Weapons of Ireland: Introduction to the Sparth axe
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- čas přidán 5. 12. 2022
- I had a request to go into some information on the axes used by the Gallowglass the foreign mercenaries who settled in Ireland in the Medieval period. Their axes became known as Sparth axes and this video goes into some details on them.
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Such a great breakdown of an underappreciated weapon of history. 👌
Thank you for the support mate
I'm looking to get on of these. Think it would go nicely with my Gallowglass bastard sword and dagger combo. (Gen. 2) Thanks for the share!!
I have found several gallowglass and viking axes from a river in ireland now on my wall.
Have you had them documented as they are incredibly rare items.
Great video. Very informative and well-researched. I’ve always had a bit of a gra for Galloglass and the unique military context of Ireland up til the 1600s. Good stuff.
Thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it.
If I may suggest a series idea... surface level-in-depth history of each county throughout Ireland.
It would be an interesting one for sure but with thousands of years to cover on each county it would also be a very tough one to do.
@@ramblingkern It would give you plenty of content for sure. Each video wouldnt have to be more than 15 minutes long as you can simply highlight events. In addition, you can also break each county up into several videos hence easing the workload. My great grandparents came from Ireland, County Clare and County Down, here to the U.S. in the 1920s but never got to speak with them about it.
@@SoldierofChrist9 for sure I could potentially even do one for each significant historical period. Definitely one for me to ponder.
Arms & Armour, here in the US, make a very nice preproduction sparth axe. Great video, keep em' coming.
Yes I have seen their work sadly getting things from the states incurs big customs fees hers so can add a ton of cost.
Thank you Kern. I appreciate learning from you and the other commenters
My pleasure thank you mate
Here's a request for a future video: There are a few odd-looking spears/javelins seen in Ireland, One, a tanged javelin point, is a helix twisted at least 180 degrees, so that the wound it makes would be a circular hole. Another one, had a blade with three expanded sections at 90 degrees (perpendicular) to each other, forming a kind of "X" shape.
I have not seen the first one any idea where it was found? The second sounds like a sub type of arrowhead common in the viking age but have not seen a javelin sized one.
I'd personally love to see some more videos on the Gallowglass, I just think they're "the sh#t!" 😂. Thanks for another informative video Nathan, keep'em coming👍. If you do end up making more content on these Fighting men or if you just wanna know more about them, I'd highly recommend a read of "The World of The Gallowglass" by Seán Duffy and "Gallowglass 1250-1600 Garlic Mercenary Warrior" by Fergus Cannan. Both also go indepth into Irish warfare in general and the latter includes some fantastic illustrations by Seán Ó Brógáin that I'm sure you'd appreciate.
P.s my own léine arrived last week from "the medieval market" and I'm absolutely delighted with it! Just wanted to say thanks again for recommending them 👌
Ah superb news on the Leine I will for sure do plenty of videos on them and I have that first book might get that second one for Christmas.
Maybe Santy will throw in an ol'Sparth axe body spray aswell if you're being good 👍😁👍
Cool. More please.
Love the channel. So glad someone is doing this! Would love to see a videos on the irish bronze age weapons
Yes I really want to do a series on them but it's a really big topic but I know some people who work in the area I will have to get in touch with.
@@ramblingkern looking forward to it already!
Amazing introduction, there is one subject I have been interested in recently; but I have not been able to dive into yet, that is Knighthood in Ireland and it's similarities and differences from other continental forms.
Go raibh maith agat
Well done as always!
Perhaps this is the wrong video to ask; I know Albrecht Dürer's illustrations should always be taken with a grain of salt, but his famous depiction of gallowglass and kerns shows two kerns wielding a socketed voulge/Lochaber axe. Do we have any other evidence that these were used?
Additionally, the kern's role on the battlefield is typically described as mobile skirmishers/harassers. How would a kern employ/wear a relatively large weapon in conjunction with their ranged weapons without sacrificing agility? Were there kerns who were more or less just light infantry and did not engage in harassing/ranged combat?
Keep at it Nathan! Always look forward to your videos.
Axes aren't the cumbersome weapon media would lead you to believe, they weigh about the same as a sword.
Yes as Mariuscz mentions axes are not that awkward to use and interestingly are often depicted in Ireland as being used as walking aids as they have been used in many parts of Europe.
There is lots of evidence of lochaber axes in Scotland but similar shapes pop up here and there. There is one that looks very similar I will try find the name of when home.
I would also say carrying a handful of darts or javelins would be as awkward as an axe possible to do the two together and definitely one for me to test out in the future.
It's interesting to note the Scots were using bows heavily at the time which implies the gallowglass were too which reflects Durer's painting too.
@amielarboleda760 check out the webinar on youtube called "500 Years of Dürer's Irish Soldiers & Peasants". It basically puts forward, and I agree, that Durer did not draw these guys from life and was using others accounts as sources, etc. The axes are just one more argument pointing to him not knowing what irish axes looked like.
Agree with all points brought up, hence why I said 'relatively large' rather than cumbersome weapon. I think Nathan understood what I was meaning, it's more a question of "how did one carry their axe, javelins, and/or bows and arrows into a suitable range, and then transition into engaging into ranged combat, eventually into the melee and then retreat"? If the kerns were engaging in an ambush or raid this is more easily reconciled, however, say they were fighting in an open boggy battle field carrying all their armaments. The logistics of it all may be complicated.
