lo The History of the Spur 



collection of armour, evidently but little attention has been 

 given to spurs by the learned gentlemen who preside over the 

 Museum. There is in that collection a prick spur described in 

 the catalogue as belonging to the commencement of the fifteenth 

 century, but which has every appearance of belonging to the 

 twelfth century, if not earlier than that. It is an iron prick 

 spur, with a very short point, no neck, and very long, straight 

 sides, terminating in plates for the attachment of rivets. In the 

 description given in the catalogue it says the spur " preserves 

 the rivets by which it was attached to the solleret." In all 

 probability the rivets in this case attached the spur to a leathern 

 strap, for at the period of the straight-sided prick spur, with 

 a short point, chain armour was worn, and plate armour, with 

 the feet encased in sollerets, had yet to be invented. 



The date of the fifteenth century is attributed to this spur 

 presumably from the fact that it was found on the site of the 

 battle of Agincourt. Now, men have died, and worms have 

 eaten them in the parish of Agincourt, who did not live to 

 see the famous battle which was fought there on the 25th of 

 October, 1415, and such men may have left some of the more 

 imperishable parts of their accoutrements for posterity to find. 

 Of course it is conceivably possible, though hardly probable, 

 that some man may have gone forth to battle that day, either 

 for or against our good King Henry V., attired in his great- 

 grandfather's spurs. He may have contended that the form of 

 spur, with its curved sides and large revolving rowel, which 

 had been in universal use for one hundred and twenty years or 

 more, was all wrong, and that what was good enough for his 



