ON THE WORD “GONNE” OR “ GUN.” 
487 
gonnes are further described as brazen. It is most improbable that 
brass was ever employed as the material for engines of the cata¬ 
pult or ballista type. Brass has neither the strength nor elasticity ab¬ 
solutely necessary for such a purpose. 
Whatever may be the meaning of gonne in the passage of the 
“ Romaunt of the Rose ” quoted above, Chaucer has undoubtedly 
used this word in its modern sense in the “ Hous of Fame/* which 
Mr. Frank Heath thinks was begun a some years before 1383” 
(“ The Globe Chaucer,” xliii). The passage occurs in Bk. Ill, 533-4 :— 
“ As swift as pelet out of gonne, 
“ Whan fyr is in the poudre run.” 
It is clear, then, that gonne was generally used in its modern sense 
in the second half of the 14th century; and we may reasonably con¬ 
clude that it is used in this sense in “ Kyng Alisaunder,” which belongs 
to that period. Whether the first (known) use of the word in its new 
acceptation was made by Arderne, Friar Langland, Chaucer or the 
author of the romance, there are no means of determining. 
John Arderne tells us, in his papers which are now preserved among 
the Sloane MSS., that he began to practice as a surgeon before the 
middle of the 14th century; that he lived in Newark from 1349 to 
1370, when he moved to London; and that he was eventually ap¬ 
pointed surgeon to Henry IV, who came to the throne in 1399. He 
was thus “ a surgeon of no mean figure in his time and Dr. Freind, 
from whom I borrow this phrase, formed a high opinion of his pro¬ 
fessional abilities from a perusal of his MS. medical treatises 
(Freind's “ History of Physick,” London, 1 758 ; II. 325). The refer¬ 
ence to the word gonne made by this eminent man is conveyed in the 
following words (as transcribed by Mr. Way) :—" Pernez j. li. de 
souffre vif; de charbones de saux (i. weloghe x ) ij. li.; de saltpetre 
vj. li. Si les fetez bien et sotelment moudre sur un pierre de marbre, 
puis bultez le poudre parmy vn sotille couerchief; cest poudre vault a 
gettere pelottes de fer, ou de plom, ou d^arevne, oue vn instrument qe 
Pern appelle gonne .” 1 2 3 This passage is notable, not only because it is 
one of the earliest instances of the word gonne in its modern sense, but 
because it is probably the very earliest mention of the composition of 
gunpowder which is undoubtedly historical and perfectly trustworthy. 
In modern figures the composition of gunpowder in the second half of 
the 14th century was :— 
Sulphur - - 11*1' parts. 
Charcoal - - 22*2' » 
Saltpetre - - 66*6' u 
iofo 
1 Anglo-Saxon for willow. It may be inferred from this pointed reference to willow, that 
Arderne was aware of the fact that gun powder manufactured with willow-charcoal explodes less vio¬ 
lently than powder in which almost any other charcoal is used;—a matter of vast importance with 
14th century gonnes. 
2 ‘ Take 1 lb. of flower of sulphur, 2 lbs. of willow-wood charcoal, and 6 lbs. of saltpetre. 
Triturate the mixture very carefully on a slab of marble, and pass it through a fine sieve. The 
powder thus obtained will project balls of iron, lead or brass from an instrument called a gonne' 
