TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Despite it being referred to, there is no illustration ‘Plate XLI’ in
this book.
_COMPANION VOLUME_
A COMPLETE GUIDE
TO HERALDRY
BY
A. C. FOX-DAVIES
Of LINCOLN’S INN, BARRISTER-AT-LAW
EDITOR OF “ARMORIAL FAMILIES”; AUTHOR OF “THE
ART OF HERALDRY,” ETC.
ILLUSTRATED BY 9 PLATES IN COLOUR AND NEARLY 800
OTHER DESIGNS, MAINLY FROM DRAWINGS BY
GRAHAM JOHNSTON
HERALD PAINTER TO THE LYON COURT
In One Volume. Containing over 600 pages.
Large square 8vo, Cloth Gilt,
10s. 6d. net
[Illustration: Sir Richard Vernon, 1452. Tong Church, Shropshire
_Frontispiece_]
BRITISH AND FOREIGN
ARMS & ARMOUR
BY
CHARLES HENRY ASHDOWN
HON. SEC. ST. ALBANS AND HERTS ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHÆOLOGICAL
SOCIETY; HON. CURATOR OF NUMISMATICS, HERTS COUNTY MUSEUM;
AUTHOR OF “ST. ALBANS: HISTORICAL AND PICTURESQUE,” ETC.
ILLUSTRATED WITH 450 ENGRAVINGS IN THE TEXT AND 42 PLATES FROM
ACTUAL EXAMPLES, MISSALS, ILLUMINATED MSS., BRASSES, EFFIGIES,
Etc., AND FROM ORIGINAL RESEARCH IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, THE
TOWER OF LONDON, WALLACE COLLECTION, ROTUNDA AT WOOLWICH, MANY
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, Etc.
[Illustration]
LONDON
T. C. & E. C. JACK
16 HENRIETTA STREET, W.C.
AND EDINBURGH
1909
[Illustration]
TO
_THE PRESIDENT_
THE VERY REV. THE DEAN OF ST. ALBANS, D.D.
AND TO
THE MEMBERS
OF THE
ST. ALBANS AND HERTS ARCHITECTURAL AND
ARCHÆOLOGICAL SOCIETY,
THESE PAGES ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY
THE AUTHOR.
[Illustration]
PREFACE
[Illustration]
The study of Arms and Armour is one of absorbing interest to a large
and ever increasing number of the community, inasmuch as it appeals
in a marked degree to the student of history, the antiquarian, and
to those who work in the realms of art. To the first it appeals
as a concrete reminder of the struggles of nations for liberty,
independence, power, or conquest; to the second it breathes of
the age in which it saw the light with all the feeling and tone
which characterised it; to the third it is a source of delight by
the consummate beauty of its form or the exquisite details of its
adornment. Unfortunately there are few books extant which serve as
a guide to the student, although there are many which deal with the
subject. The great works of Meyrick, with Skelton his illustrator,
are standard only in a sense that it is necessary to be thoroughly
acquainted with the subject in order to guard against the many errors
embodied in them. Grose is hopelessly antiquated, while Fosbroke,
Stothard, Strutt, Shaw, Planché, Cotman, and others who flourished
before or about the sixties, only deal pictorially or casually with
the subject. The Rev. Charles Boutell by his translation of Lacombe
did much to foster the study, but it was from a French point of view,
and his epitome of English armour and arms, though excellent in its
way, is only superficial, and a digest of his great works on Monumental
Brasses. In the latter he probably did more to further the study than
any preceding author; he was the first to rationally systematise
the arrangement of armour in periods in consonance with the salient
features it possessed, thus breaking through the previous methods of
classifying it by reigns, which was obviously absurd, or by centuries,
which was equally ridiculous. I have followed his method with but
little variation in the pages of this book, inasmuch as no better
arrangement is extant. It is a matter for great pride to myself that
such standard works should have emanated from a former Hon. Secretary
of the St. Albans and Herts Architectural and Archæological Society,
and if the present volume should in any degree further the good work
of my predecessor it will have achieved the height of my ambition.
