Baldric vs Girdle

[Hawkyns]

I'm having a rather extended debate with someone concerning how Elizabethans carried their swords. I am aware that the normal carriage for a rapier among the gentry was the girdle and hanger. However, it is my contention that the heavier blades such as the backswords and Irish hilts do not lend themselves to such a carriage due to their weight and balance. I believe that they would be carried in a baldric, which hold the weight and balances the sword better. I have some documentation on this from the Funeral Procession of Sir Philip Sidney, but little else. Does anyone have other reference to the baldric being used during the Elizabethan period by lower classes, or especially in the north where the Irish hilt was more common?

Thank you, all.

Hawkyns

[doctor syn]

Went through this in 2003,when ECWS were doing a "Union of the Crowns" event in Berwick(& people didn't want to buy new swordbelts)I know the couple you mean in the Sydney series & it's a pity their left arms cover most of the details........But they're about the only ones I've seen 'til the 1630's.Will keep looking & see what I can find.

Steve

[Hawkyns]

Thanks, Steve

I've tried putting my Irish hilt and a late 16th cut and thrust into one of the Elizabethan hangers and they just don't work. Unless the hanger is made of sole leather, or has a metal backing plate, it just twists the hell out of it and it refuses to hang right. The wider, shorter blade just isn't long enough to balance the hilt. That's why I think the baldric must be correct. But thanks for looking, if I find any more I'll post here.

Hawkyns