This very expensive-looking barometer
was awarded in 1881 to Sgt. James Clark of the Watnall Troop of the South Notts
Yeomanry by Capt. Lancelot Rolleston of Watnall Hall as a prize for best
swordmanship.
It shows just how valued mastery of the sword was regarded even in an era of lightweight, sophisticated guns and not so long before WW1.
The Yeomanry were a horse-mounted cavalry unit so sword and
horsemanship tasks had to be completed to win the contest. More on that below. The barometer recently came up for
auction. The auction catalog describes it in detail…
“Large Presentation Barometer by
Pertuis Hulot Naudet c.1880. A very unusual item combining that
illusive mix of quality, condition and rarity, in its day this was a very
expensive ‘state of the art’ instrument. This presentation barometer is very
much a collector’s piece. Awarded as a prize for swordsmanship, one can
only guess at the prowess of the recipient! This presentation barometer is very
much a collector’s piece. The whole contained within its original brass-bound
lacquered oak presentation case lined in blue velvet, presentation plaque to
lid engraved "S.N.Y.C., Watnall Troop, Prize for Best Swordsmanship, Presented
by Captn. Rolleston, won by, Sergt. James Clark, 1881.
Pertuis, Hulot, Naudet et Cie, the manufacturer, is regarded as
being one of the world’s very finest makers of such barometers – the
detail and quality here testify very well to that reputation. Surviving in very
good original condition – clearly little displayed, the red spirit in the
Reaumur thermometer retaining its deep red colour (most are bleached
transparent by sunlight), brass case retaining a good proportion of
original finish and colour with patination, the rear re-lacquered, the movement
in fine condition showing excellent transition and sensitivity. The oak case
with some losses to velvet lining, the brass fittings with much original
colour, some patination, working lock and key.”
It would appear that the Parisian-made barometer is set in a locally made box. Perhaps the gorgeous wooden presentation case with its very ornate engraved brass inlay was made by a Nottingham company as skilfully painted onto the barometer’s face is... “A.Everington. Pelham St. Nottingham”.
The swordmanship contest - a number of publications from the 1860s and 1870s precisely detail the contest's rules...
- Entry in the contests was very exacting and contestants had to be able to prove their (foil) fencing ability, perform the attack and defence section of the sword (sabre) exercise on foot completely, as well as pass a riding test before they were even allowed to compete. If they did not pass any of these qualifying criteria, then they could not enter the main contest.
- The competition in cavalry regiments was conducted with protective clothing including masks and gloves, and single sticks (or blunt lances) on horseback. It was a free-moving mounted fencing contest, where valid hits on an opponent were counted and scores collated. Precise details are given of the rules used in these contests, such as how to treat double-hits and chalking of singlestick blades to indicate valid scoring hits. Hitting the horse was strictly disallowed.
- Financial reward from the government from 1865 onward, was diverted in cavalry regiments from marksmanship awards to swordsmanship awards, with the pay prize for marksmanship becoming lower than for swordsmanship. This is interesting to note, at a time when arguably marksmanship was becoming more important and effective for cavalry.
- There is no mention of a prize sword being awarded to the champion but from surviving antique examples and newspaper reports, we know that a prize of some sort was very often given at the discretion of the regiment or organisers e.g. such as Sgt. Clark's barometer as shown above.
The 1885 Pattern Cavalry Sword
- the Yeomanry were the Territorial Army of the day and as such were issued the regular army’s hand-me-down swords based on an old design from 1864. This was not such a bad thing as the regular army were having quality issues with their new swords. The British Military, particularly the Calvary, had always had a difficult and unsatisfactory relationship with their swords. From 1788 to 1885 the Light Cavalry had be issued with no less than seven different variations of swords meeting with varying degrees of "success" but often ending in failure and even in loss of life when swords failed to live up to the strenuous demands of combat. The 1885 Pattern was essentially a modified 1882 pattern sword being lighter and just under an inch shorter, even though the 10th Hussars had protested that the 1882 itself was too short to attack a prone opponent, a frequent difficulty they had encountered during their 1885 campaign in the Sudan against the Mahdist "Dervishes", famous for the last stand of General Gordon at Khartoum.
It was however, under recommendation from various cavalry units made lighter, shorter and the blade made stronger than that of the 1882. It was issued from mid 1896. Sadly even with these improvements the 1885 would also prove an extremely unpopular weapon with its users. In 1888 during combat, once again with the Sudanese Mahdists, reports of its blade snapping were frequent (but often exaggerated). Subsequent tests on the swords back in England also found them unsatisfactory with many breaking or bending too easily and it was discovered that the 1885 blade was too thin between the fullers. Thus work had to begin on a new sword, the 1890 pattern. However the adoption of firearms to replace swords and lances would ultimately kill off the old cavalry weapons and consign swordsmanship contests to the pages of history blogs.
For more Tales From Watnall Hall click here
Sources : HorsePower, The Museum of The King's Royal Hussars; Vavasseur Antiques; Easton Antique Arms Ltd.
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