The Targe ~  An Targaid  

by Joe Lindsay, The Targemaker

From the 1500s until the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Scottish Highlander's main means of defence in battle was his targe.

This was a circular shield, ranging from 18" to 21" in diameter. It was made by pegging together  two very thin layers of wooden boards, with their grains at right angles, and covering the front face with tough cow-hide. This leather face was nailed to the boards with up to a thousand brass ( or sometimes silver ) dome headed nails in various patterns. Occasionally, brass plates would also be nailed on for strength and decoration. Often the leather would be embossed or scored in intricate "Celtic style" designs.

About a quarter of the  surviving targes show signs that they would have had a removable spike screwed into the centre boss. This would have converted the targe from defensive to offensive mode! The spike could be unscrewed and kept in a leather sheath on the back of the targe when not in use.
I am only aware of one spike, which I would say is genuinely original. It is with a targe, dating from the 1640s , which belonged to a Major James Stewart. This spike is of square section, very thin and sharp, and about 12" long!

The backs of targes were usually covered in deerskin, or similar, and some, ( in Inverary Castle ) have straw padding behind this to cushion the blows.
Handles and arm-straps vary from metal drawer-type handles and adjustable leather-belt arm-straps, to two simple straps of leather. It can be seen that throughout the years, some targes have had many replacement handles.

In 1745,  William Lindsay, a wright from Perth made hundreds of targes for Bonnie Prince Charlie's army. He charged  five shillings for an ordinary targe, and ten shillings for an officer's targe.

Many people imagine that targes were made to "clan" designs, but this is unlikely, although there were certainly some popular basic patterns, The nearest I know to a " clan" design  would be four identical targes which came from the family armoury of Castle Grant. They are now in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Many of the targes which remain in museums and private collections, are very intricate, and would  have been preserved because they had belonged to important persons. A few of the most intricate have a special  feature – a removable centre boss, which is lined with deer horn, and can be used as a drinking cup !

In the early days, a well made targe would have offered good protection from sword and bayonet thrusts, and maybe even the occasional musket ball !  A full clan of Highlanders charging with broadswords, targes and dirks would have been an awesome sight. 

It is thought by some that the clansman would put his left hand completely through the handle and grip his dirk in this hand in order to use it on his foe. This is very unlikely as it would render the targe virtually useless for defence. This misunderstanding stems from a painting by David Morier, which he painted shortly after Culloden. The painting contains various doubtful details relating to the use of targes, and unfortunately these have been copied down the years.

It is much more likely that the clansman would have simply held his dirk and the targe handle both in his left hand, in order to instantly access the dirk should he lose or break his sword.

By the time of the Battle of Culloden, targes were virtually obsolete for the purpose of massed battles, as they were ranged against cannon, and ranks of muskets, which by that time were relatively powerful and accurate.

I show on this page, six reproduction targes from my range. Each design is closely based on an actual existing original targe.

The GORDON targe which belonged to the Duke of Gordon, in 1715 when he was Marquis of Huntly, and raised his clan in the  Jacobite cause. Now in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

 JOE LINDSAY, TARGEMAKER, NORTH KESSOCK, INVERNESS
www.targemaker.co.uk       

Early Scottish Weapons

Here we discuss most of the early Scottish weapons referred to in contemporary literature.
Some of the names are in old Scots or English and further research is underway to identify them.
We are indebted to Master Armourer Thomas Yeudall of the famous Claymore Armoury in Ayrshire for help with this section.

Bowis and dorlochis. Bows and arrows were in use in Scotland up until the end of the 17th century and were used for hunting and in battles. Bowis is the old spelling of bows and dorlochis means quivers.

Brigantiflis. This is a corruption of brigantine which was a kind of armour used in the 15th & 16th Centuries. Also called jack, it looked a bit like a modern flak jacket and was lined with metal plates. Any lead ball that penetrated it would be flattened like a dumdum bullet and was less likely to cause critical injury.

Broadsword. From the mid 16th century, basket hilt swords were in common use in Scotland. The idea of a basket to protect the hand first came to England and then Scotland from Scandinavian and German sword makers.. By the mid 17th century, ribbon baskets were being made in large quantities and by the turn of the 18th century, the Highland basket was reaching its full pattern. With the addition of the final rear wrist guard at the time of Culloden, it had fully matured. All basket hilt swords after 1746 were of military pattern.

Culveringis. This is the old plural for culverin which was a piece of artillery that had the same calibre and fired the same size shot as cannons but was a quarter to a third longer than a cannon. The rate of fire of such guns was very slow, possibly about 10 shots an hour and the gunnery was frequently inaccurate. It's reported that in the English Civil War, a small culverin blasted away "most of the night and day . . . the greatest execution it did . . . was a bullet shot out of it entered into a house and burst the bottom of a fryen pan." After which the Royalists withdrew "that they might eate their Christmas pyes at home . . ."  The calibre of a culverin - the internal diameter of its barrel - would be about 13cm and it would weigh a massive 1800 kgs. The weight of the shot - iron or even stone balls - was just under 7 kgs and the weight of the powder needed to propel it was just over 8 kgs. Each cannon needed a team of horses and men to get it into position and operate it and the culverin needed eight horses and up to 50 men.

