by Freebeard on Fri May 08, 2009 12:50 am
I dunno if this is of any use to you, hope it is though.
It is a translation of a text written in 1397. There is an article out there based on the writings (J.P. Mahaffy "Two Early Tours of Ireland" in Hermathena printed in 1914) - I can't find it anywhere though.
Though I found this in an article by Katherine Simms on medieval warfare.
Anyhoo the writing is an observation on the horsemen of Niall Óg Ó���o�s "king" of Tír �gha�:
�quot;He has indeed forty horsemen, riding without saddle on a cushion, and each wears a slashed cloak ; moreover they are armed with coats of mail, and wear them girded, and they have throat-pieces of mail and round helmets of iron with swords and sword-blades and lance very long, but very thin in the manner of ancient lances, and they are two fathoms long...."
As I said I came across this in an article I was reading today by Katherine Simms.
yes the writing comes from the tail-end of the 14th century but may be taken as applying to the 15th century also.
I thought it may of use to you in your hunt.
Now, this may not be an entirely accurate image of Medieval Irish cavalry, but then again it might be.
The description of the spear is interesting - it claims to be around 10-12 feet long, and very thin, as to make it light, i'm assuming, which seems to fit in nicely with the idea of the horseman using the spear in a downwards thrusting motion (ref. the Bayeux Tapestry), as opposed to an under-arm crouched position like was becoming favourable (so it is said) with horsemen in England and Europe at this time.
I hope this helped in some way
Andrew
Last edited by
Freebeard on Tue May 12, 2009 8:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-'Dligid Diummus Dermat'
"Wyt ti’n ffrwtin fel gwyddel"
(you are farting like an irishman)