Sword 'Feats'

[admin]

EDIT: I have split this thread from the 'Assaults at Arms' thread because I think it warrants its own.
'Sword feats' in the Victorian era (and later, as shown below) were essentially displays of skill, some would say tricks, designed to improve some of the swordsman's skills and also to wow the audience. John Musgrave Waite explains how many of them were done in his seminal treatise of 1880.

It seems that the sword feats were happening a lot later than I realised - see this film from 24 second in (or watch the whole thing - there are bayonet drills as well!):
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=77875

They were still using the 1870 pattern lead cutter sword during WW1! It's amazing to see the feats in real time, plus some variations on the feats which I hadn't seen before.

[Jonathan]

Brilliant footage, Matt!

[admin]

This book, pointed out by Robert Wilkinson Latham, mentions the cutting feats from p44 onwards:
http://books.google.com/books?id=j2USAA ... &q&f=false

[admin]

I have found another interesting detail regarding the names of the individual sword feats:

FEATS OF SWORDSMANSHIP
By Professor GREGORY
The Richard Coeur de Lion Feat - severing a heavy Bar of Lead at one blow of the Sabre.
The Saladin Feat - Cutting a Silk Scarf while floating in the air.
The Sir Charles Napier Feat - Severing a lemon on the naked hand, striking perpendicularly with a sharp sword.
The Indian Feat - Dividing the lime under the naked heel.
The Japanese Feat - Cutting into halves an apple enveloped in a silk handkerchief without injuring the fabric.
Dr. Bachoffner's Feat - Severing a broom-stick while resting on the inner edges of two glasses of water,
&c., &c.

From: The Bradford Observer (Bradford, England), Wednesday, May 29, 1862.

[admin]

INTERESTING ASSAULT OF ARMS - On Wednesday, and interesting exhibition of foil, stick and sabre play was presented at the Metropolitan Athenaeum, in the Strand. The intent of the performers was to aid the funds for decorating the large room of the erewhile Crown and Anchor, an apartment hallowed in the memory of Westminster electors, as having echoed the oratory of England's most popular advocates in times when public opinion had but few of the organs it now happily possesses. The play commenced with foils, Messrs. Latham and Nicholls, Lusignan and Marshall, receiving applause fully merited by their adroitness. Mr. Fennings and Mr. Hooper, with the sticks, acquitted themselves manfully, taking and giving thwacks with the tough ash-plant, with equality and the bonhommie only to be acquired in schools where man meets man on equal terms. Messrs. Nicholls and Westley, Lusignan and Law, Cotton and Marshall, followed with the foils. The foil-play subsequently, between Messrs. Hooper and Marshall, elicited great applause, Mr. Marshall, who is quite a youngster, giving evidences of a something in the way of fencing that may make him an antagonist worthy of a first rate opponent. A spirited sabre bout, between Messrs. Latham and Fennings, preceded the sword feats of Professor Shury, the superintendent of the fencing class. These appeareed to give most delight to the numerous audience. The Saladin exploit, so familiar to all romance readers, from its picturesque and delightful description, in the immortal Scott's "Tales of the Crusaders", here became common place. Not satisfied with severing the slight floating silk scarf in its descent upon the edge of a keen Damascus blade (forged, we suspect, at Birmingham or Sheffield), Mr. Shury cut the fragile fabric into minute fragments, by seven or eight successive sweeps of the keen weapon, as it rested upon its recurved edge. The severance of two triangular ingots of lead-solder was also effected by a single cut, No.5, at each substance, suspended by a slight piece of packthread. A leg of mutton, suspended from a triangle, was next operated on, the goodly thigh, of about a dozen pounds, being obliquely cut through its thickest part by a single stroke of an ordinary boarding cutlass. A knuckle of veal was similarly sliced and finally a feather pillow was cut through, with the oriental-shaped sword that had been used for the sleight of wrist trick, immortalised by romance. The band of the Artillery Company lent an agreeable aid to the evening's amusements, which we trust proved proftable to the fund for which they were projected.

From: The London Gazette, in Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper (London, England), Sunday, May 5, 1850.

[Ulrich von L...n]

Remarkable Sword Feats

THE GYMNASIUM: REMINISCENCES AND HINTS
By H.J. LLOYD

"... An assault-at-arms without sword feats is, in my opinion, very like lamb without mint sauce, or duck without green peas. Sword feats require on the part of the performer four things — a good sword, an iron nerve, a strong arm, and a good eye. I remember seeing Sergeant-Major Haigh, at an assault-at-arms given by the Manchester Gymnastic Club some eight years ago, perform a feat which seemed to me very wonderful.

The extremities of a straight piece of wood, about a yard in length, were placed on two loops of paper, which were suspended on the edges of two perfectly sharp razors. The performer then raised his sword, and, striking the wood right in the centre, cut it in half, without cutting through or even tearing the loops of paper.

