Habergeons, of various forms and dimensions, according to the fancy or circumstances of the wearer, prevailed in this age. These were generally covered by a gown or tabard, on the back and front of which the arms of the wearer were emblazoned. Jacked or boiled leather, with quilted iron-work, was also in use for defending the arms and legs. Helmets, bacinets and skullcaps, surmounted, according to the dignity of the person, formed defences for the head; and the shields were either round, triangular, or kite-shape, with the device or arms of the warrior painted upon them in glaring colours. The common soldiers wrapped pieces of cloth about the neck, their numerous folds of which formed an excellent defence from the cut of a sword. The “Ridir,” or Knight among the Highlanders, differed little in his equipment from those of the same rank in the Low Country. In battle, he was usually attended by a number of Gall-oglaich. These were soldiers selected as the stoutest and bravest of the clan, and might be considered as the “men-at-arms” among the Gaël. They were supplied either with the corslet, or the lùireach mhailleach, (the habergeon, literally the coat of rings,) and were armed with the Lochaber-axe, the clamdhmhor, (great two-handed sword) and sometimes a heavy shelving stone-axe, beautifully polished, and fixed into a strong shaft of oak.[20] In the rear of the Gall-oglaich, stood the Ceatharnaich, an inferior sort of soldiers, armed with knives and daggers. Their duty was to take, kill, or disable those whom the prowess of the front rank had brought to the ground. The boldest and most dexterous among the Gall-oglaich was made squire or armour-bearer to the chief. This man, as well as the rest of his companions, received a larger portion of victuals when they sat at their leader’s table; but the part allotted for the armour-bearer was greater than any, and called, on that account, beath fir, or, “the Champion’s Meal.”
Among the Knights of the Isles, the conical-shaped helmet was more in use than any other. From piratical habits, and long intercourse with the Norwegians, their followers in general were better equipped than those of the mainland. The habergeon was very common among them; and from the gown they put over it, being universally dyed of a yellow or saffron-colour, they presented a more uniform appearance than their neighbours.
Besides the lance and spear, the mace, the pike, the martel de fer (a sort of iron hammer), the two-handed sword, various forms of daggers, knives, clubs, flails, scythes fixed on poles, bows, cross-bows,[21] and slings made by a thong fixed to the end of a staff, were in use among the Scots. These slingers used their weapons with both hands. They had no defensive armour, and were generally placed among the archers, who were divided into companies of twenty-five men each.
The military engines in use in attacking or defending castles, or other fortified places, were the Loup de Guerre, or war-wolf, a frame formed of heavy beams, with spikes, and made to fall on the assailants in the manner of a portcullis—the Scorpion, a large stationary cross-bow of steel, which discharged darts of an uncommon size, and the Balista, Catapulta, and Trebuchet, which were engines of great power in throwing large stones, which were often heated to a high temperature. The Bricolle threw large square-headed darts, called Carreaux, or Quarrels. This engine was used by the Flemings in fortifying their factory at Berwick, called the “Red Hall.” The Espringal threw darts with brass plates, instead of feathers, to make their flight steady. The Berfrarium, an engine also called Belfredus, was made of wood, covered with skins to defend it from fire, and was formed like a tower, and of a height to overlook the walls. It consisted of several stories, and was rolled on wheels towards the object of attack, and filled with archers and spearmen; the latter, under cover of the former, either rushed upon the walls, or fought hand to hand with the besieged. The name was afterwards given to high towers erected in cities, for the purpose of alarming by bells. Hence the origin of the term “Belfrey.” The most expert in the manufacture of these engines of destruction was a monk of Durham. This man supplied the greatest portion of the artillery required for the defence of Berwick.
Respecting the state of the Arts, it would be difficult to give any thing like a circumstantial detail. That various useful mechanical professions were known and prosecuted, there is abundance of evidence to prove; but to what degree of perfection they were brought, is not so clear. That the compass was familiar to the mariners of Scotland at an early age, appears from the manner in which Barbour expresses himself, in the description of Bruce and his companions, who, in crossing from Arran to Carrick in the night-time, steered by the light of a fire upon the shore.
“For thai na nedill had, na stane,
Bot rowyt always in till ane,
Steerand all tyme apon the fyr.”
Buke Feyrd, 1. 23–25.
According to Wyntown, great attention was paid to agriculture by Alexander III., who fixed that well-known measurement of land called “Ox-gang.” The passage is worth extracting.
“Yhwmen, pewere Karl, or Knáwe,
Dat wes of mycht an Ox til hawe,
He gert that man hawe part in Pluche;
Swá wes corne in his Land enwche;
Swá than begowth, and eftyr lang
Of Land was mesure, ane Ox-gang.
Mychty men, that had mà
Oxyn, he gert in Pluchys gá.
A Pluch of Land eftyr that
To nowmyr of Oxyn mesur gat.
Be that Vertu all hys Land
Of corn he gart be abowndand.
A Bolle of átis pennys foure
Of Scottis Monè past noucht oure;
A boll of bere for awcht or ten
In comowne prys sawld wes then;
For sextene a boll of qwhete;
Or fore twenty the derth wes grete.
This fályhyd frá he deyd suddanly.”
B. vii. c. x. 507–525.