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Historical Fencing In Scotland
There is some evidence on historical fencing as practised in Scotland in the early modern period, Scotland in the Early Modern Era, especially fencing with the Scottish basket-hilted broadsword during the 17th to 18th centuries. Most of our current knowledge of these arts derives from various combative treatises or Martial arts manuals, as well as written anecdotes (i.e. battle accounts, folklore, etc.) and artistic representations from different periods and locations in history of Scotland, Scottish history (see Penicuik SketchesHighland Swordsmanship: Techniques of the Scottish Sword Masters, by Mark Rector (editor) and Paul Wagner (editor), Published by Chivalry Bookshelf (15 November 2001)). Scottish fencing masters The following is a list of fencing masters that were very influential in their day, and have contributed to our current knowledge of the martial practices of Scotland (see ''Combat Treatises'' below): * William Machrie – a Scottish fencing master who taught i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald McBane
Donald McBane (1664 – 12 April 1732) was a noted Scottish swordsman, career soldier, and fencing master, who is widely regarded as one of the most prolific and finest duelists of all time. Early life Donald McBane was born in the Highland town of Inverness during the late seventeenth century. In 1687 McBane ran away from his apprenticeship as a tobacco spinner to enlist in the British army under the Duke of Marlborough. He indulged in some fighting between the clans of Macdonald and Macintosh, who used sword and targe, Lochaber axes, and wooden-handled bayonets in the muzzle of the guns. When his company was disbanded in 1688, McBane took service in Colonel Alexander Grant's Regiment in the pay of King William II of Scots, who had to oppose the Highland clans fighting for King James VII of Scots at the Pass of Killiecrankie in what became known as the Battle of Killiecrankie (1689). Fencing lessons and first duels In 1691, Grant's unit was disbanded, and McBane joined Col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish Basket-hilted Broadsword
The basket-hilted sword is a sword type of the early modern era characterised by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages. This variety of sword is also sometimes referred to as the broadsword, though this term may also be applied loosely and imprecisely to other swords. The basket-hilted sword was generally in use as a military sword. A true broadsword possesses a double-edged blade, while similar wide-bladed swords with a single sharpened edge and a thickened back are called backswords. Various forms of basket-hilt were mounted on both broadsword and backsword blades. One of the weapon types in the modern German dueling sport of ("academic fencing") is the basket-hilted . Nomenclature The designation "broadsword" is ambiguous, and can refer to many different types of sword. Though attestations of "broad swords" date from the 11th century, these simply refer to an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode Island to its south, New Hampshire and Vermont to its north, and New York (state), New York to its west. Massachusetts is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, sixth-smallest state by land area. With a 2024 U.S. Census Bureau-estimated population of 7,136,171, its highest estimated count ever, Massachusetts is the most populous state in New England, the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 16th-most-populous in the United States, and the List of states and territories of the United States by population density, third-most densely populated U.S. state, after New Jersey and Rhode Island. Massachusetts was a site of early British colonization of the Americas, English colonization. The Plymouth Colony was founded in 16 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Art Of Defence On Foot With The Broad Sword And Sabre
''The Art of Defence on Foot'' was first published in 1798. It is a detailed manual of instruction for British military infantry swordsmanship. It is the oldest known British manual intended to teach purely military swordsmanship on foot. Four editions were printed between 1798 and 1824, the first three in London, UK and the last in New York, United States. Known colloquially by its acronym AOD, the manual teaches a universal system of swordsmanship that is applicable to all military swords used on foot at that time. This includes the Broad Sword, Sabre, Spadroon and Hanger. It also includes a section on walking stick defence and opposing bayonets with a sword. The AOD system is a predominately linear (footwork) system that is deeply grounded in the back, broad and sheering (spadroon) sword sources of the late 17th and early 18th century. It utilises a parry-riposte system, where a strong defence is commonly made before responding with an attack. Extensive use of slipping (wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quarterstaff
A quarterstaff (plural quarterstaffs or quarterstaves), also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European polearm, which was especially prominent in England during the Early Modern period. The term is generally accepted to refer to a shaft of hardwood from long, sometimes with a metal tip, ferrule, or spike at one or both ends. The term "short staff" compares this to the "long staff" based on the pike with a length in excess of . The height of the staff should be around the same as the user plus their hand set upright on their head (approximately ). Etymology The name "quarterstaff" is first attested in the mid-16th century. The "quarter" possibly refers to the means of production, the staff being made from quartersawn hardwood (as opposed to a staff of lower quality made from conventionally sawn lumber or from a tree branch). OED; English longbows were traditionally made from staves of yew or ash that were split into quarters. If the longbow was not in use, the 'q ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dirk
