The Royal Engineers (Volunteers) are still in Plymouth with 300 troop of 131 Independent Commando of the Royal Engineers (Volunteers) as part of today's Army Reserve.

Sometimes I wonder if all our modern retro stuff like 50's themed toasters and 80's themed jackets will lead to heated arguments between antiquarians in a few Hundred years time.

@mercoid

5 жыл бұрын

Electron Kaleidoscope ...I hope not. Because it’s all crap.

@jarhead9853

5 жыл бұрын

Given how much more evidence and documentation there is as you move up through the years into modernity (the relationship is practically exponential), I would say that the only heated arguments by future historians will be significantly more niche and specific then the ones we have about things that happened in the 1800s.

1857 - 1893... So you've just found an historical fact of someone having made and carrying a sword 36 years out of date, even in a well regulated military time. Awesome and cheers for sharing!

@scholagladiatoria

5 жыл бұрын

Not quite - the 1857 pattern was regulation between 1857 and 1892, so it was only one year out of date technically :-) It's just that the details of this particular sword make it look more like a sword from the 1860s or 1870s

@ronr4849

5 жыл бұрын

@@scholagladiatoria So the Devil's in the details and also - context. 👍

In the USA, we have two different equivalents of the Yeomanry. The National Guard Reserves (both Active Reserves and Inactive Ready Reserves)

While watching this video I looked up John Harvey Prior and found this on the angloboerwar.com site....... PRIOR, JOHN HARVEY, Lieutenant, was born 14 December 1871, son of E HPrior, of Bridgwater. He served in the South African War from 1899 to 1901, being employed as Station Staff Officer from 10 February 1901, and was present in operations in Orange River Colony, May to 29 November 1900; operations in Cape Colony, south of Orange River, 1899 to 1900, including the actions at Colesberg 1 January to 12 February 1900; operations in the Transvaal, May 1901; operations in Orange River Colony 30 November 1900 to May 1901. For his services he was mentioned in Despatches [London Gazette, 10 September 1901]; was awarded the Queen's Medal with four clasps, and was created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order [London Gazette, 27 September 1901]: "John Harvey Prior, Lieutenant, Plymouth Division, Royal Engineers, Submarine Miners (Militia). In recognition of services during the operations in South Africa". The Insignia were presented by the King. Major (Temporary Lieutenant Colonel) J H Prior served in the European War. He was mentioned in Despatches, and was awarded a Bar to the Distinguished Service Order [London Gazette, 16 September 1918]; "John Harvey Prior, DSO, Royal Engineers, Special Reserve. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in action, when he volunteered to attach himself and his company to a battalion which was threatened by an outflanking movement. By his personal courage and excellent handling of his company he was successful in holding the enemy and in assisting the battalion to withdraw at a very critical moment". He was also awarded the Legion of Honour. He married, in 1895, Emily Rose, widow of G B Long, JP, of Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, and they had one daughter. Source: DSO recipients (VC and DSO Book)

@scholagladiatoria

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, that's where I got my info mainly, once I'd worked out who the officer was from Hart's Army Lists :-)

@buffordevans6942

5 жыл бұрын

Awesome that the guy stood up to the challenge and met his duty head on .. Were these Zulus that these chaps were up against ?

@NoFishCanSwim

5 жыл бұрын

Bufford Evans . No that was in 1879, the Boer wars were against the Dutch descended Boers who settled South Africa before the British took over and then migrated North west forming their own colonies

This kind of history is just one of the many cool things about swords...

One of the cooler videos you ever made, I enjoy hearing about the academic work that adds to historical knowledge

@scholagladiatoria: Submarine Miners were about using mines and whitehead torpedoes, mainly against surface ships, in defence of Naval Ports like Portsmouth and Plymouth. Working submarines (with a few exceptions like the one you mention in the USCW) were not really a thing at all until after 1900.

Hey Matt are you sure that the Submarine Miners were primarily tasked with anti-submarine defenses in 1896? The Holland class submarine, Britains first production submarine class was not commissioned until 1903 and so dedicated anti-submarine units would not make sense at that time. From my understanding, the "submarine" in submarine miners refers to the fact that they operated sea mines and other submerged defenses, and not to a dedicated anti-submarine mission (at least not initially). Plymouth was the site of one of the largest Naval Bases in the world, and submarine miners there would make sense as they observed and controlled minefields in British Port defense until the Royal Navy eventually succeeded them in this role. Great story though and what a fascinating sword! That really is a great find!

