Fire club
Image from proof plate51. He beareth a fire club, or a staffe of wild fire.
Powder box
52. He beareth a Powder box,
or Powder trier.
By the helpe
of this box the force and strength of
gun powder, is well knowne, being a
box made of copper, or brasse or Iron,
with a lid or couer set to it with an
hinge very closse: on the back of this
box where the hinge of the lid is, there
must stand up a peece of Iron or brasse
in length answerable to the lid; which
must haue a hole through it towards the
top with a spring thereon which must
couer the said hole. On the top of this
erected peece of brasse must be ioyned
an Iron made bending with teeth on
the inner side much like a saw, the
lower end resting on the edge of the
box lid. Now open the box and put
therein a quantity of powder, and then
shut the lid, and put fire to the touch
hole in the bottome of the box which
will fire the powder in it, and blow the
box lid vp the notches, or teeth of the
iron, more or lesse according to the
strength of the powder.
Head gun sorts
Severall sorts of Head Guns.
53. In this figured quarter are three sorts of small gunns, such as are managed, charged, and discharged, by a single person, with out any help of an other, I shall name them and giue the termes of them in perticuler as they are marked with these Letters A. B. C.
Calever
A. is a Calever, a kind of Gun something larger then a carbine, and lesser
than a muskett. It is fired by a match
lock; that is, a lock with a cock to
hold a match in, with an handle to pull
it downe to the pan, by forceing the
said handle, vp to the stock of the
barrell; the bute end of the stock of
the calever is bent downe-wards. this
kind of Gun was much used by the
soulders in Queene Elizabeths tyme, In
Tyrons warrs or Rebellion in Ireland:
but neuer generally used since, but by
some perticuler persons, and now it is
an Instrument little knowne.
Pistol
B. It is a pistall fired, this is a small
gun discharged with one hand of which
there are seuerall sorts, whose names
are according to the bignesse of them, as
Musket
C. Is the figure of the Muskett; this
is the largest fire arme that is managed
by a single person both for the charging
and discharging of the hand by resting
the butt end of it to the right shoulder.
It is about 5 foot 6 or 8 Inch long in
the Barrell; the diameter of the bore
is halfe an Inch and halfe a quarter.
It is usually fired with a match sent in the head of a cock of a match lock. ...
Musket rest
In the base of this square is the forme
of a Muskett Rest. in former tymes
the souldiers used such a thing as a rest
to lay their muskett vpon, when they
discharged the same; and in the
Artillery yards they exercise with
them to this day. It was a help to
a man to hold his muskett stidfast,
whilest they tooke aime at the marke,
which he intended to fire at. But now
the souldiery haue generaly left them
off, by reason the muskett is made much
lighter then formerly.
Related text(s) Harquebuse and other types of guns Fire arm parts Gun barrel parts Gun stock parts Fire lock parts Match lock parts Wheel lock parts Head gun appurtenances
Great gun
54. In this quarter is the forme of a
Great Gun called a cannon lying dismounted transverse the field:
And a chamber fired in the
base. of both of them I shall speak in
perticular.
He beareth a canon or culverin, dismounted.
Before the invention of Guns many sorts of weapons as well Invasiue or offensive, as deffensive, were devised; which (saith Munster lib.3. of his chosmography) by the space of euery hundred yeares haue admitted alteration twice or thrice; like as also the Armour wherewith our bodies are couered and fenced. But as one saith it was the diuell himselfe, who invented this hellish Instrument for confusion of man Kinde. Indeed it was a monke, who first invented gunpowder; who was a Germane by birth named Bertholdus Swartz about the yeare 1354. but whether he first found the great gun, in vncertaine: yet this I read that the first founder of these great guns, was himselfe slaine with the breaking of one of them.
These Great Guns, either for land or sea service, haue seuerall names according to their largenesse, and the weight of the ball or bullet they shott: their formes and proportions are all answerable to this draught, and carry the same termes in their seuerall parts. They are generally termed Great Guns, Ordinance and Artillary, or cannons, comprehending all sorts of guns vnder the name of the greater.
Chamber
The Chamber which is the second
sort of gun set downe in the base of
this quarter marked with the numb.54.
They are of some called Murthers and
slings, or sling peeces, because they
are slung in their holds to turne any
way. Some call them stockfowlers;
and Fowlers or Foulers.
This is a kind of short and small gun used only in shipps out of which small shott, or peeces of Iron are discharged for the clearing of the decks, when the ship is boarded by an enimy.