Hewitt is delightful reading, but his arrangement is unsystematic and
involved; to the advanced student, however, he is invaluable. The later
works of Demmin, Clephan, Gardner, &c., are masterly monographs upon
the subject, but hopelessly out of place in the hands of a beginner.
It is with a view to rectifying this obvious requirement that the
following pages have been compiled, and it is confidently anticipated
that a careful reading and digest of each separate period of armour,
supplemented with the study of local brasses, effigies, museums,
private collections, &c., will enable the average student to attack the
more advanced works upon the subject with equal profit and pleasure.
It is perhaps necessary to caution the student of brasses against many
existing cases where the armour shown is not essentially that of the
period when the person died, inasmuch as many warriors in their old age
requested that the armour delineated upon their monumental slabs should
be that in which they achieved renown in youth or manhood. In other
examples the brass was not executed until some time after the person
represented had deceased, and details had undergone change in the
interim; while cases are not unknown where the brass of one person has
been taken to record the demise of another, perhaps many years later. A
flagrant example of this may be cited in the brass of Peter Rede, _d._
1577, in St. Peter’s, Mancroft, Norwich, who is represented in complete
plate of the years 1460 or 1470, with visored salade, &c. Occasionally
we find the artist exercising his powers of recollection with startling
results, as in the case of the Wodehouse brass in Kimberley Church,
Norfolk, 1465, but probably executed sixty years later. The knight
delineated has a skirt of mail of 1490 with three fluted tuilles, very
high pike-guards, a camail of 1405 or earlier, sabbatons of 1500, and
a breastplate with placcate of 1470. Fortunately such vagaries are so
apparent that the observer is placed upon his guard at once.
The average Englishman is probably more unacquainted with arms and
armour than any other technical subject. Beyond a general idea that
the Crusaders fought in mail, and the Wars of the Roses were waged
by warriors clad in plate, his knowledge does not extend, and he
consequently witnesses many startling incongruities upon the stage
of a theatre, or the arena of a pageant, with the most profound
indifference. He will perceive Richard III. in a camail and Ivanhoe in
a salade with the utmost complacency. The pity of it is that those who
are responsible for the historical inaccuracies should be so ignorant,
for no effort ought to be spared in endeavouring to educate the nation,
and especially the youth of it, in the fundamental principles of rigid
historical truthfulness. In our theatres recently we have witnessed
Bolingbroke in a fifteenth century tabard, a waist-belt, and round-toed
sabbatons, with the Duke of Norfolk in an almost equally grotesque
parody of the Camail and Jupon Period; Pistol with a basket-hilted
rapier; Henry V. in a camail, late fifteenth century gauntlets,
twentieth century boots, and vambraces covering parts of his coudières.
Upon the arena knights of Richard II.’s period have appeared in full
plate armour of 1470; at Queen Eleanor’s funeral without ailettes;
while bear’s-paw sabbatons have figured conspicuously in many scenes
previous to 1480. These are elementary details which even a cursory
knowledge of military equipment could avoid, but in the illustrations
of historical scenes in books and magazines equal ignorance prevails,
and a knight in pure mail and a surcoat, making love to a maiden in a
reticulated head-dress seated under a two-centred Tudor archway, is
only an example of the incongruities which almost every day insult
the intelligence and offend the eyesight of the educated reader.
Unfortunately many illustrators go to the works of Sir Walter Scott for
details of mediæval military equipment, and are thereby led hopelessly
astray.
