A more leaf-shaped blade (14 inches), with rivet notches at the side of the base, was found, with leaf-shaped spear-heads, at Worth,[956] Washfield, Devon. Possibly this, as suggested by Mr. Tucker, F.S.A., was originally a sword from which the hilt was broken.
A blade more like Fig. 321 (15¼ inches long and 1 inch broad) was found in the Mardyke, near Grays Thurrock,[957] Essex. Some of the weapons of this kind, like one from the Thames at Kingston (11½ inches), appear to have been made from broken sword or rapier-like blades.
A long-tanged form, of which it is sometimes difficult to say whether it is a sword, a knife, or a dagger, is of not unfrequent occurrence in Ireland. That shown in Fig. 322 is in my own collection.
I have another found near Armagh (8½ inches), which is rather broader in its proportions. It has a diagonal row of circular indentations across each side of the blade just above the shoulders. Not improbably these and other specimens originally existed in a somewhat different form, but having been injured at their base were refitted with a tang for attachment to the haft instead of being secured by rivets at the sides like those last mentioned.
Some Danish daggers are provided with merely a slight tang like that of a modern chisel.
Fig. 321.—Ely. ½ — Fig. 322.—North of Ireland.½ — Fig. 323.—Raphoe. ¼
Another form of blade is more of the nature of a bayonet than of a rapier, yet this would appear to be the proper place in which to notice it. The example shown in Fig. 323 is in the collection of Canon Greenwell, F.R.S., and was found at Raphoe, Co. Donegal.
The section of the blade is nearly square, and the faces are ornamented with parallel engraved lines. It ends in a tang with a single hole through it, and with it was found a ferrule of bronze for receiving the end of the handle.