The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments, of Great Britain and Ireland.

CHAPTER XI.

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.

Fig. 324.—Arreton Down. ½

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 (7? inches) of the same character, but apparently without any fluting, was found near Newbury,[962] Berks.

Fig. 326.—Matlock. ½

Fig. 327.—Plymstock. ?

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.

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.

Fig. 329.—Årup. ?

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]

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 ? inch in diameter and ¾ inch between the heads, which are about ? 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.

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.

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 7? inches long and 8? 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.

Fig. 333.—Newtown Limavady. ½ ——— 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.

——— Fig. 335.—Falkland. ½ —————— 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.

——— Fig. 337.—Harbyrnrigge. ½ ———— 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.

Fig. 339.—Lidgate. ¹/₁ — Fig. 340.—Great Bedwin. ½ — 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 (4? inches) with three rows of four spikes, and one (4? inches) with five rows of five spikes. I have another from the Seine at Paris (4? 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.

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