|
When most people think of the Highland warriors, it’s the sword and targe that comes to mind. Unfortunately, no Gaelic manual for the use of these weapons is known to exist. We base our practice of the sword and targe on a combination of three sources.
Twenty-one years after Sir William Hope published his New Method based on the stage gladiators, one of the actual Scottish stage gladiators published a manual of his own. Donald McBane was a mercenary, gambling boss, pimp, duelist and prizefighter, so it is no surprise that his work is considerably less genteel than that of the gentlemanly Hope. McBane presents a rough and tumble version of the Common Method of backsword play and smallsword fencing, including several “dirty tricks” and repeated warnings not to trust your opponent, no matter how honorable he may appear. McBane himself was born in the Highlands, in the region of Inverness. He refers to himself as having “Highland blood,” and his first experience of combat was as a young soldier in the last full-scale battle between two Highland clans. There are some indications in his memoirs that Scots Gaelic was in fact his native language.
McBane’s backsword instructions are simple, few in number, and recognizably similar to those found in later works on the Highland broadsword. McBane also includes some brief advice on archaic weapon combinations, including the sword and targe. McBane advises that the targe is very dangerous to those who don’t know how to use it properly. If it is held the wrong way, it can create a dangerous blind spot. To avoid this, make sure to hold the targe with the edge facing the enemy, not the flat. This advice is also found in the writings of the Renaissance Italian master Giacomo DiGrassi.
During this last uprising of the Highland clans in 1745-1746, an anonymous artist in the Penicuik area drew a number of illustrations of Highland warriors posing with sword and targe. While this work is not a fencing manual and wasn’t intended to illustrate technique, it is a window into how the Highlanders actually used their weapons. The guards shown in the Penicuik sketches seem to favor the aggressive use of the targe to close the line and control the opponent’s weapons, allowing the sword to attack or counterattack freely. This is not a style in which the shield is merely used to passively block the opponent’s attacks.
Our third and most complete source is Thomas Page’s Use of the Broadsword from1746. This obscure text (which was recently made available by the Linacre School of Defence) is perhaps the most interesting of all surviving manuals on the Highland broadsword. It contains such unusual features as a system of circular footwork including both lunges and passes, a collection of secret strikes previously taught only to select students, and most interestingly of all a complete system for the use of the sword and targe.
Although this claim has generated some controversy, Page describes his method as being the authentic Highland system. Page’s method includes features associated with typical sword and target technique from mainland Europe, including the use of passing footwork and binding the opponent’s weapons with the targe to allow the sword to attack unopposed.
Our interpretation of Page’s broadsword and targe is highly aggressive and dynamic, based on suppression and control of the opponent’s weapons.
Here is the video curriculum for the Sword and Targe:
|
