PART XVII.
THE DAGGER.
The dagger is a short sword in great variety of form; it is a weapon for thrusting only. We meet with it in the ages of “stone” and “bronze,” and it was in use among almost all the great nations of antiquity.
The scramasax, a short two-handed sword or dagger, is an ancient Germanic weapon of varying length. In form it resembles a single-edged cutlass. There are examples in some of the German museums; one was found in a barrow near Andernach.
Mr. John Hewitt, in his work on Ancient Armour and Weapons, refers to a dagger preserved in Durham Cathedral, which was supposed to have belonged to Bishop Anthony Bek in 1283, bearing the inscription “Anton Eps Dunholm.” This is doubtless the dagger now at Auckland, which was exhibited to the members of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Society at the Castle on the 28th December, 1892. The blade, which seems originally to have been longer, is now eighteen inches in length; while the haft measures five inches. The quillons do not project far beyond the blade, and curl slightly upwards at one extremity, and downwards on the other. The authenticity of this weapon is more than doubtful, and Baron de Cosson even suspects who the forger was, and when it first appeared at Auckland. The forgery is one of the clumsiest, for it is so obvious what the hilt originally was, viz., portions of a Scotch basket-hilt.
There are representations of figures armed with the dagger in the thirteenth century, when the quillons turn up towards the blade, as is the case with most of the swords of the period. It does not appear in effigies before late in the first quarter of the fourteenth century. An anelace dagger may be seen on the effigy of William Wenemaer, died 1325; and another on that of the second Baron Berkeley, figured in Gough, vol. i., p. 44.
The anelace dagger, which is of Italian origin, is about sixteen inches long, and derives its name from the ring which was originally attached to it, and which was connected by a light chain with a mamillière. A somewhat similar weapon was used as a dart, and often attached to the end of a staff, and then called “langue-de-bœuf.” An actual specimen, with the ring, was found among the débris at Tannenberg. This dagger is double-edged, broad in the blade, which narrows towards the point. Chaucer mentions the weapon. The larger anelace is mentioned in the notes on swords, and an illustration is given in Fig. 43; the only distinction, if there be one, is that of length.
The form of the dagger is often that of the sword in miniature, and the guards, as is the case in the larger weapon, are naturally an excellent guide as to date. The guard of two knobs and the wheel-guard appear in the fourteenth century.
The poniard, with its numerous family, is shorter than the ordinary dagger.
The misericorde, an example of which is recorded as early as 1221, and which appears on the De Bohun effigy, was worn on the right side, and hooked to one of the taces. Like the stiletto, it is a short, narrow poniard; the former was used, as its name implies, by men-at-arms to give the coup de grace to fallen adversaries; and it was always present in jousts à outrance. The guard of the fifteenth century was usually two round knobs, but the weapon is often without any guard, and the narrow triangular blade was most effective in piercing through interstices in armour. The thumb-ring, which is above the quillons, is often met with in the fifteenth century.
The cultellus, or coutelas, as its name implies, served the purpose of both a knife and a dagger. It was the progenitor of the cutlass—coutel-hache, coutel-axe, curtle-axe, coutelace, and cutlass.
The baselard, or baudelaire, is an ornamental dagger of the fifteenth century, worn by civilians in front of their persons. An example occurs on the brass of a civilian at King’s Sombourne, in Hampshire (died 1380). Priests were expressly forbidden to wear the weapon.
The main gauche is an early sixteenth century weapon, and was used in conjunction with the rapier. This is the dagger that was supplied to the “schoppen” or “scabini” for the execution of the decrees of the Holy Vehme, or Vehmegericht, the secret tribunal of the middle ages prevailing in Swabia, Franconia, etc. The blade of this dagger was sometimes perforated with indentations for catching opponents’ swords. Another variety was provided with a spring, which when pressed set free two extra blades, one on each side of the main blade.
The Highland dirk is in great variety of form, and usually without any guard.
It was not uncommon for dagger and sheaths to be fitted with a small knife like some of the Indian swords. During Elizabeth’s reign it was common for a combatant to parry with a dagger in the left hand, when fencing with the rapier. Some representations of daggers are given in Fig. 42.