Victorian sword stick esoterica

[Jim McDougall]

LOL! Good notes Keith.....The UK and the US separated by a common language! I recall going to London years ago, thinking this is a piece of cake, its the same language ......well, half the time I needed an interpreter!
Well noted though...it is indeed about communicating, but this exercise has taught me a great deal, and that is most important to me...learning.

Back to the sword canes:
I wanted to locate cases in written works where these were noted, and perhaps content supporting how and when likely actually used, hoping for historical context.

In the archaeological strata of my 'note mountains', I found an entry from 1997, an apparent auction offering described as the sword cane of Dr. Syntax.
Completely bewildered, I looked it up:
This was one of the first 'comic' adventures written by William Combe (1742-1843) in "The Three Tours of Doctor Syntax".
I have yet to find exactly which installment held reference to a sword cane, and even more puzzling, the offering of such a weapon from a fictional character. I wish I had more of the detail!

Thus far, still looking for more literary references, but it has become interesting to see how the sword cane, apparently not a focused detail of particular notice in these early works, has become a notably used prop in modern venues.

In the Antonio Banderas version of "The Mask of Zorro" his character, Alejandro Murrietta, uses a sword cane as a trope heightening his disguise as a gentleman dandy.
In the 1968 version of "Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" starring Jack Palance, as he transforms into the evil Mr. Hyde, the sword cane again presents as a prop emphasizing his threatening character.

In "Batman", the evil character 'the Penguin' carrys a sword cane.

But in the 60's in the TV series, "The Avengers" the hero, John Steed, carries a sword cane formidably as the gentleman, FIGHTING evil and injustice.

In studying the history of such a mysteriously dynamic weapon such as the sword cane/stick, it is difficult to avoid recognizing the kinds of representations occurring in fictional sources. It is the seeds of actuality in these that give perspective to better understanding the true character of the weapon as perceived, despite the hyperbole and lore.

[Jim McDougall]

While the object of the thread is of course the sword cane, it is interesting to see the other features which also came into the 'concealed' category with these fashionable items.

In going through notes I discovered this......guns ALWAYS have to get in the act it seems This is an example of 'firearms curiosa' (Lewis Winant, 1955) that is featured in this Man at Arms article.
It is a cane with concealed gun apparently patented in Stockholm in 1885, and in US in 1895, but seems to have ceased production shortly later.
There are examples of these even produced with shoulder stocks!

In other reading, some of these sticks concealed other misc. and Toulouse Lautrec, the famed poster painter of Moulin Rouge fame, apparently had a decanter of his absinthe in his. Other sticks had various gadgets etc. to the notion of Swiss army knives.

The concept of firearms combined in swords and edged weapons was a long established idea, with various hunting swords having guns attached in the 18th c.

[urbanspaceman]

[toaster5sqn]

A.G. Maisy, thank you for the details of the Henry/Harry pronunciation. As a New Zealander I'm a long way from the "Royal" way of doing things and know of Mr Angelo only from written sources (I have his 10 divisions of the Highland Broadsword on my wall). I will note that this forum is written communication and Harry Angelo appears to have always written his name with the spelling Henry.

Robert

[A. G. Maisey]

Robert, my post #10 to this thread was not in any way a challenge to the baptismal, & thus the formal name of Harry Angelo, my post was simply an expression of my sadness, or perhaps disappointment, that Jim had chosen to use the formal "Henry", rather than the familiar "Harry".

All the other words I used in this post #10 were in the way of explanation for the many readers of this Forum who are not native speakers of the English Language, or for whom the English language is somewhat of a mystery.

During his lifetime, Henry Angelo was addressed both in speech & in writing by most people as "Harry", this was not only the usual pronunciation of "Henry" at that time, "Harry" was also the familiar form of "Henry", and use of this familiar form indicated the popularity of this fencing master with the general public, it seems that Harry had the love & status of a current era rockstar, think Mick Jagger, or Bob Dylan --- no, wait a minute, not Bob, he has now almost achieved the status of a God. But still, Harry was a Rockstar.

