King Edward VII. as a sportsman (1911) (14590471277)

Identifier: kingedwardviiass00wats (find matches)
Title: King Edward VII. as a sportsman
Year: 1911 (1910s)
Authors: Watson, Alfred Edward Thomas, 1849-1922
Subjects: Edward VII, King of Great Britain, 1841-1910 Horses Sports -- Great Britain
Publisher: London : Longmans, Green and Co.
Contributing Library: Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine
Digitizing Sponsor: Tufts University



Text Appearing Before Image:
described in the old inventories as anEastern tulwar. Many stirrups and spurs are in the collection, thestirrups usually suggesting the idea that the designerintended them primarily for ornament, nor, indeed,can it have been supposed that the huge spurs, withtheir long five-pointed rowels, were entirely for use.Hunting swords were made as lately as the nineteenthcentury, the boar being the quarry of the wearer.There is one which Mr. Laking describes as of pro-bably Hungarian work, dated 1824. A knife withan ebony grip is fitted into one side of the sword.The history of another is recorded. It was madeat Hanover whilst His Majesty King George IV.was there, in November 1821, for the purpose ofattending a boar hunt. The hilt and scabbard mountsare of ormolu, the pommel formed as a boars head,the quillons terminating in the heads of mastiffs,the grip of ivory, with an oval medallion in thecentre, chased with the figure of Fame. The bladeis 22 inches long and back-edged, etched, blued, 94
Text Appearing After Image:
Windsor and gilt, with the Royal arms of England, themonogram G. R. surmounted by a crown andthe makers name, C. W. Eichstaedt, Hofschwerdt-feger, in Hanover. The scabbard is leather, andfitted with a steel knife and two-pronged fork. Thelast fitment calls to mind the familiar saying, Hungryas a hunter. Many of the hunting swords are fittedthus, and there is a hunting knife, probably Germanworkmanship, middle of eighteenth century, a par-ticularly handsome piece, containing knife, fork, andspoon. The deer, we know, were often brought down bythe cross-bow, and, of course, there are various speci-mens in the Royal collection, though we may not beable to discriminate between those used in war andthose made exclusively for hunting. One arbalest,or cross-bow, is dated the last quarter of the six-teenth century, and the frequent addition, probablyGerman, is once more to be found. It was madeto shoot bolts or quarrels, as they were variouslycalled, the strong steel bow being bent by means of