It will be noticed in the following pages that continual reference
is made, respecting early armour and weapons, to the MSS. which
are preserved in our inimitable national collection at the British
Museum, and I cannot too earnestly advise the student to utilise
to the utmost extent possible the treasure-house of military detail
preserved therein. The feeling which prompted early illuminators to
represent Biblical and other personages in contemporary equipment,
whereby Goliath was shown habited in Norman hauberk and helm, Moses
appeared on horseback with couched lance in the mixed mail and plate
of the thirteenth century, and Julius Cæsar crossed the Rubicon in
a salade and complete Yorkist plate, is simply invaluable to the
student, inasmuch as every detail, though at times almost microscopic,
is faithfully delineated, and every new fashion recorded at once upon
its adoption. I have drawn upon many manuscripts for illustrations,
but there are scores still untouched which only need the student’s
attention to deliver up many valuable examples of details probably
quite unknown at the present time.
There are collateral subjects connected with the study of Armour
and Arms which the exigencies of space have compelled me to wholly
or partially omit, such as heraldry, mantling and the changes it
underwent, caparisoning and barding, the later development of weapons
of precision, history and varieties of the sword, &c., some of which
would require special monographs to deal with, and do full justice to,
the subject.
One of the main ideas has been the simplification of those points upon
which the majority of the books extant are either silent or deal with
in a casual and unsatisfying manner. One period especially, which
gave me infinite trouble as a student, is that between 1320 and 1360,
while another feature, generally omitted or hurriedly glossed over,
is the equipment of the common soldier. In conclusion I must express
my deep sense of obligation to the authorities connected with the
Tower of London, the Wallace Collection, the British Museum Manuscript
Department, the South Kensington Museum, the Rotunda at Woolwich, the
Edinburgh Castle Museum, the United Service Institution, the Armourers’
Hall, &c., for the kind facilities they have willingly and promptly
afforded for sketching, photographing, and examining the various
exhibits preserved in those institutions.
CHARLES HENRY ASHDOWN.
MONASTERY CLOSE,
ST. ALBANS, HERTS.
The Author gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to Viscount Dillon;
the Marquis of Salisbury; the late Sir John Evans, K.C.B.; The Very
Rev. the Dean of Ely, D.D.; Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, Bart.; H. J.
Toulmin, Esq., J.P.; A. F. Calvert, Esq.; W. Page, Esq., F.S.A.; E. J.
Hunt, Esq., B.A.; H. R. Wilton-Hall, Esq.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. WEAPONS OF PREHISTORIC MAN 1
II. THE ASSYRIANS 20
III. THE ROMANS 36
IV. SAXONS AND DANES 47
V. THE NORMAN PERIOD TO 1180 65
VI. THE CHAIN MAIL PERIOD, 1180-1250 81
VII. CHAIN MAIL REINFORCED, 1250-1325 97
VIII. THE CYCLAS PERIOD, 1325-1335 139
IX. THE STUDDED AND SPLINTED ARMOUR PERIOD,
1335-1360 146
X. THE CAMAIL AND JUPON PERIOD, 1360-1410 166
XI. THE SURCOATLESS PERIOD, 1410-1430 194
XII. THE TABARD PERIOD, 1430-1500 213
XIII. THE TRANSITION PERIOD, 1500-1525 265
XIV. MAXIMILIAN ARMOUR, 1525-1600 275
XV. THE HALF-ARMOUR PERIOD AFTER 1600 313
XVI. WEAPONS OF THE EARLY AND MIDDLE AGES 320
XVII. PROJECTILE-THROWING ENGINES 340
XVIII. GERMAN, ITALIAN, AND OTHER INFLUENCES UPON
EUROPEAN ARMOUR 349
XIX. THE INTRODUCTION OF GUNPOWDER AND ITS INFLUENCE
UPON ARMOUR 360
BRITISH AND FOREIGN ARMS AND ARMOUR
CHAPTER I
WEAPONS OF PREHISTORIC MAN
THE STONE AGE
The prehistoric man of the Stone Age had undoubtedly one of the most
difficult materials to deal with that can possibly be conceived,
inasmuch as it was intensely hard, very brittle, and, so far as flint
is concerned, occurred naturally only in comparatively small masses.
