On the Rowel Spur 5^ 



curve of the swan-necked spurs of the present day, and that, 

 I suppose, accounts for the frequent mistake. But the curve 

 of the sides — for they are always curved — and the arrangement 

 of the double rings at the ends, to one of which, necessarily 

 the upper one, an elaborate buckle is often still attached, 

 will show at a glance the proper position. These spurs had 

 invariably curved sides, a fashion which we have seen to 

 have lasted, with the exception of some of the large rowelled 

 spurs, through five centuries ; and with very few exceptions the 

 sides terminated in two circular rings. Sometimes these were 

 one just above the other, as was usually the case in the earlier 

 spurs ; but very constantly during this century the lower 

 ring was separated from the upper by a curved piece of metal, 

 resembling in miniature the side-piece of a horse's curb bit, 

 or the letter S, and at the lower end of this piece is the ring 

 for the attachment of the sole strap. It is little details of 

 this description which enable one to determine the date of 

 some freak spur, which may have a prick point, or some 

 other detail which is quite out of the period. 



The illustration on Plate 30, Fig. i, is taken from a spur 

 in the City of London Museum, and serves as a typical example 

 of the plain spurs of this period, a five-pointed rowel, which 

 is very characteristic, the neck bent at an angle at the junction 

 of the neck proper and the rowel-box, curved sides, and the 

 double ring for the two straps. The spread of the sides is two 

 and three quarter inches, thus fitting an ordinary boot, and the 

 total length is just over five inches. This is a very fair example 

 of a plain spur. Fig. 2 on the same plate shows a little more 



D 2 



