240 THE CALIVER. 



Henry IV., where Falstaff speaks of cowards "such as 

 fear the report of a ' caliver ' worse than a struck fowl or 

 a hurt wild-duck." — Henry IV. Part I. Act iv. Sc. 2. 



The derivation of the word " caliver " is not quite clear, 

 unless it be the same weapon as the " culverin," in which 

 case it may be derived from the French couleuvrin, adder- 

 like. In Cotgrave's French and English Dictionary, 1660, 

 the word is spelled " calcever," and translated " harque- 

 buse." In Bailey's " Dictionarium Britannicum," 1736, 

 the caliver is described as " a small gun used at sea.'' In 

 Worcester's "Dictionary of the English Language," 1859, 

 " caliver " is said to be corrupted from caliber, and de- 

 scribed as — 1. a hand-gun or large pistol, an arquebuse ; 

 2. a kind of light matchlock. In Scheler's " Dictionnaire 

 d'Etymologie Francaise," 1862, we find — "couleuvre du 

 L. colubra ; It. colubro , Prov. colobre ; du L. masc. coluber, 

 bri ; D. couleuvreau, couleuvrine, ou coulevrine, piece d'ar- 

 tillerie ; cp. les termes serpentin, et All. feldschlangc!' 



From these various explanations, as well as from that 

 given by Archdeacon Nares in his " Glossary," it would 

 seem to have been a military rather than a sporting 

 weapon. The best description which we have met with is 

 that given by Sir S. D. Scott.* He says : — 



" The Caliver was a kind of short musket or harquebus, 

 fired by a matchlock, and from its lightness did not re- 

 quire a rest.'' 



* " The British Army : its Origin, Progress, and Equipment," vol. ii. p. 286. 