I was delighted with the feat, and very soon afterwards tried it myself. It is by no means as difficult as it appears. The one thing to bear in mind is that the wood must be struck right in the centre, and the blow must be delivered with as much force as possible, in order that the wood may be split in two before the percussion has time to reach the extremities, and so affect the loops of paper. Since then at three assaults-at-arms I have performed the feat successfully at the first attempt; on the last occasion I used tissue-paper, which was so thin as to be barely able to support the weight of the wood. A similar feat, though not nearly so taking, is to cut through a broom- handle, resting on two tumblers filled with water, without upsetting the tumblers or spilling any of the water. Cutting through a sheep or bars of lead requires that the performer shall be strong, and deliver the cut with the blade of the sword per-
fectly horizontal. Cutting an apple in a handkerchief, without cutting the handkerchief, is a pretty trick. So are the feats of cutting through a folded handkerchief, or several ribbons of different colours, laid on the edge of the blade, vrith a sweeping upward stroke. Cutting through a sheet of note-paper placed on
an upright stand some four feet high is by no means difficult, and is an effective little performance. But perhaps the neatest of all is to suspend an apple by a thread, then cut through the thread, and with a very quick downward stroke cut the apple in half before it reaches the ground. For these last-mentioned feats a ' handkerchief cutter ' is required. I bought a little beauty some years ago, which has never failed me in the hour of need."

Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes
Edited by
Alfred E.T. Watson

Volume II, January to June 1896

http://www.archive.org/stream/badminton ... g_djvu.txt

[admin]

Nice find.

[fullplate]

I wonder what the "handkerchief cutter" looked like?????

[admin]

There were two main types - they come up for sale every now and again. They generally have a simple knucklebow or crossguard and either a narrow straight double-edged blade or a narrow curved single-edged blade. They are usually pretty light, handling like a spadroon. They usually had hollowground and razor sharp edges. Here are examples of both types, at the top:
http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.s ... eLotNo=100

[Ulrich von L...n]

Matt,
Have you ever tried some of these sword feats?
I mean not the usual tatami cutting etc., but something from the above list.

[admin]

No, but it is very much on my 'to do' list!
Matt Galas has made the triangular-section lead bars and cut them with a longsword.

[Ulrich von L...n]

While searching for the earliest evidence of European fencers practicing cutting I have found this picture:

lond_ill_1849.jpg (223.92 KiB) Viewed 1105 times

Engraved images from The Illustrated London News, 30th June 1849
Titled: "Assault of Arms at Willis's Room, Assault.-Broadsword vs. Bayonet and Mr. Bushman's Feat."

Also mentioned in "A Grand Assault-at-Arms" by Tony Wolf
http://jmanly.ejmas.com/articles/2001/j ... 2_0801.htm

[admin]

More information on these events can be found in my article at the beginning of the scan of Waite's treatise:

http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/topics/so ... e-1880.pdf

(right click 'save as')

[Jonathan]

Some Assaults at Arms from The Journal of the Household Brigade for the Year 1862-80:

http://books.google.com/books?id=e9OgAA ... &q&f=false

[Max C.]

Also in the boy's own book (1880) http://books.google.ca/books?id=YUcCAAA ... &q&f=false

[Ulrich von L...n]

Thanks for the above, but I would like to find some earlier examples of sword feats, before 1849. Or some cutting related exercises in European military manuals or fencing books.

After reading:

... there is hardly any evidence for European swordsmen before the 19thC practicing cutting at all. Hugh Knight has a whole rant about this on his blog and whilst I disagree with a fair amount that he says in general, he does make some valid points...

and Hugh Knight's rant:
http://talhoffer.blogspot.hu/2008/02/my ... tting.html

I said to myself that besides those sword feats and only one reference in a Swedish cavalry manual (1892, page 65, "bulvanstång med trädgren" ~ "dummy rod with tree branch" for cutting), I have never seen any other evidence about test cutting or cutting exercises in military manuals.

[Colin F.]

I'm in the process of trying the whole apple one out on my cutting stand... Still needs practice and a good quality silk hanky...

Plus, of course, the right apple as they differ so much in toughness

[admin]

From the notebook of Henry Wilkinson (1849):

General Sir William Morrison informs me that he has seen a native of India who would take a raw egg and place it on a lump of clay on a tripod formed of three bamboos - at the first cut he took off the top and then in each successive cut he took off fine thin rings (approximately ten) without cracking them, the inside of the egg flew about into the faces of the spectators. General Cartheed was present and also Mr C Russell, the chairman of the Great Western railway there in India.

The same man also cut through an almond in the outer shell stuck on the clay.

Cutting through a large leg of Mutton at one stroke is now often done, also Saladin's feat with silk handkerchiefs which I have often done myself.

A broom stick placed on the edge of two tumblers between two tables I have often cut in two without breaking the tumblers or spilling the water if filled.

HW

Courtesy of Robert Wilkinson-Latham

[admin]

I came across this interesting newspaper page from 1862. I have no idea who Professor Thomas was, though maybe it's possible to find out with some searching (a Salopian is someone from Shropshire). Interesting to note what looks like a handkerchief cutter sword, as well as the Indian Club and dumbells.

[admin]

Bushman's Feat, performed in 1849: