Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 4).djvu/368

 4th, Sobras; 5th, Frente de esquadron quadrado de sitio; 6th, Costado de sdron quadrado de sitio; 7th, Sobras; 8th, ''Numero de esquadron quando tiene gente; 9th, Numero de esquadron sin gente; 10th, Sobras''."

Some phrases in the French language are supposed to allude to figures such as these found on batons, "étre bien assuré de son bâton," "obtenir son objet par le tour du bâton," and "étre réduit au bâton blanc."

At the end of the XVIth century it will be found that the pole-axe, perhaps with the exception of the Lucerne hammer to which we have referred (vol. iii, p. 104), was a very different weapon from that of the first quarter of the century, if indeed it can claim to be called a weapon at all. Those that show any enrichment have become slender in their proportions, and relegated almost entirely to ceremonial use, being evidently useless as fighting weapons (Fig. 1406). Indeed, they are little better than the weapons of similar form which to-day are carried by the gentlemen-at-arms attendant on the sovereign.

Combination weapons—a battle-axe, war-hammer, or mace—concealing pistols in their hafts, are constantly to be met with, and are often of very beautiful workmanship; but in nearly all cases they are cumbersome and impracticable weapons, made most probably to satisfy the fancy of some individual. We illustrate three. The first of these (Fig. 1407) is a mace with a single barrelled matchlock pistol incorporated in its haft, and is in the Musée d'Artillerie (K 60); a finely etched weapon with a well developed wheel-lock on the side, but which lacks its wooden grip. The second, which can be seen in the Tower of London, and which is complete, is of the same type as the first (Fig. 1408); the third (Fig. 1409) is a far more elaborately designed weapon with a six-flanged head, which has the barrel of the pistol concealed down its shaft; while in the rondel above the grip is hidden the secret wheel-lock. The apertures through which the wheel was wound can be seen in the illustration. We consider this last combination weapon to be Italian, of the last quarter of the XVIth century. The most ungainly of these arms, which the author knows of, is an early XVIIth century example in the Tower of London (Fig. 1410). It has an ill-balanced axe or pick head containing seven concealed barrels with a combination wheel and matchlock discharge. Clumsy though its appearance is, its workmanship is good and shows considerable ingenuity in its mechanism.

When we come to deal with the longer hafted infantry weapons of late XVIth and even early XVIIth century date, we notice that all the characteristic forms in use in the first part of the XVIIth century are still to be