Yet with this crude matter, and with implements of the same material,
he succeeded in producing implements for husbandry and domestic use,
weapons of war and for the chase, which excite our warmest admiration,
both for the beauty of their proportions and the exquisite skill
required in their manufacture. To the worker in flint the number of
objects capable of being produced in that exceedingly refractory
medium was limited, but these as the age progressed were eventually of
a very high order of excellence, probably deemed unattainable by the
earlier man. We will take the different weapons in the order of their
importance, premising that in this chapter we shall have no armour to
deal with, though doubtless the man of the very earliest age had some
protection in the way of skins, plaited osier, or bark with which to
ward off hostile blows, in addition to the shield, which is common to
every race without exception when in the savage state.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Stone celt with cutting edge.]
_Celts._--The word “celt,” said to be derived from a doubtful Latin
word signifying a chisel, is the name by which a particularly large
and widely distributed class of weapons or implements is known. The
word has no connection with the Celtic people, and should be pronounced
“selt” and not “kelt,” as one frequently hears. The form of the celt is
well known, inasmuch as many hundreds exist in our museums and private
collections. They are found widely distributed in all parts of Europe,
and generally throughout the known world, being regarded in many places
in mediæval and even in modern times with superstitious reverence as
thunderbolts with inherent mystical qualities.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Stone celt with cutting edge.]
The primitive celts occurring in England are simply flints roughly
chipped into form with unsharpened edges, and are chiefly found in
those counties where flint abounds. They are not, however, confined
to them, but occur in other parts where flint is not abundant, being
fabricated in a different material such as agate, quartz, granite,
obsidian, clay-slate, greenstone, serpentine, and other rocks. These
crude celts, being merely chipped out and very roughly formed, are
at times difficult of recognition; they belong to the Palæolithic or
earlier period of the Stone Age. The second development of the celt
appears in the grinding of one edge so as to produce a cutting portion
(Figs. 1, 2), the ruder ones simply having a serrated edge produced by
being chipped. This grinding was doubtless executed by means of sand
and water, and in scores of examples a remarkably even result has been
obtained (Fig. 3). The third form in which the celt is polished all
over is the highest development and the most recent (Fig. 4), and is
classed in the Neolithic period. Some of these have ornamentation upon
them in the form of ribs running longitudinally upon the sides, and
some are bored with a circular or oblong hole. For use these celts were
fixed transversely at the end of a haft of wood either by binding or by
the wood being cleft for their insertion; in peace they performed all
the offices which are associated with a hatchet, and in war those of a
battle-axe.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Celt with ground edge.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Stone celt with polished surface.]
_Spear-heads._--The greater part of these belong to the later period,
and are remarkable for the care and attention which has been bestowed
upon their construction. They invariably present a lance-like outline
of symmetrical proportions with the edge in one plane, and are chipped
so as to be very thin (Fig. 5); at times notches occur upon either
side to facilitate their fixing into the end of the spear shaft and
being bound firmly in it. Others have been found with the cutting edge
carefully ground and polished, but with the tang only chipped and the
edges serrated to afford a firm grip for the sinews used to affix it to
the shaft. They vary in length from three to ten or more inches.
_Arrow-heads and Javelin-heads._--The earliest forms of these are
simply elongated splinters of flint or other stone, and undoubtedly
were simply tied upon or inserted in the end of the arrow shaft by a
ligament. They show but little work, simply as much as was necessary
to give a satisfactory point, and to provide a tang for fixing. These
may be termed lozenge-shaped (Fig. 6), and side by side with them
are those of a leaf-shape--these two being the designs presenting
the least amount of work and skill in fabrication. Subsequently a
barbed and tanged variety was evolved, showing the maximum amount of
technical skill in the making, and having the most deadly properties
by reason of the difficulty of extraction when once inserted under the
skin (Figs. 7, 8). They are as a rule of symmetrical proportions, the
barbs carefully chipped to offer the least amount of resistance to the
penetrative force of the arrow, and even at times a certain amount of
polishing and grinding was added to insure keenness to the point and
edge.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Flint spear-head.]