They are charged with a charge made of Brasse or Iron, which is put into the breech of the murtherer, and containes just so much powder as is fit to deliuer away the murthering shott, or case shott, put into it, or contained in that peece: and such charges are called chambers, from whence the peeces themselues haue that denomination.
In ships of war, or Merchant-men, they are much used to be set in the Bulk heads of the fore castle, halfe deck, or steeridge: where they haue a pintell, or Iron pin, which is put into a stock; and so into the sockett or Iron hoope made fast about the peece; and so they stand, and are traversed; which secures them from recoyleing, when shott off; se cha.20. numb.9. 10 [Reference unidentified].
Related text(s) Great gun parts Great gun types Bastard ordinance
Land cannon
55. He beareth a cannon
mounted for Land service (or mounted
for a Battery) I giue it this distinction,
to shew the maner of the carriage of
the gun in this, from the carriage of the
gun in sea service. Otherwise in the
blazon, as it pertaines either to coate,
or crest; to say a cannon Mounted or
on its carriage with a Linstock in the
taile of it, is sufficient; se c.16. n.152.
Unidentified
[Unidentified image in the top right corner of square 55]
Gunner's rule
[The following illustrations, labelled on the drawings, appear to relate to the
text section on Gunners' Instruments but do not appear on the plate.]
Gunner's square
Hand screw
Sight rule
Quoins
Tompion
Related text(s) Gun carriage parts Gun carriage wheel parts Gunners instruments Gunners officers Gunners terms
Sea cannon
56. He beareth a cannon
mounted vpon a sea, or ship
carriage, or as other terme it, an Ordinance mounted for sea service.
The sea carriage is much different from that for land service, and hath different termes in some parts; those wherein it agrees with the land carriage are these in name, but not in shape: the cheekes, and fore-locks, the Axeltree, the bolts, the cap-squares, the hookes and forelocks. Those in which they disagree are
The Trucks, which are the little wooden wheeles (being made without any spokes) that the carriages, or the Ordinance run on.
The Bed, is that plank which lies Lowermost next the carriage vnder the breech of the peece, whereon the Quoynes do lye.
Adders
57. He beareth two Adders or serpents enwrapped or wreathed about
three culverines in fesse the mussells, or Mouthes erected.'
Mortar piece
58. He beareth a Morter peece
mounted on a carriage, the Mouth
bendwise. Morter peeces are so
called from their resemblence of
Morters, wide at the mouth and narrow
at the britch. They shoot not Levell,
but in an oblique line, by mounting
them to any degree according to the
distance of place and fall, that the shot
shall require. They are serviceable in
warre both to offend and defend; first
by shooting or casting of great Granadoes, fire-balls, massy stones and such
like, into citties, Townes, and fortresses,
to blow then vp house by house, or
breake them in peeces by the fall of
such massy weights.
And they are used also to shott from townes and forts into the enimys workes and approaches, especially when an enimy hath covertly lodged himselfe vnder some bulworke or Tower, and is beginning to vndermine them.
Related text(s) Mortar piece parts Mortar firing
Cannon rammer, ladle, sponge
59. He beareth a cannon Ramer
and a Ladle and Spunge.
These are
Instruments by which great guns are
charged, and clensed in its much
shooting.
Flask
60. He beareth a Flaske or
Powder box.
This was the fashion of the Flaske in Queene Elizabeth raigne when the Caliver was in use. Some writt it Flasque.
The Body of it was made of wood not round but square, narrow at top and broad at the bottome. See the charging part cha:[blank, probably referring to Ch. 13 no. 102.] and a kind of Round Flaske ca 2. n.58. [reference unidentifiable]
Related text(s) Flask parts Priming flask
Bandalero
61. He beareth a set of
Bandelaroes fixed, or hanging to
a belt. These are seuerall
charges made ready vp for the
Muskett, which the souldier hath
hung to the Belt ouer his left shoulder,
and so vnder the contrary Arme.
Match fired at both ends
[ Numbered 62 on the plate but here treated as 61b.]
62. He beareth a Match in forme of an ovale, fixed at both ends. This is a match ready for service; so that vpon the quick fireing, if one faile of a good coale, the other will haue it.
Match kindled
[ Numbered 63 on the plate but here treated as 61c.]
63. He beareth a Match turned round, or into a ring and fired at the end. This is the way of a souldier to roule his match about his hand when it groweth short, and that one end is fired: for it is not good posture nor commendable to hold the fire end betweene his fingers, and let the other hang downe. And when his match is cocked if the other end be not in his left hand he may be in danger of looseing it: for in fireing the match is often blowne out of the cock by the fire in the pan.
Related text(s) Bandalero parts
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