Dirk. The Biodag (pr: beedak ) or dirk was a long stabbing knife up to 50cms long which was ideal for close quarter fighting and would be held behind the targe as mentioned above. The more affluent Highlanders would keep the dirk in a sheath often with one or more smaller knives or a knife and fork held by smaller sheathes. After the 1745 uprising, many broadswords were cut down and made into dirks. The sheath would often be hung round the Highlander's waist or attached to a special dirk belt - the criosan biodag (pr: creeshan beedak).

Halbertis. The halberd or battle-axe was a Swiss invention which was a combination of spear and axe on a long handle. It was a direct descendant of the old Gallowglass two-handed, 12 inch bladed axe and was particularly effective against horsemen since the foot soldier could cut and thrust with it.

Pistolettis. The pistol - dag (pr: daag) - was much handier than the long flintlock musket of the time which was too large and cumbersome for war. Scottish flintlock pistols were unique in that they were all steel and they were very popular weapons with the Highlanders. Many drawings of Highlanders show a couple of pistols tucked into their belt and a powder horn hanging round their neck. They also carried a leather pouch which contained the lead shot. With the old pistols you could only fire one shot and then the gun had to be reloaded. If you were in a battle, you couldn't ask your enemy to hang on whilst you reloaded, so the Highlanders would throw them away as soon as they'd fired them and then charged with their other weapons — broadsword, dirk and targe. Their reasons for throwing them away rather then tucking them back in their belts were very practical — if they won the battle they could always come back and find them. If they lost the battle, they could run away a lot quicker without being weighed down by them.

Slevis of plate or mailye. Armoured sleeves of steel plate or chain mail.

Speris of sex elnis land.  Spears of six elns long. Eln was another name for the old measurement an ell. An English ell was 45" long (1.1m) whereas the Scottish ell was four fifths of that - 91cm. That makes the spears almost 5½ m long.

Swerdis. Swords. These were essential weapons for the Highlanders and almost all of them would have what was called a broadsword - a one-handed sword with a basket hilt - that's a metal guard around the handle which protects the hand. The favourite fighting method was with a broadsword in one hand and a targe (shield) on the other arm.

Tua handit swerdis. The famous two-handed sword, the Claymore, (claidheamohmor - great sword) first made its appearance around 1490 and was developed by the Hebridean Gallowglass warriors. This early Highland version measured between 53 and 60 inches overall. About 90 years later came a new version with a slightly shorter blade of between 51 and 57 inches. This was developed by the Redshanke mercenaries who fought throughout Europe, but by then, musket power was becoming the new weapon of war. The overall length of the Lowland two-handed sword was between 53 and a massive 75 inches . This sword was developed by Gallowglass and Lowland mercenaries serving in Europe with the Swiss and Landsknechts mercenaries of the 15th & 16th centuries.

The Life of a Long Sword: the blade would be commissioned from Solingen in Germany by a particular Gallowglass warrior. Solingen blades were very expensive but a blade of such quality could last 250 years. After its arrival in Scotland, the blade would be given to one of the many sword cutlers of  The Isles and assembled with a Scottish made hilt to the old specification. After its use as a long sword, probably by about the mid 17th century, it would have been ground down and fitted with a basket. When its life as a broad sword was over it would have been further modified and would probably have ended up as a dirk. The blade lengths would have been as follows: Long sword - 40 inches. Broad sword - 32". Dirk - 17"

Sghian Dubh. Black in name and black in purpose, the sghian dubh (pr: skeean dew) was a killing knife secreted in a small holster up a sleeve or near an oxter (armpit). Four to six inches in length, this close-quarter knife was for use when no other weapons were to hand and it is believed that it became more commonly used in the late 18th century between 1746 and 1782 when the Hanoverian Government banned weapons throughout Scotland.

If a Highlander felt in danger in the company he was in, he would sit with his arms folded with one hand on the sghian dubh so that he could pull it out in a flash Dubh is the Gaelic for black and traditionally the handle and scabbard were made from dark coloured woods and leather. After the raising of the proscription (the ban) on weapons and Highland Dress, the sghian dubh came out of hiding as it were and was then worn mainly in the stocking, right or left side, depending on the individual's preference. In the 19th century when the wearing of the sghian dubh became more decorative and less functional, the hilt for daytime would be made from stag horn and the one worn in the evening from ebony and decorated with jewels.

Above. The CULLODEN, which was "captured" at the battle of Culloden and taken south to London with the Jacobite prisoners.  Now in the Museum of the Royal Armouries in The Tower of London.

Above. The GRAHAM, which is dated between 1725 and 1750, and which came from the collection of the Marquis of Graham. Now in the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow.

Above.The KEPPOCH, which is reputed to have belonged to Chief Alasdair Macdonell of Keppoch at the Battle of  Culloden, where he was mortally wounded. Now in the National Museum in Edinburgh.

Above. The PERTH, which is in Perth Museum and which has an unusual star-shaped design.

Above. The ST. MARTINS, which came from St. Martins in Perthshire. It is dated 1715, and may have belonged to a Macdonald, or a MacDougal. Now in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Tua handit swerdis

Broadsword

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