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Lozenge-shaped arrow-head.]
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Barbed arrow-head.]
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Barbed arrow-head.]
The British Museum is in possession of a number of these arrow-heads,
which may be considered almost as works of art, together with some of
larger proportions which undoubtedly formed the heads of javelins (Fig.
9). Being fabricated of such imperishable material they have naturally
been preserved in very large numbers, and hardly a museum exists
without at least a few specimens being contained in it. In the mediæval
period many quaint superstitions were associated with them, and their
preservation as amulets, charms, and general attributes of curative
powers, &c., has led to the handing down to the present generation of
scores which would probably have been broken up in the ordinary course
of events.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Javelin-head.]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--Dagger from British Museum.]
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--Dagger from British Museum.]
[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Dagger with notched edge.]
_Daggers._--The dagger is one of the commonest forms of weapon relating
to the Stone Age, as might be supposed from its simple form and easy
construction when compared with others. In its crudest and earliest
condition it merely consisted of a flint rudely chipped to a point at
one end; but subsequently it assumed a more definite form, and almost
equal attention was paid to the handle and to the blade. The latter
was invariably leaf-shaped, and broader towards the point than at the
butt, where it is usually rounded or cut off square. The beautiful
example, Fig. 10, is of white flint and may be seen in the British
Museum, while Fig. 11 from the same collection is of black flint and
about eight inches in length. As this is thickened at the butt it
may have been used without any handle, but undoubtedly most of these
blades were so mounted, and in Fig. 12 we have an example of the
notched variety, where two indentations are perceived on either side
for the passage of the tendons fixing the blade to the handle. In a
few cases a shaped handle having a pommel and a grip, and with the
blade formed out of the same piece of flint, has been discovered; the
weapons in these instances have been ten or twelve inches in length,
and modelled precisely the same as the bronze dagger which succeeded
them. The highest type of flint weapons of the dagger class are those
which have been discovered in Egypt; they are provided with long thin
blades, beautifully ground or chipped on one side to form an edge, and
elaborately serrated upon the thicker side forming the back, with cross
ripple markings for ornamentation, the whole forming a specimen of
clever handicraft and skilful workmanship which can only be adequately
appreciated by actual inspection.
Among the weapons of the Stone Age may be mentioned the sling-stones,
which are found in considerable numbers in countries where flints
abound; they are of a lens-like shape and from two to three inches
in diameter, being probably formed in this manner for insertion in a
cleft stick which was used for throwing them. Balls of stone are also
occasionally found with grooves in them, which suggest the presence at
one time of string; these may have been used as weapons for throwing
with the string attached, or wielded in the hand as a flail.
_Battle-axes._--Although the celt may be regarded as fulfilling the
functions of a battle-axe among its other manifold duties, yet a
true battle-axe was evolved by the Stone man towards the latter part
of his existence. It was invariably perforated by a circular hole,
effected by grinding, and as a rule assumed approximately the shape
shown in Fig. 13. Examples of these battle-axes have been found with
cutting projections upon each side of the shaft; this was probably the
prototype of the bipennis subsequently made in bronze and finally in
iron. An example is shown in Fig. 14.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Stone battle-axe.]
[Illustration: FIG. 14.--Battle-axe.]
THE BRONZE AGE
The term “Bronze Age,” so generally used for the period immediately
preceding the introduction of iron, conveys to most readers very scanty
ideas as to the duration of time over which it extended. Indeed,
to those thoroughly conversant with the subject, the chronological
arrangements of the various periods of the age, and the grouping
together of these into one comprehensive whole, is practically a case
for individual calculation, and these tally but seldom. However, it
may be taken that, speaking broadly, the bronze period commenced in
Britain about 1500 B.C., and at a much earlier age upon the Continent,
one authority placing it as early as 3000 B.C. Iron was in general
use about three or four centuries before Christ on the Continent, and
Cæsar makes no mention of bronze in his description of the weapons and
accoutrements of the Britons.
