Spurs afixed without Straps 6i 



solleret " in the Tower of London, which has a long straight- 

 necked spur rivetted to it. The solleret in question is certainly 

 beautifully made, but I have the highest authority, no less 

 than that of Lord Dillon himself, for saying that this piece, 

 now under his charge, is not a genuine piece of old armour, 

 but a comparatively modern reproduction. Indeed, a most 

 cursory examination will show that no human foot could ever 

 have got inside it. James also says, speaking of the same 

 subject, " That in the Musde d'Artillerie at Paris is obviously 

 of recent manufacture, and is attached to a suit formed of 

 a doubtful visored bascinet of Richard IL, twilles and breast- 

 plate of Richard IIL, and pauldrons of Henry VIIL" Here 

 are two cases of spurs rivetted to foot-pieces of armour, in 

 both of which the piece is not genuine, and there is conse- 

 quently room for doubt as to whether the method of attachment 

 is genuine also. It is always the foot-pieces in museums 

 which are open to doubt, as they are the pieces which were 

 so frequently lost or mislaid in the days when curators of 

 museums were neither so careful nor so skilful as they are now. 

 There is a suit in the Armeria Reale at Turin having a very 

 good example of the long-toed solleret, and here six-pointed rowel 

 spurs, having straight necks, square in section, and eight inches 

 long, are attached to the solleret by having the end of the 

 neck turned downwards at a right angle to the extent of an 

 inch, forming a sort of square hook which fits into a square 

 socket which is welded on to the heel-plate of the solleret. 

 In this case the spur could be detached even more easily than 

 if it were fastened by straps. 



