The Pilgrims also brought two other principal kinds of hand firearms with them, the fowling piece and the pistol. The fowling piece, or birding piece as it was often called, was usually a huge gun. In 1621 Edward Winslow wrote from Plymouth to prospective colonists in England and advised them concerning their needs. Regarding these fowlers, he counseled, “Let your piece be long in the barrel; and fear not the weight of it, for most of our shooting is from stands.” This was in keeping with the best contemporary sporting theory which contended that barrels five and a half or six feet long would increase the range of the gun and produce a flatter trajectory for the bullet. Such guns were almost always flint arms, although there may have been a few wheel locks.
A flint musket with the so-called dog lock, about 1637; a later flintlock musket, about 1690; a wheel lock musket, 1620-1650; the long fowler which belonged to John Thompson.
John Thompson’s “dog lock” pistol.
Fortunately one such fowling piece which belonged to a Plymouth settler, John Thompson, has survived, and is preserved in the Old Colony Historical Society Museum at Taunton, Massachusetts. It is 88½ inches long with a 73½ inch barrel of .84 caliber. The lock is a primitive form of flintlock known to collectors today as an “English lock.” The stock is oak and was undoubtedly made in this country.
In addition to their long guns, the Plymouth settlers also brought some pistols. Inventories of their estates contain listings of such hand guns, including one “double pistol.” All the pistols would have been either wheel locks or flint arms. The matchlock was almost never used for pistols by Europeans, although it is frequently found on Oriental hand guns. Once more it is a weapon of John Thompson that has survived to show what at least one of the Plymouth pistols looked like. Preserved in Pilgrim Hall, it is a most interesting weapon. Many of the pieces are missing from the lock, but enough survive to indicate it was the type of flintlock that is often called a “dog lock” by modern collectors because of the little dog catch which held the cock in the half-cock position. The barrel is brass with interesting moulded decorations, and the wooden stock has a butt closely resembling those found on many wheel lock pistols of the first quarter of the 17th century.
These were the kinds of firearms which the Plymouth colonists used in the years from 1620 till 1690. Before leaving the subject, however, it would be well to mention one form which was not used but which has become intimately associated with the Pilgrims in popular imagination—the blunderbuss. This colorful weapon with the flaring muzzle was developed on the Continent of Europe about the middle of the 17th century, some thirty years after the Mayflower landed at Plymouth. It was some years later before it reached England. As a weapon, it was a highly specialized arm. The flared muzzle was designed to spread the shot in a wide pattern and thus do as much damage as possible to a closely packed group of enemies at comparatively short range. It was of no use against scattered foes at a distance. Actually, it was the direct ancestor of the modern riot gun or the shot gun used by prison guards. It was not popular in America until about 1700 when the growth of cities and increasing population created here the conditions under which it was effective.