_Celts._--Of all the varying forms of bronze implements the celt is
probably the most widely distributed and the best known, and there
is every reason to believe it was the first of the articles to be
manufactured. It is generally admitted to be both an implement for
everyday use and also a weapon of war. Its general utility was that
of a chisel, a wedge, or a wood-splitting hatchet; in war it was the
prototype of the battle-axe. It is of very wide distribution, being
found all over the Continent of Europe, and has many varieties. In
order of development the flat celt is undoubtedly the earliest, and
was derived from the celt of the Stone Age, the example shown in
Fig. 15 differing but little from the flint prototype. This pattern
gradually developed until one similar to Fig. 16 was evolved. From
this crude form the flanged variety was produced, giving an extra
grip for the handle; then a transverse ridge was added, thus forming
two receptacles to receive the split end of the handle (Fig. 17). The
latest development of the celt is that in which a socket is made for
the insertion of the handle (Fig. 18).
The relative form of the handle with the celt affixed has been much
discussed, but the consensus of opinion leads one to believe that the
handle was somewhat in the shape of a hockey-stick, the bent part
being inserted in the socket of the celt. Before the evolution of the
socketed celt the latter was inserted in a cleft stick and projected
from one side at right angles, being firmly bound in that position by
cross-lacing. This projection doubtless suggested the bent stick of a
later period.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.--Earliest bronze celt.]
[Illustration: FIG. 16.--Later celt.]
[Illustration: FIG. 17.--Celt, flanged and ridged.]
[Illustration: FIG. 18.--Latest development of celt.]
_Daggers._--Of contemporary date with the celt, and perhaps of even
more remote antiquity, is the bronze dagger, which in its original
simple form may have been used as a knife for domestic purposes and
a dagger for war, though subsequently the two became quite distinct.
The general form of the blade may be gleaned from Figs. 19 and 20,
where the ribs towards the point may be readily seen. This ribbing and
grooving of the blade are a distinctive feature, and are sometimes
beautifully developed into a pattern more or less intricate. The
handles were made of ivory, bone, or wood, and are very seldom found
entire. The method of adjusting the haft will be gleaned from the
position of the rivets; the handle was evidently either split into
two pieces and then placed on either side, or a cut was made for the
insertion of the tang or lower part of the blade. In some cases the
pommel of bronze has been found accompanying the dagger, and also
traces of what may have been the sheath. That variety of dagger having
a tang to fit into the shaft seems to be peculiar to our islands, as
those found on the Continent invariably possess a socket into which
the handle could be fitted. Some very small and thin daggers have
been found side by side with flint weapons, which appears to point to
a time when the metal was very scarce, in the earliest part of the
Bronze Age; subsequently the stouter form of weapon shows analogies
with continental forms, and so points to intercommunication between the
mainland and this island at that early date.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.--Bronze dagger.]
[Illustration: FIG. 20.--Ribbed bronze dagger.]
_Swords._--The sword does not appear to have been contemporaneous with
the early thin dagger, but was no doubt a subsequent evolution based
upon the dagger. Of all the forms which have been handed down to us
from the most remote antiquity, the bronze sword is the most beautiful,
and it is very questionable if any of the hundreds of shapes of lethal
weapons of that description which have subsequently seen the light can
vie with it in symmetry of form and general gracefulness. Only one
other class of weapon of this period attempts to rival in beauty the
leaf-shaped sword, and that is the spear, which is often of the most
graceful lines. The beautiful workmanship exhibited by these weapons
raised doubt at times as to their real origin, many asserting that
they were of Roman fabrication, but it has been definitely settled
that they antedated the Italian historical period. Iron and steel were
substituted for bronze at a very early period in the Roman army, the
shape, however, being unaltered. The fact that the majority of finds
of bronze swords occurs in countries where the Romans never penetrated
militates against the supposition of their Roman origin. The length of
the blade averages about two feet, though some are as short as one
and a half feet, and some as long as two and a half. The hilt plate
alters much in form, and there are many varieties: the handle was of
wood, bone, or horn, split into two plates and riveted on either side
(Figs. 21, 22). The blade was apparently cast in a mould so carefully
made that there was no necessity for file-work or hammering afterwards,
the edges being formed by the uniform reduction all round of the
thickness of the metal (Fig. 23). Blade and tang were cast in one
piece, although one variety which appears to be common to the British
Isles has a handle affixed to the blade by rivets, after the manner of
the dagger (Fig. 24). The rivet heads occasionally show signs of having
depressions in them, as though they were splayed by a punch, while
some have been closed by a hollow punch so as to leave a small stud.
