History

Single Stick

 

Single Stick is a historical fencing sport and training system that dates to at least the 16th Century in Scotland and the British Isles as a safer way to practice and compete in Broadsword fencing. A Single Stick was historically an ash rod approximately 36 inches long with a protective basket hilt for the sword hand made of either a woven wicker basket or leather guard 'boiled' in bees wax. Single Stick competitions were a common sight at country fairs across the British Isles from the 16th Century onward, and in Highland Games for an even longer period (Highland games date back to at least the 11th Century, but were heavily revived in the Victorian period). Single stick continued to be used as a training tool in the British Army and Navy throughout the 19th Century and continued even to the mid 20th Century. 

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Ash has been replaced with Rattan for modern Single Stick due to being more resilient.

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Highland Broadsword

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The traditional weapon associated with the Scottish Highlands from the 16th Century is the iconic Highland Broadsword, often paired with the Highland Targe (round shield) during the 'clan era' up to 1745. Highland clansmen armed with these devastating swords were feared and respected throughout the British Isles and across Europe, both as individual swordsmen and on the battlefield. Unlike classical fencing taught in England and Continental Europe to the sons of nobility, Highland Broadsword was taught as a carefully guarded secret martial system within the clans using a combination of single sticks (ash or hazel sticks up to 3 feet long, usually with a protective ‘basket’ handguard of wicker or leather) and through dance. Modern Highland Dancing has its’ origins in clan dances intended to condition Highland Broadsword fencers, and teach specific movement patterns used in fighting. Training usually started at age eight. The Highland Broadsword systems of swordsmanship were, fortunately, partially preserved in the writings of at least sixteen (16) fencing masters from the 17th, 18th and early 19th Centuries.

 

Highland Broadsword was one of the major influences in the development of British military fencing in both the Royal Navy and British Army, which were also heavily practiced by civilians in fencing clubs and tournaments throughout the 19th Century. 

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From at least the 16th Century, ’Single Stick’ competitions were regular occurrences at gatherings and fairs in Scotland, and this spread throughout the British Isles just as the Single Stick became the common safe training tool for cut based fencing systems (like Highland Broadsword), certainly in the British Isles. Just as Highland Broadsword ultimately was absorbed into the fencing traditions of the British military in the later half of the 18th Century, Single Stick became the common training tool for Broadsword, Sabre and Cutlass within the British Army and Royal Navy through to the mid 20th Century, and was adopted into the civilian fencing culture of the UK from the mid 18th Century to the early 20th Century as well. Single Stick competitions were long included in the traditional gatherings that are the ancestors to modern Highland Games.

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The practice of Highland Broadsword fencing and singlestick fencing has been going through a tremendous revival since the 1970s, lead by individuals such as Christopher Scott Thompson, founder of the Cateran Society, Paul Wagner of the Stocatta School of Defence. The current generation of highly accomplished Broadsword fencers include names such as Jay Mass, Ben Hamilton, Nick Thomas, Jonathan Mackenzie Gordon, Matt Biondo, Laurent Theil-Santerre, and Callum Charmichael. This has been part of a larger movement generally known as HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) dedicated to reviving historical fencing and other martial arts through the study and practice of historical manuals by recognized masters. In the case of Highland Broadsword, there are five schools teaching the art in Canada alone, with a growing number of tournaments and seminars internationally. Historical fencing such as Highland Broadsword differs from sport fencing in that is continues to be taught as a martial art, in the same manner that is would have been studied and practiced in it’s historical context.

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Small Sword

 

The Small Sword evolved from the heavier rapier in the late 17th Century, was a very common weapon in Europe throughout the 18th Century. It is the ancestor to modern Epee and Foil in sport fencing. The Small Sword is a light and very fast weapon using the point to attack, and in fencing schools in Europe and England was the standard style of weapon taught to educated young men and women. The European Enlightenment began fully in Scotland in the late 17th Century, and with it the scientific study of martial swordsmanship. In Edinburgh and elsewhere in Southern Scotland, sword masters like Sir William Hope re-examined the European Small systems and developed deadly and efficient styles of swordsmanship, partially drawing on Highland Broadsword techniques, that were distinct to Scotland and put Scottish swordsmen to competitive advantage in duels with their counterparts from England and Continental Europe.

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Spadroon and the 'Shearing Sword'

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The term Spadroon emerges in the late 17th Century to describe a light, straight sword, either single or double edged, and capable of both cutting and thrusting. It was capable of being employed similarly to both a Small Sword and Broadsword or Backsword, with more weight in the blade than a Small Sword (though less than most Broad or Backswords), and less hand protection than a Basket Hilt or Mortuary Hilt would provide. The late 17th Century and early 18th Century version of this type of sword may have been more robust that the late 18th Century examples, which lost favor during the Napoleonic Wars and were discarded by soldiers and military officers in favor of Infantry Sabres or Basket Hilted Broadswords. Scottish Fencing Masters such as the renowned Donald McBane (1664 – 1732) referred to the 'Shearing Sword' as the best of all possible swords (The Expert Sword-Man's Companion - 1728), preferring it to either Small Sword or Broadsword. The sword type he calls a 'Shearing Sword' is likely the early 18th Century Spadroon, likely paired with  Walloon Hilt.

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