Note 195 — LAKE DWELLINGS. PART II.

Journal Royal. Hist. and Arch. Asso. of Ireland, vol. vi. (4th Series), pp. 406-8.—Rev. James Graves.

“Solinus relates that the Irish formed the handles of their swords from the teeth of large sea-monsters which they polished to a most beautiful whiteness.” “That the handles were very much smaller than those of modern swords with guards, and used for cutting as well as thrusting, there can be no doubt, yet some of them are large enough to receive a moderate-sized hand. Without discussing the generally received opinion that the men who used such swords had very small hands—like some of the Asiatics of the present day—the mode of using these weapons must not be forgotten. They were employed for stabbing and fencing, in which the middle, ring, and little fingers alone grasped the handle completely, while the thumb and fore-finger passed upwards on each side of the blade, fitting into the curved hollows of the hilt—and not like the method of the cavalry soldier of the present day, who, when about to deal a heavy blow, grasps his weapon with the closed hand, which must occupy a space of about four and a-half inches.”—Cat. Mus., R.I.A., p. 456.