Occasionally swords are found having the hilt and finished blade cast
in one piece, while others occur bearing signs of the hilt being cast
upon the blade. A few swords have been found with gold ornamentation
upon the hilts, and many in which the blade is decorated with a pattern
produced in the casting. Although of bronze, and therefore not subject
in any great degree to aerial oxidation, the sword appears to have
been universally protected by enclosure in a scabbard. These in some
instances were of bronze, but more often of leather or wood, with
fittings of bronze, and in all cases the scabbard was of greater length
than the blade it contained. Some scabbards even appear of fantastic
forms, as though the man of the Bronze Age, like his successor of
the Iron Period, was not averse to the occasional outshining of his
fellow-man.
[Illustration: FIG. 21.--Bronze sword.]
[Illustration: FIG. 22.--Bronze sword showing rivet-holes.]
[Illustration: FIG. 23.--Bronze sword with cast edge.]
[Illustration: FIG. 24.--British sword with riveted handle.]
[Illustration: FIG. 25.--Bronze spear-head, leaf-shaped.]
[Illustration: FIG. 26.--Spear-head with apertures for thongs.]
_The Spear._--The spear is undoubtedly of the most remote antiquity,
and dates far back into the Stone Period; its inception seems to be
inherent in all savage tribes, and is a natural evolution of the idea
of inflicting injury upon a foe at a distance, and again of preventing
his approach to do personal harm. The primitive man probably pointed
a long stick by attrition on a rock, and subsequently hardened it by
fire: a splint of bone, being harder than the wood, occurred next,
and probably the flint succeeded, to be followed in due time by the
bronze head. The difficulty of affixing the head, however, seems to
have hindered progress at first in this direction, for the bronze
dagger undoubtedly antedated the spear-head, which continued to be of
flint for a long period after the dagger was introduced. It is highly
probable that the first spear-head was not constructed until the
Bronze man discovered the secret of making the socketed celt by means
of a core placed within the mould; with the advent of this invention
spear-heads became possible. Of course it may be open to question
whether any of the blades with tangs were really spear-heads and not
daggers, or incipient sword-blades. Some spear-heads have been found
which are undoubtedly of the tanged description, but they are not of
British, and possibly not even of European origin. The general form of
the head tends towards the leaf-shape, though this is not so pronounced
as it is in the sword (Fig. 25). The advent of the spear-head occurred
when man had developed considerable skill in the casting of bronze
and its manipulation under the hammer, and the really extraordinary
deftness shown in making the core, so that the minimum of metal was
used with the maximum of effect and strength, calls forth the warmest
admiration. Some of these cores are prolonged through the centre of
the blade, so that the metal is really attenuated, but at the same
time of uniform thickness, the inserted staff providing the necessary
rigidity. Respecting the sizes of those found there can be no question
but that the larger heads (and some have been found nearly a yard in
length) were intended for use only in the hand as spears, while some
of the smaller are the heads of javelins, or possibly of arrows. The
blades are at times of remarkable beauty of design and of excellent
workmanship. The sage-leaf form is of very common occurrence, the
central core reaching to the point, and ornamented with subordinate
ribs which also strengthen the blade. In these forms a hole is punched
in the socket for the insertion of a rivet to fix it to the lance
shaft. Others show two small loops cast upon the socket for a thong
to pass through, which was afterwards brought down to the shaft
and securely fastened (Fig. 26). This variety shows no rivet-hole.
