ON SWORDS.
It will be useless for me to say anything about the length and shape of swords, as in the British, and, I believe, every other service, an officer, whether he belong to the army, the navy, or the reserve forces, is compelled to wear the regulation sword of the corps he belongs to.
He can, however, purchase it where he likes, and has a certain amount of discretion in small matters, which, if carefully attended to, may make a most important difference in the utility of his weapon. “Mony a mickle mak’ a muckle.”
I would advise him by all means to get it from a good sword cutler, and see the blade properly proved—a very necessary precaution, as no bad blade will stand so severe a test.
He may then be sure that there is no flaw in it or in the tang (the part that passes through the grip).
A flaw in either may cost you your life.
The blade should be stiff and not whippy, as a whippy blade meets with so much resistance fromthe air when cutting or guarding quickly, and the point should be light, so that the sword will feel well balanced in the hand.
A whippy blade with a heavy point wrenches the wrist and elbow joints, and is extremely difficult to use. It altogether mars the proper use of the weapon.
The grip should suit your hand, and the steel back should be roughened to prevent the sword from turning in it.
On service, the grip, if not too thick, may be lapped with thin string slightly waxed; by this means it may be altered to any shape you like, and you will be able to hold the sword more securely.
The sword should be tightly mounted, that is, the grip should not be loose, the blade well shouldered up both back and front, so that there is no space between the shoulder and the hilt, and the end of the tang securely screwed and rivetted at the pommel.
To test the mounting, strike both the back and edge of the blade several times sharply against a post. If the grip then remains firm and tight and the blade rings, it is a proof that the mounting is fairly good. Should it, after being used some time, become loose, have it put right at once.
You cannot give an effective cut with a loosemountedsword. It stings your hand, and spoils the general handling of the weapon.
The scabbard should be lined with leather or laths of wood, and the mouthpiece with German silver, which is softer than steel, to preserve the edge when drawing and returning the sword.
Various edges are put on swords, but the best and most serviceable one, in my opinion, is a short chopper edge. It is the one put on swords used for cutting bars of lead, carcases of sheep and legs of mutton.
The bone of a leg of mutton, which is almost as hard as any substance the edge is likely to come in contact with, will not turn it.
I have now swords with this edge in my possession with which hundreds of bars of lead, numerous carcases of sheep and legs of mutton and other substances have been cut, and the edges are still in good condition and fit for use.
SOME REMARKS CONCERNING SWORD HILTS.
The shape of the grip in the regulation infantry sword is not bad generally, but the metal back is unnecessary, and is apt to cause the hand to slip.
The grip of Japanese swords, but for the fact of their having the curve presented the wrong way, strikes me as exceedingly good.
Were I having a fighting sword made to my own fancy, without regard to the regulation of any service, I should direct it to be made with a grip of shark’s skin or leather, with a strong twist of wire wound round at half-inch intervals, as in the regulation pattern, but continued all the way round without any metal back.
The pommel should be considerably heavier than is customary, and the shell (and I consider this the most important thing) should be of a pattern differing materially from that in common use.
The present form of shell is carried out into a tolerably bold curve on the outer side, no doubt for the purpose of covering the knuckles and arm, which, in a right-handed man, are exposed on this side, while on the reverse side the shell does not project to quite half the same extent.
The consequence of this arrangement is that the greater weight on the outside tends to throw over,I mean, to make the wrist rotate from left to right as it does in attacks on the inner line, and to make rotation correspondingly difficult on the outer line, that is, from right to left.
Now, it may be regarded as proved that attacks on the inner line, although very effective, expose the swordsman more than those delivered at the outside of his adversary’s body, consequently the tendency to which I have referred cannot but be considered a vicious one. Again, it may happen that the swordsman is disabled by a flesh wound sufficiently grave to incapacitate his sword arm, but not of such severity as to prevent his continuing in action should he have learned to use his left. If he then pass his sword into his left hand, he will find that the shell, as at present formed, offers a most inadequate protection to the hand and arm, which would not be the case if the projections were equal on both sides.
The Scotch basket hilt, with some modifications, so as to give freer play to hand and wrist, is not a bad pattern.
There should be little or no open work about the shell: an unlucky thrust or cut with the point might disable your hand.
I would also recommend that that part of the shell which comes into contact with the point of the thumb where it rests on the back of the gripshould be lightly padded with a few thicknesses of soft leather, so as to lessen the concussion, which is sometimes of sufficient force to loosen your hold of the sword grip, or at all events to impair that nicety of touch upon which successful swordsmanship in a high degree depends.
Before leaving this subject, I should like to remark that, although the grip of the regulation sword is not so faulty as its shell, yet it appears to me capable of improvement.
The back of the grip is convex throughout its length, an arrangement which, when the thumb is pressed upon it, as it should be in the use of a light sabre, does not give so good a hold as one presenting in the lower part a concavity into which shall fit the convex surface of the extended thumb. I have in my possession a pair of practice sabres made upon this principle, and also with a squarer grip than is customary, which are delightful to handle.