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#1 | |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 10,459
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#2 |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
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"...before 1855, swords obtained by the Board of Ordnance were often stamped with the Board's mark, a broad arrow and the letters BO. After the abolition of the Board in 1855, this marking was replaced by a broad arrow and the letters WD, standing for War Department."
"Swords of the British Army", Brian Robson, revised 1996, p.279 |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 671
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Hi there
just or for a question. I have read somewhere about the origin of the "broad arrow". The deer, which roamed freely in England, were owned by the Crown (Like our horses and wild cows, in Argentina, called for that "reyunos"). To hunt them, an arrow with a wide iron was used. The archer who was found with this arrow was hanged with the string of his own bow. Is that? |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: In the wee woods north of Napanee Ontario
Posts: 395
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Fernando that's an interesting theory. Certainly wide arrowheads are made to hit arteries and bleed the animal before it runs too far away, the same reason we use them today.
Steel was a valuable commodity and placing govt. marks on the products would make selling or having it in your possession a dangerous thing. I would think the average person would not have access to steel files or other means of removing the arrow marking. |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Mar 2012
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Does anyone know when the broad arrow was first used on weapons to signify government ownership?
During the reign of of Queen Anne, the Rose and Crown mark was replaced by the Crown and Crossed Sceptres mark, and the Royal Cypher had a broad arrow added underneath. (Ref H.L. Blackmore, "British Military Firearms 1650-1850". p265.) So it seems accepted that the arrow appears of firearms from the very early 1700's. In "The Brown Bess" by Goldstein & Mowbray they depict a style of early crowned arrow stamp used from from 1706-11. I have a heavily restored musket of King William's reign, it has a no arrows at all and a paper written by David Williams "The Flintlock Ordnance Muskets of William III and their Supply" includes a description of their markings (ten muskets were used for his study) and there is no mention of an arrow used to lock, stock or barrel. King William III died in 1702 & his wife Ann became queen, this supports the evidence that the arrow appears, on firearms, during Queen Ann's reign. Last edited by adrian; 4th February 2021 at 09:05 PM. |
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#6 | |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 10,459
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Excellent entry Adrian!!! We crossed posts ![]() |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Scotland
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That's great info guys. Obviously my knowledge of firearms is limited so thanks Corrado and Fernando for the pistol markings. The crown and cypher are obviously not necessarily exclusive of the broad arrow.
And great cannon ball Will. CC |
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#8 | |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Portugal
Posts: 9,694
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#9 |
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Room 101, Glos. UK
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An Order in Council of 1664, relating to the requisitioning of merchant ships for naval use, similarly authorised the Commissioners of the Navy "to put the broad arrow on any ship in the River they had a mind to hire, and fit them out for sea"; while the Embezzlement of Public Stores Act 1697 (9 Will. 3, c. 41) sought to prevent the theft of military and naval property by prohibiting anyone other than official contractors from marking "any Stores of War or Naval Stores whatsoever, with the Marks usually used to and marked upon His Majesties said Warlike and Naval or Ordnance Stores; ... [including] any other Stores with the Broad Arrow by Stamp Brand or otherwise".
This implies it was 'usually used' on ordinance stores for a fair amount of time previous to the 1697 date. |
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#10 |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 10,459
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"...the BROAD ARROW mark now making its appearance on ordnance stores was a Government mark which can be traced back to the 14th c. , when in 1386, a certain Thomas Stokes was condemned to the pillory for pretending to be a Kings officer and marking some barrels of ale with the 'AREWHEDE' mark. Although the Broad arrow mark s mentioned in the 1699 notice it does not seem to have been generally introduced until the reign of Queen Anne. Throughout the reigns of Charles II, James II and William III, the two government marks stamped on gun barrels were the rose and crown mark and the Royal Cypher. On the locks the Royal cypher was engraved in the middle, with the name of the maker across the tail".
"British Military Firearms 1650-1850" Howard L. Blackmore, 1962, p.262 The reference to the 1699 notice refers to a notice in the London Gazette, Feb. 1699 drawing attention to an act of Parliament against the embezzlement of stores: "...the marks on his Majesty's arms...which are, the Kings cypher in the reign in which they were made and the rose and crown on the barrels, and SOMETIMES THE BROAD ARROW........". It would seem that beyond these provisions for marking of the locks and barrels of firearms, it was the STOCK that was marked with the broad arrow and BO. ...according to plates in Blackmore. |
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