Ornamentation is by no means rare upon these spear-heads; it generally
takes the form of open work, such as circles and ovals perforating
the blade, and of filed or cast patterns upon the sockets, some even
showing traces of gold inlaying. Barbed spear-heads are extremely rare,
and were probably only used in the chase.
[Illustration: PLATE I*
Shield of Italian Workmanship, Sixteenth Century
_A. F. Calvert_]
_Arrow-heads._--Arrow-heads in bronze practically do not exist in this
country, although they occur on the Continent and in Egypt, where they
are generally of the types shown in Figs. 27 and 28. It is highly
probable that the flint arrow-head was in use through the whole,
or nearly the whole, of the Bronze Age, being retained because of its
efficiency and cheapness. Bronze must have been a comparatively rare
and dear alloy, and the weapons exhibit as a rule the minimum of metal
in their construction compatible with efficiency; arrows from their
very nature are continually being lost, and this fact alone would
render their use expensive.
[Illustration: FIG. 27.--Bronze arrow-head.]
[Illustration: FIG. 28.--Bronze arrow-head.]
_Shields._--Among primitive races the shield was invariably of
wicker-work or of wood, and as the examples in bronze which have been
unearthed are of a high order of skill in workmanship and design we
may naturally infer that they were of comparatively late introduction,
and only appeared when the expert artizan of the age was capable of
producing plates of considerable area and of uniform thickness. In
the British Museum are several very fine examples of shields, one of
which we illustrate to show the general form and shape (Fig. 29). It
was dug up not far from the river Isis, in the vicinity of the Dyke
Hills, near Dorchester in Oxfordshire. It is circular in form, about 13
inches in diameter, and ornamented with two concentric rings of bosses
which encircle an umbo. All these bosses have been repousséd in the
metal except four, which are used in two instances as rivet heads to
fix the handle in position, and in two others to fasten buttons to the
interior of the outer rim. It is probable that a guige was fastened to
these buttons. So thin is the metal that it can hardly have served as a
shield without some auxiliary strengthening, and this was conjecturally
afforded by a lining of leather moulded into the depressions of the
shield when wet. There is no reason for supposing that the metal
now seen was the size of the original shield; in fact there is a
probability that it was larger, and that the metal merely formed the
centre. A bronze buckler found near Aberystwith was formerly in the
Meyrick Collection and preserved at Goodrich Court, whence it was
transferred to the British Museum. It is about 26 inches in diameter,
with no less than twenty concentric circles of knobs and ribs, with
the usual buttons for fixing the guige. The general type of shield is
that having a series of concentric rings raised in the metal with studs
between the ribs. The ornamentation is in all cases raised by hand with
hammer and punch, and doubtless the metal was much thicker and the
diameter much less in the early stages of making.
[Illustration: FIG. 29.--Bronze shield. (British Museum.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 30.--Bronze mace-head.]
A considerable number of bronze weapon-like forms have been from
time to time discovered, the uses of which are only conjectural. Thus
long blades of a triangular bayonet-like section occur, which may
either have been a sword or rather rapier for thrusting only, or have
been attached to a shaft and served as a spear. Others, again, have
a socketed head from the side of which projects a cutting blade of
various sizes and forms which might be the halberd in an incipient
stage. There also exist short, thick, scythe-like blades of great
strength, with strong rivets for attachment to some shaft, which may
have been constructed to fit upon the wheels of chariots. Knobs of
bronze occur having a socketed centre and projecting spikes upon the
sides which undoubtedly when fitted to suitable handles formed the
maces of the Bronze Age (Fig. 30), or possibly were portions of early
“morning stars” or military flails.