in the Museum of the Cambridge Antiquarian
Society, and is stated to have been found at Lidgate,[990] Suffolk.
In the Meyrick[991] Collection is one precisely similar, which was
brought from Italy. The mace to which these dentated rings were
attached is thought to have been a kind of “morning star” or flail.
Others from Lanarkshire[992] are of similar character. Professor
Daniel Wilson refers these to the time of the Roman occupation.
I have three heavy rings with four long and eight short spikes each,
from Hungary.
Another form is provided with a socket, and is evidently intended for
mounting on a straight staff. That shown in Fig. 340 was found in a
well at Great Bedwin,[993] Wilts, and is now in the British Museum.
Another of the same class, with a longer socket, is in the Museum[994]
of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society; and two are in the collection of
Mr. M. Fisher, at Ely. Others have been found in London,[995] and at
Stroud,[996] Gloucestershire.
An Irish example from Wilde[997] is shown in Fig. 341. There are three
such in the Museum of the Academy, varying in length from 2 to 5
inches. One from Tipperary[998] (4 inches) is of the same kind.
I have specimens of this kind from Hungary, one (4⅝ inches) with
three rows of four spikes, and one (4⅞ inches) with five rows of five
spikes. I have another from the Seine at Paris (4⅜ inches) with six
longitudinal ribs instead of spikes.
Lindenschmit[999] has figured seven examples, from various parts of
Germany and Italy, some more or less similar to each of the three
figures I have given. Some of these are decorated with spirals in
relief. Lisch[1000] has also engraved some specimens.
In the British Museum[1001] are some foreign specimens decorated with
patterns of a decidedly mediæval character.
An instrument of this kind, with eight lateral spikes and a long iron
spike coming out from the end, was found with numerous mediæval relics
in the ruins of Söborg,[1002] in North Zealand. Such a discovery
seems to me conclusive as to the date to be assigned to this class of
weapons.
I must apologise to the reader for this digression, and now proceed to
the consideration of the leaf-shaped bronze swords, which are far more
closely allied to the arms described in Chapter X. than to the objects
which have been discussed in the present chapter.