Irish sword production
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- čas přidán 16. 01. 2023
- This weeks video is about Irish production of swords during the medieval period and why most of the blades we find are made elsewhere.
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Your videos on traditional Irish culture, is very much appreciated. As an Irish-American, finding resources on this history is a challenge
Thank you it was a big reason for my work, the information is often lacking and leads to people getting a lot of false information.
A fine blade indeed! I myself bought the Generation 2, Gallowglass sword. And as always, thanks for the share!!
That's a beautiful sword.
It is, I need to find a day to sit down and give it a proper edge.
This is really cool. Enjoy learning about my heritage keep up the awesome work Rambling Kern 🙂🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🍀🍀🍀🍀
thank you
Seems I have missed your past few videos, I got a bit of catching up to do. Thank you for the information on the sword trade.
Well lad. I reckon a lot people really underestimate the level of trade that went on around medieval Europe, even in the more remote corners like Ireland. As a result people seem to think that the different nation were vastly more distinct and isolated from one another than they really were. This leads to the expectation that each nation had very unique arms and armour, like in video games.
ETA: of course there were some unique arms and armour specific to certain groups, like the ring pommelled sword, but not nearly to the extent that people think.
I like to think of it like fashion you might have local unique styles today but the materials are all made in the one place and shipped in. It was the same with arms and armour.
Please cover the Big Gallowglass Two Hander. Thanks, a Yank from Mesa, Arizona. U.S.A.
I plan on doing lots on them in the future but want to either get a good replica or go and see some originals.
I am surprised by this presentation; As my mother's family comes from Kerry and Roscommon, I would have thought that some 15% to 20% of imported blades would be from Portugal, Galacia, Asturias, and Navarre ! There was a great deal of trade between Ireland and the Iberian Kingdoms from the end of the Romans to Black William's Days.
There was indeed but at the time the trade networks through England and western Europe were very strong. There were Spanish and Italian blades imported too of course and all of these vary depending on the period
If I recall thos correctly, Hugh O'Neill had a vital supply line of arms (and the famous mercenary Redshanks) coming to him via western Scotland in the early phase of his rebellion against Elizabeth, not just his more well known Spanish suppliers.
Great video! I did medieval history in college & some reenacting so this is awesome to see. Not enough channels doing Irish history so fair play!
Thank you very much for the kind words and support
Thanks for covering this interesting subject. A couple of thoughts I had were that as far as I know iron ore is not widely available in Ireland. There was iron mined across Antrim but I’m unsure of the quality of this ore and if it was suitable for the production of blades. Also my understanding is that to produce steel a high temperature is necessary. I’m presuming that this high temperature needed to forge a blade was got from the burning of coal.although Ireland has many bogs the deposits of coal are of a poorer quality and may not have been able to produce the required heat. We do see in Irish culture a high skill level of workmanship on metal products like the Ardagh chalice and broaches etc but I think these are made from softer metals.
Charcoal was often used for steel production all over the globe and we had an abundance of wood. But as far as I know we had little ore available and no production set up for this manufacturing.
Really interesting stuff, I loved it! Thanks for the content, and fascinating, well-presented information 🙏🏼🙌🏽
Thank you brother
what can you tell us about pre viking swords in Ireland?
You basically have a wealth of bronze age blades then almost nothing then viking age blades the iron age is very under studied
Are you currently researching the usage of the ring pommel sword? Are there even any sources such as those found for other fencing styles?
We have a handful of references and imagery but that's it. The closest I guess would be sidesword manuals from the period but they handle totally differently.
People really should learn the term "white smith". The guy who made the armour & weapons was typically not the same guy who made your horse shoes. Many times it would've been illegal to make something controlled by another guild.
As far as I am aware a white smith refers to smiths who finished items through the various processes around that. Armour. swords and various other things often had their own specialist smiths involved. Also worth noting outside of the English controlled areas Ireland did not have the same guild structure as most other areas did.
Do you happen to have any information on period and culturally correct scabbards for these swords? I've seen the squared off scabbards with the fringe, I've seen these swords put into more traditional leather scabbards. I'm wondering if you happen to know or have any good resources where I could research this? I have a ring pommel on order and will be in the market for a scabbard. Thanks much!
As far as I know none have survived but we do have a number of pictorial sources for them almost all of them fall into the same design simple squared off with a frill on the bottom only or all the way around and all are carried in the hand not in a sling.
@@ramblingkern I wonder what the reasoning was for carrying them in the hand rather than on a belt with suspension. Seems like a good way to lose your scabbard if you ever got into a scrape. Thanks for the reply!
@@jmbsoutho from hiking through bogs I think it was so as not to get tripped up on it or fill it with mud. It's much easier to move around if you carry it rather than have it on a belt. If you look at south east Asian cultures with similar swampy terrain they often carried on the back or high up into the armpit.
@@jmbsoutho This is just a thought, but trying to drag your sword after you as you traverse the thick undergrowth of (now vanished) Irish forests, through unstable shifting soggy peatbogs and generally rough Irish terrain dotted with literal cattle tracks for roads... A scabbard dragging on every little thing would drive you nuts very quickly! 😂 Having gotten briefly stuck in a bog once, you become very conscious of your carry weight!
What I find fascinating is the similarity of the leather frills to that same feature on deerskin clothing worn by North American indigenous peoples, especially the north east - makes for a very efficient way to wick water away from your body, so why not your valuable steel sword?
What about the real early swords mate before the medieval ages?
There is some great research out there on Irish bronze swords but that's outside of my field of study at the moment. Plus it will only lead me to buying more swords haha.
@@ramblingkern Fair enough man😄
Question: Is there any evidence to prove that the swords used by the Scots and Irish tended to be a heavier weighted sword as compared to the other Euro countries?
No they were in line with all other swords and sometimes even lighter the issue is the balance very different so they feel much heavier than they are
Great vid ! Where did you source you're replica ??
Niello-swords as he stated. He also has a video of an out of the box first look
Yes indeed niello swords did a great custom job on this one.
@@ramblingkern thanks , I really like the look of it and it seems to be nicely weighed too 👍
@@O3177O I botched it a little by making the handle slightly bigger to fit my hands I should have kept it smaller but I will cover that in a full review video.
Do you ever do earlier periods? Like 10th to 12th c?
Yes I will touch on them eventually. There are a lot of people covering those periods however so I like to cover lesser known periods.
Its incredibly hard to find a decent kern arming sword that isnt going to rob my blind buying it.
Can you suggest anywhere?
Id apricate any help you could give.
From a friend from Belfast.
Do you mean a ring pommel or classic solid pommel? Do you want it for fencing or cutting?
@ramblingkern ring. Blunt preferred but I wouldn't say no to a live blade.
@@me_caveman2540 kvetun armoury for blunt and Neilo sword for sharp.
@ramblingkern Thank you very much, good sir.