42 The History of the Spur 



a very considerable change to come about. The double curve 

 of the sides did not last long, and soon disappeared, and the 

 curve of the sides reverted to the earlier form. But the neck 

 became enormously elongated. This was occasioned by the use 

 of horse armour. The " flanchards," a sort of iron valance 

 round the horse, together with the shape of the high perched 

 saddle, necessitated that the rider's foot should be at a con- 

 siderable distance from his horse's side ; consequently this long 

 neck was required to reach the animal. There are numerous 

 specimens of these spurs now in existence. The British 

 Museum, the Tower of London, the United Service Institution, 

 and the City of London Museum, all have several specimens. 

 The long, straight neck is, in several instances, over ten 

 inches in length, making the whole spur, from the points of 

 the rowel to the ends of the sides, thirteen and even fourteen 

 inches long. There is always a considerable crest to these spurs, 

 and the sharply depressed sides were made to fit closely to the 

 wearer's foot ; for in all the specimens that I have seen the 

 spread of the sides is less than three inches, and the great 

 length of the neck gives to these spurs the appearance of the 

 sides being exceedingly small. The spur, therefore, was strapped 

 to the wearer's foot inside the armour, and the long neck 

 protruded through a slit in the back of the jambe, or leg- 

 piece, of the armour, of which endless examples exist in all 

 our collections. This enabled the wearer, when he had 

 removed his armour — which he must have been thankful to 

 do at the earliest opportunity, for this was the period when 

 armour was at its heaviest — to retain and show off his spurs. 