A dirk is a long-bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.); "Dagger", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729. Historically, it gained its name from the Highland dirk (Scottish Gaelic ) where it was a personal weapon of officers engaged in naval hand-to-hand combat during the Age of SailO'Brian, Patrick; ''Men-of-War: Life in Nelson's Navy'', New York: W. W. Norton & Co., (1974), p. 35. as well as the personal sidearm of Highlanders. It was also the traditional sidearm of the Highland Clansman and later used by the officers, pipers, and drummers of Scottish Highland regiments around 1725 to 1800 and by Japanese naval officers. Etymology The term is associated with Scotland in the Early Modern Era, being attested from about 1600. The term was spelled ''dork'' or ''dirk'' during the 17th century,Head, T. F.; ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology'' Oxford University Press (1996) . presumed relat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Targe
The targe is a type of strapped round shield that was used by Scottish Highlanders in the early modern period. From the late 16th century, until the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Scottish Highlander's main means of defence in battle was his targe. In February 1596, the clan leader John Grant of Freuchie was able to muster 500 men, including 40 armed "according to the Highland custom" with bows, helmets, swords, and targes. After the disastrous defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden, the carrying of the targe had been banned by the Disarming Act, and many were destroyed or put to other uses. Those that remain have intricate patterns and are decorated, indicating that they would have originally belonged to important people. The targe is a concave shield fitted with enarmes on the inside, one adjustable by a buckle, to be attached to the forearm, and the other fixed as a grip for the left hand. Etymology ''Targe'' (, ) was a general word for a shield in late Old English. Its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spadroon
A spadroonP. G. W. Annis (1970). ''Naval Swords, British and American Naval Edged Weapons, 1660–1815'', Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, p. 38. is a light sword with a straight-edged blade, enabling both cut and thrust attacks. This English term first came into use in the early 18th century, though the type of sword it referred to was in common usage during the late 17th century. They were primarily used as a military (army and navy) sidearm in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and for officers and NCOs in the latter part of the 18th and early 19th centuries. The type of sword also saw widespread use across Europe and America, though the term 'spadroon' is unique to the Anglophone world. Spadroon is a term used to categorize a type of sword that is in between a small sword (which thrusts only) and the heavier-bladed broadsword. They may have single- or double-edged blades, and hilt types ranging from a simple stirrup guard, to double shells, and even further pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smallsword
__NoTOC__ The small sword or smallsword (also court sword, Gaelic: or claybeg, French: , lit. “Sword of the court”) is a light one-handed sword designed for thrusting which evolved out of the longer and heavier rapier (''espada ropera'') of the late Renaissance. The height of the small sword's popularity was during the 18th century, when any civilian or soldier with pretensions to gentlemanly status would have worn a small sword daily. The blade of a small sword is comparatively short at around , though some reach over . It usually tapers to a sharp point but may lack a cutting edge. It is typically triangular in cross-section, although some of the early examples still have the rhombic and spindle-shaped cross-sections inherited from older weapons, like the rapier. This triangular cross-section may be hollow ground for additional lightness. Many small swords of the period between the 17th and 18th centuries were found with colichemarde blades. It is thought to have appear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basket-hilted Scottish Broadsword
The basket-hilted sword is a sword type of the early modern era characterised by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages. This variety of sword is also sometimes referred to as the broadsword, though this term may also be applied loosely and imprecisely to other swords. The basket-hilted sword was generally in use as a military sword. A true broadsword possesses a double-edged blade, while similar wide-bladed swords with a single sharpened edge and a thickened back are called backswords. Various forms of basket-hilt were mounted on both broadsword and backsword blades. One of the weapon types in the modern German dueling sport of ("academic fencing") is the basket-hilted . Nomenclature The designation "broadsword" is ambiguous, and can refer to many different types of sword. Though attestations of "broad swords" date from the 11th century, these simply refer to an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fencing Manual
Martial arts manuals are instructions, with or without illustrations, specifically designed to be learnt from a book. Many books detailing specific techniques of martial arts are often erroneously called manuals but were written as treatises. Prose descriptions of martial arts techniques appear late within the history of literature, due to the inherent difficulties of describing a technique rather than just demonstrating it. The earliest extant manuscript on armed combat (as opposed to unarmed wrestling) is Royal Armouries Ms. I.33 ("I.33"), written in Franconia around 1300. Not within the scope of this article are books on military strategy such as Sun Tzu's ''The Art of War'' (before 100 BCE) or Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus' '' De Re Militari'' (4th century), or military technology, such as ''De rebus bellicis'' (4th to 5th century). Predecessors Some early testimonies of historical martial arts consist of series of images only. The earliest example is a fresco in tomb 15 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
