Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-04

of ancient warriors to call their swords by
some distinguishing name. Charlemagne TWO
sword swords We're called JoyenseS h ana Fahar
(the trenehant), "Al Battar (thee beater},
"Medham" (the keen), "Halef' (the deadly.
Ais sword was 'Zulfagar;" a
King Arthurs was called 'Excanpur, anu
of the manner in which he first got posses
told
1t is said that after the death o., the Pen
dragon, the many claimants Tor the crown 2NN.l
were ordered to assemble on Christmas Eve
they found sword stuck in stone ahVil,
and bearing this inscription: HE VINO can
draw forth this sword, the same is to be KING:
All tried, but none was able to Draw ~
was about to be held, young Prince, Arthur,
not having known of the meeting OF the c!aiin' cam
ants, but having noticed the sword accloeh
tally, without knowing it was charmed, shatcn
ed it out of the stone, whereupon ne was ihi
mediately chosen king. c. u7.,..
Swords often bore inscriptions. Sir Walter
Scott, in his History of Scotland, has the
following remark:
"Scotsmen have hanging like hallowed relics
above their domestic hearths, the swords with
which their fathers served the Bruce at Ban
nockburn." e, r.s.
One of these, kept by an old family in Fife,
has this inscription:
cat Bannockburn I served the Bruce,
OF which the Inglis had no ruse
The sword of James ~, Of Scotland, siam
at Flodden (15O3), had the motto, bspolf
conforte lie greval;" the meaning OF the last
word is not known.
A sword in the Tower of London. has over
it representation of the Cruci6xion, with
the words, "Miri-Sinal- Mis-" supposed to be
an alteration of an Italian phrase which means
"Threatenings unto due proyocation. ~,
We have noticed how the Scotch valueo va tne
e ll,o,, and
we find the same admiration for these ir Weap-
ons. Poetry and song abound in illustration
of this feeling What schoolboy does tof not
know Mrs Norton's beautiful poem, blngen
warriors sword getting an honored place IN
the household?
''Tell my mother that her other sons will COM
fort her old age, ,,.
For was but truant bird who thought hls
home cage;
For my father was a soldier, and, even as
child, -
Nv heart leaped forth to hear him tell of
struggles fierce and wild; :.
And when he died and left us to divide MS
scanty hoard,
let them take whate'er they woulo, put kept
nv fathers sword;
And with boyish love / hung it where the
bright light used to shine
On the cottage walls of Bingen, fair Bingen
on the Rhine"
There are other uses for the sword besides
fighting the enemy; they are also emblems OF
judicial vengeance or punishment, OF authority
or power. Edward the Confessor's sword was
called "Curtana" the CUTTER; it was a blunt
sword of State, carried before the soverelgns
of England at their coronation, and was EN-,
blematical of mercy. Besides the Curtana, still
seen in the Tower of London, there are the
other two swords OF justice, temporal and
ecclesiastical, borne before the sovereign at
coronations.
In the crown room of Edinburgh Castle, seen
among the regalia is the sword of State pre-
sented by Pope Julius II to James lV. The
scabbard is richly wrought in iligree work of
silver. representing oak boughs adorned with
leaves and acornsean oak tree being the her
aIdic device Of that warlike pontiff.
The executioners sword of the fifteenth
century is twenty-seven inches in length; the
bit and handle resemble the lansquenet sword
Of the sixteenth century. The blade has a
oallows @ engraved on it, and the date 1907
To the eyes of the amateur these different
kinds of swords and their beautiful workman
shin are of great artistic value, especially when
the date of their manufacture is shown by the
stamp. The handles are often most beauti-
fuIjv ornamented with embossed and engrav.
ed work; many are adorned with precious
stones.