Quotes on the editor of this blog

Monday 14 September 2015

Now fearch for Tow, and fome old Saddle pierce. No Wadding lies fo clofe, or drives fo fierce.


I have used leather wads for many years now, using my Father’s old 20 gauge wad punch. I started using leather wads not because of some historical documentation, but because it seemed the common sense and practicle thing to do. Leather will not take fire and be a danger in dry weather. Then recently I found this 18th century poem. It says in part:
PTERYPLEGIA:
Or, the art of
SHOOTING-FLYING. 1767.
Now fearch for Tow, and fome old Saddle
pierce.
No Wadding lies fo clofe, or drives fo fierce.

Old Saddle Pierce? This had me foxed for a while, and then I realised that this being a poem, it may not necessarily refer to an item per se but more of a procedure or action. So I searched the dictionary for the word “pierce”, and this in part is what I got:
Pierced. Piercing.
1.    to penetrate (something), as a pointed object does.
2.   to make a hole or opening in; perforate.
3.   To make (a hole or opening) by or as if by boring or perforating.

From this I deduct that “old saddle pierce” is most likely to be the cutting of leather wads from old saddle leather.

What are your thoughts?



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