Perhaps I am over thinking it and relying too much on Durer's illustration. For instance, I can imagine that most kerns would have just easily carried their axe/pole weapon and extra javelins/darts on the off-hand, while throwing with their primary hand while on the move. Perhaps they didn't even carry their primary melee weapon into the skirmishing phase of combat and only retrieved it when the melee started.
What's really confusing me in particular, is (if Durer's illustration is to be believed) how a kern or gallowglass would have carried a longer primary melee weapon into battle in conjunction with using a bow. Durer's illustration shows a gallowglass carrying arrows without a quiver. Again probably unlikely, it's just too awkward to handle a sheaf of arrows like that. If they didn't use quivers they most likely just carried the arrows in their bow hand.
@@amielarboleda760It may be that Durer's drawing shows three Galloglas in varied dress, and accompanied by some few of their servants.
I suspect that the uniformity seen in Derricke's Images of Ireland is simply the result of a 16th century cut and paste exercise?
So here one wears a mail coat, one his padded armour, and a third is shown in his expensive looking mantle.
These three men wear shoes, which could reflect their wealth and status, and two carry swords.
The Galloglas in mail carries his side arm, the sword, the size of which might be exaggerated.
He also carries arrows or perhaps these are simply fletched darts as described to Durer. At least one of them has that flared head seen on war darts on the Continent ( Tod's Workshop).
The servant behind may then carry the man's main weapon, his axe, which is the weapon most associated with the Galloglas.
A man with both a great sword and an axe would be overburdened, as such large swords are shown being carried rather than slung on the back.
A man could easily carry several darts and an axe or great sword, whilst wearing a sword and dirk on his belt. He could cast his darts and then have at it with his axe. A bow? Not so much.
The fluid nature of Irish warfare would seem to preclude both weighing a man down in such a manner, and also the setting down of melee weapons for later retrieval.
The man in padded armour carries his spear, as is his wont. Axes were of limited use against lance wielding cavalry. The English nobility had set aside their traditional foot fighting in the late 15th century, and Border horse were hired, and then later transported to Ireland by James in his efforts to pacify his Middle Shires.
The Swiss are said to have increased the number of spearmen after the battle of Arbedo, where their halberdiers faced both armoured cavalry, and dismounted men at arms wielding their lances as spears.
The third man is unarmoured. Could this be a Galloglas shown in his everyday clothing, carrying his sword, or does it show a prosperous Kern?
The artist renders the war bow in a style he is familiar with, but the colours of the heartwood and the sapwood are reversed. Is it there to explain the darts, or is it more likely that it should it be with the servants?
I'm sure Stuart Reid believes that the bow-armed Humblies would shoot their longbows in support of the
" Highland gentlemen" as they charged.
If Durer is drawing from a description, written or otherwise, then any errors are understandable.
Did the Irish ever make use of the Peasant's Flail?
It's entirely possible but I don't know of any records of it.
This video probably shows how the iron was made at the time, using a bloom furnace to make bog iron. czcams.com/video/F3rjjpuhCLI/video.html
Nice one I had a few friends make bog iron it's an amazingly time consuming bit of work.
were there axes that were designed to be half way in between tool 1s and battle 1s?
No these were specifically designed for war they would not be suitable at all for working with. It's something I plan on doing a video on in the future.
Did they ever use shorter, one-handed axes, or were they solely polearm-length?
Most of the axes we find are two handed. You would be surprised how small some of these two handed heads are a big part for this was to help them get through armour etc.
I was wondering about the servants who are said to carry the equipment of gallowglasses and that use bows to assist them. Do you think they would have had access to fency saffron died léine or was their social status perhaps too low? Did these servants eventually become gallowglass themselves ?
Definately something I would have to research before I could give any real answer on. Most sections of society wore the Leine just the quality and style varied on social class.
Didnt Gerald of Wales illustrate the Irish using axes?
He did indeed by the 12 century the axe was pretty popular amongst the Irish due to the viking influence amongst other things
@@ramblingkern their axes still kinda resembled the " dane axe" in appearnce. When did they start becoming that weird shape?
Also can you recommend a book on medieval Irish weapons? Have you done a video on swords?
@@lusolad appart from one guy who made the national museum write 13th century on the plaques, most expert believe the style seen in the thumbnail to be 15th century, as it is only seen in art around 1470. But we also lack art in general, however the silver geometric designs would tend to indicate a later date than the 13th-14th century.
@@lusolad right around the mid 1400s they start to become the shapes of those 4 groups I showed. It is hard to say if there is a singular book it depends on the period. I have done some on swords but plan to do a number more.
I’ve done a bit of reading up on this over the years and, despite attempts by modern day enthusiasts to identify a specific style of Galloglass axe, it seems the only over-arching characteristic was its length. As the video points out, there were several different styles all being used pretty much at the same time. Some of these , even in the 16th C, are indistinguishable from the Dane Axe in bit shape but all descriptions give them hafts of between 5 and 6 ft long.
Your description of the origin of gallowglass is n totally different to what i have always heard that they were mainly norse gaelic from the outer hebrides of scotland not Anglo norse from england. I mean look at their Surnames McCabes ,McSweeneys ,McDonalds,Mcshehy and so ,those are not English names.
Anglo Norse is a mistake on my part I was referring to the Northumbria / Danelaw area and obviously the Manx. Norse Scot would be a better term but still not 100% right either. I will do a proper video on them at some point and say it correctly 😂
I actually snipped it as it annoyed me how much of a brain fart and how wrong that statement was.
@@ramblingkern We all make mistakes and i was really uncomfortable about drawing attention to it,since despite the Username i use i'm no expert on the gallowglasses or any of the material you cover i just have an interest in the subject and want to learn more.