Henry Angelo was addressed as Harry & referred to as Harry by the people of his time, people such as Edward, Duke of York, he was referred to as Harry (& also as Henry) by later writers on the art of fence, such as Hutton & Aylward.

I felt, & still do feel, that since Harry would be regarded in friendly & familiar terms by the people who use this Forum, that the familiar "Harry" rather than the formal "Henry" was quite correct & very fitting for use by Jim. It does sadden me a little to see our fencing Rockstar reduced to a signature on a Last Will & Testament. Harry deserves better than that.

Alan
(but many people prefer to address me as "Al", & frequently misspell my family name, neither of these things cause me any concern)

[Jim McDougall]

Really regret my faux pas guys. I had no idea whatsoever that a name was such an issue in whether formal or familiar. I really hate being called James, so I guess I can relate, but meant no affront in my error. Personally it saddens me if I offend or upset anyone in my writing, and I actually work hard to recheck my text to ensure I have not worded something poorly, but in this case the matter was beyond my awareness.

With my last name, VERY few people seem to be able to pronounce it, and it is irritating when name is called at a restaurant....Mic doggle; or other distortions.
Surprising that my inadvertent use of Harry for Henry was actually correct in the Kings English, as here in Texas we are dreadfully unaware of such propriety.

As noted, I do enjoy learning, and I promise never to do it again. ........

Keith and Stu.......thank you guys for the entries regarding various sword cane related examples!!! I find myself looking into pretty much every nook and cranny seeking examples and these are great!

All best regards
Jim

[Triarii]

Thread diversion alert!
On the legal aspects of duelling (I have a number of books on this in the C16th / C17th and am expanding my interest into the roots of the duel in English law and the insinuation of the Italian duello into civil society - some of the latter makes for very dull reading indeed);

Benefit of clery gained you exemption from secular courts, originally if you were clergy, initally demonstrated by the tonsure and your garb, later (from the C14th) by reading, as from the early medieval period, only the clergy were literate. Indeed, teaching people who were imprisoned who were not clergy, to read, was an offence. Being able to read originally got you moved to an ecclesiastical court.

The reading test was used for quite a while and became a part of English Common Law, surving beyond the Reformation. Women could claim benefit of clergy in 1624 or 1629 (not clear) but didn't get full equality in this until 1691, showing that the warping of the original intent was accepted.

Over time (I can't identify the precedent), a rather appropriate opening line from Psalm 51 - one of the penitential psalms - came to be the standard reading material and became known as 'the neck verse':
“Miserere mei Deus secundum misericordiam tuam iuxta multitudinem miserationum tuarum dele iniquitates meas.” or in English;
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions”

People were known to rehearse the neck verse by rote in an attempt to claim the benefit of clergy.

The judge would ask in Latin if the defendent could read or not and the church representative would respond in Latin that 'he/she reads like a clerk'. In this case you could be whipped or fined. At some period during Henry VIIs reign, the punishment was branding on the thumb for non-clergy, as you could only get away with this once and hence the brand revealed any previous offence, but I'm having trouble with a reliable source for this.

Henry VIII extended branding to the clergy, but Edward VI abolished this and allowed Peers to claim the benefit more than once, which meant no branding (which may be the issue referred to in Byrons case), and both excepted the following from benefit of clergy: murder (in simple terms, if premediatated), poisoning, burglary, highway robbery, and sacrilege. This list was progressivley lengthened over time. The nobility (ie Peers) were not to be branded and were to be acquited for any offence, except murder and poisoning, even if they were illiterate. Hence the importance of 'hot blood and 'cold blood' in duelling and whether it was murder or manslaughter.

Benefit of Clergy was done away with acts passed in 1823, 1827 and 1841.

[kahnjar1]

As far as sword canes are concerned, they are an illegal IMPORT to New Zealand but there are many in collectors hands here. I have never owned one myself but have owned a .410 cane gun (British made). Pic below (sorry for quality) with other stuff I had at the time. Also a link to Poachers Guns which you may find of interest https://www.google.com/search? =poac...t=gws-wiz-serp
Stu