Making A Trade Axe Head.

A Change! The Lusty Young Smith.

Lyrics courtesy of Songs of and About Elizabethan Times.



A lusty young smith at his vise stood a filing,


His hammer laid by but his forge still aglow,


When to him a buxom young damsel came smiling and asked if to work at her forge he would go.


With a jingle, bang jingle, bang jingle, bang jingle,


With a jingle, bang jingle, bang jingle, hi ho!


“I will,” said the smith, and they went off together
Along to the young damsel’s forge they did go,
They stripped to go to it, ’twas hot work and hot weather;
She kindled a fire and she soon made him blow.


Her Husband, she said, no good work could afford her;
His strength and his tools were worn out long ago.
The smith said, “Well mine are in very good order,
And now I am ready my skill for to show
Red hot grew his iron, as both did desire
and he was to wise not too strike while ’twas so.
Quoth she, “What I get, I get out of the fire,
Then prithee, strike hard and redouble the blow.”




Six times did his iron, by vigorous heating
Grow soft in the forge in a minute or so,
And often was hardened, still beating and beating,
But each time it softened it hardened more slow.




The smith then would go; quoth the dame, full of sorrow,
“Oh, what would I give, could my husband do so!
Good lad, with your hammer come hither tomorrow
But, pray, can’t you use it one more, ere you go?”


This song first appeared in Thomas D’Urfey’s ‘Wit and Mirth: Pills to Purge Melancholy’ in 1698.
http://internationalroutier.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/the-lusty-young-smith/

The Sword, Finally Finished (I think).

Do you remember the broadsword I purchased?

First I removed the cloth, but I found that the guard still caught on my hand.

So I removed part of the guard. This was better but I found that I was unable to grip the hilt properly and control the blade. Part of the reason is artheritis in my hands and wrist, but the grip was still not right.

I took the old grip off and made a new one which was a little larger. In doing so I found that the genuine leather wrap on the grip was in fact imitation!

I also found that there should be a leather guard between the brass basket hilt guard and the blade. so I made and fitted one and oiled and beeswaxed the new grip.

Oh yes, and I shortened the blade! It is now the common length of a cutless and a few other lighter swords.

Now what can I do with the section of blade I cut off? Hmmm.

The Reivers

http://warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com/2010/09/reivers-making-of-borders.html

Primitive Skills. Stalking.

Sorry I could not show the whole stalk, but without any cover it took me a long time to get this close. The wind direction was not good either, and I really needed to be on the other side of that fence. But I wanted to show you how to get close enough to a wild animal to touch it, so I took the chance from where I was.
My most difficult stalk was getting into a herd of goats, it is always much harder when there is more than one animal to watch. A stalk into a ring of roos watching a roo fight was probably a close second, but all my stalks have been fun.
PS: I am not wearing camo!

Living Primitive.

Making Cordage.