384 Mr, Frederick Pollock [June 1, 



and must yield in interest to the qualities of the blade. And at this 

 time the sword-smith became again, as he had been in the ruder ages 

 when metal working was the secret of a few craftsmen, a man of 

 renown. In Spain, in France, in Germany, and in Italy, there rose 

 up masters and schools of sword-cutlery. There was a time when 

 the blades of Bordeaux and Poitiers had the best price in the English 

 market ; but soon those of Toledo, combining beauty, strength, and 

 elasticity, gained that eminence of which the tradition still clings to 

 them. Othello's " sword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper," was such 

 an one as these now before us. And Shakespeare, be it noted, knew 

 here, as always, exactly what he was speaking of ; for it w^as long 

 believed that the quality of the finest blades depended on their being 

 tempered in mountain streams. Germany was not far behind in the 

 race either ; the Solingen blades, stouter and rougher than the 

 Spanish ones, but for that reason titter for common military service, 

 made their trade-mark of a running wolf known throughout the north 

 of Europe. The wolf, or hieroglyphic symbol that passed for one, 

 was easily taken for a fox. Hence, it should seem, the cant name of 

 fox for a sword, which is current in our Elizabethan literature. " 0, 

 Signieur Dew, thou diest on point of fox," cries Pistol to his captive 

 on the field of Agincourt. A still greater reputation was gained by 

 the strong and keen broadswords bearing the name of Andrea Ferara, 

 long a puzzle to antiquaries from the want of positive knowledge 

 whether he was of Italian or S^^anish origin. The story that he was 

 invited to Scotland by James V. appears to be mere guess-work. 

 There exists, however, contemporary evidence that some time after 

 1680 two brothers, Giovan Donate and Andrea dei Ferari, were well- 

 known sword-makers, working at Belluno in Friuli, the Illyrian 

 territory of Venice ; and this goes far to settle the question between 

 Spain and Italy.* Probably the name of Ferara became a kind of 

 trade-mark, and was used afterwards by many successors or imitators. 



During this time the Sj)anish and Italian rapier was undergoing 

 its peculiar development, and leading the way to the modern art of 

 fencing. But this takes us out of the general line of history into a 

 distinct branch. We have henceforth to consider the sword, not as 

 the simple following out of a given primitive form, but as a weapon 

 diverging from that form in two directions. It may be specialised as 

 a cutting or as a thrusting arm. In the military sabre of our own time 

 we find both qualities reconciled by a sufficiently effective compromise, 

 but only after a long course of experiments. 



For many centuries the armourers and swordsmen of the East 

 have cultivated the edge at the expense of the point, and have attained 

 a partly just and partly fabulous renown. The point, after being 

 neglected since the days of the Eomans, has made up its lost time in 

 the West, and made it up triumphantly ; for it is now admitted that 

 the swordsman who would be a complete master of the edge must have 



* 'Cornhill Magazine,' vol. xii. p. 192 (August 1865). 