Thank You for the Video, I love learning about history as well.

Love that pattern, beautiful guard the engineers had.

That was magical. Thank you for your work.

Good stuff. Nice to see the sword back in its proper context.

Interesting enough for a thumbs up. Thanks Matt!

quite a nice saber, & interesting look at its history.

Another great video. Matt, I was wondering what was your first sword?

now whats that club you have hanging on your right side. that intrigues me....

5 жыл бұрын

@@vacuousmermaid83 i think iy might be. im also hoping he will show it more indepth in a video

Reminds me of the Gahruda sword that I purchased from you .The blade turned out quite lovely by the way Matt

Interesting research. I think it makes a piece much more interesting if the provenance is known.

Wonderfull, more so the detail of your's reserces.

It seems like whatever camera Matt is using to film this video has a different frame rate to the frequency of the British national grid, hence the flicker.

@snickerdoodle7877

5 жыл бұрын

It's a fan

@p_serdiuk

5 жыл бұрын

@@snickerdoodle7877 The flicker is observable across the entire frame of the video, so unless Matt has a huge fan, he probably just used an US-made camera to film this (US has a 60 Hz grid while the UK has a 50 Hz grid, and camera shutters are often tuned to that frequency). More about this effect here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/p66Emqh_e9PdgZM.html

Which One would Cat Easton recommend?

The Engineer Volunteers were raised in 1860 not 1870. My gr gr grandfather was commander of the 2nd Lancashire Engineer Volunteers formed in 1864.

I try to start with the crests to see if any surnames associated with the crests match the initial in the monogram. Then I google the first initials plus any matching surname (generally a google book search). If I find multiple matches then I use the index from Hart's, but that is usually a last resort because it more labor and time intensive process.

@scholagladiatoria

5 жыл бұрын

If I can tell anything about the regiment I normally go to Hart's first. I've had a fair number of swords where I could not find the crest recorded anywhere in the normal books, yet I was certain of the owner (either because their actual name was on the blade, or due to the Wilkinson ledger). It seems that 19th century people were quite liberal with their use of crests.

@victoriansword

5 жыл бұрын

@@scholagladiatoria What was the crest?

Empty sword scabbed hanging on the wall... ?

@blackdeath4eternity

5 жыл бұрын

its actually not empty :P

I would love to purchase that sword if you put it up! I've been looking for an engineers sword as I am an engineer myself.

Matt, Might be out of your orbit. But I have an old nautical, hand held brass telescope from my grand father who got it for a barter on his UK farm. It's a military telescope used to spot enemy ships before radar. You can rest it on your shoulder and it will not take a stand. Could you do a video on the use of telescopes in the British navy before radar? Mine looks like a Pugwash cartoon telescope.

Are you ever going to do a video on the patu on the wall behind you?

Hi, Matt! I'm curious what are going to use to clean this sword. I have a 19th century sabre with etching on the blade which is covered in stains and gunk, and I was wondering how to clean it up without damaging the etching...

John Henry Parker. Crest is the Parker Square ofc

Very interesting! Thank you! Now I want to know what he got his DSO *for*... Human curiosity is insatiable.

Damn I thought this was gonna be a video where I see an engineer's sword after it was played with by the engineer to be heccin amazing ;-;

Might image search the crests if the initials don't get the desired results.

Wonderfully informative video! How does one *downvote* this?

@davidweihe6052

5 жыл бұрын

Afrikaaners might not appreciate swords carried by their enemies? Especially ones decorated for conquering them?

Matt, if you were a 1600s (or era of your choice) british military officer, what blade would you choose?

@ronr4849

5 жыл бұрын

Mortuary Hilt backsword, for my personal preference!

@ajbowers44

5 жыл бұрын

Dane ax

@musicalneptunian

5 жыл бұрын

Excalibur.

Perhaps having a family crest and motto, it might have been more efficient to identify the surname and then find his service record? Not sure how you guys index things over there...

Hi Matt, when you say; only two divisions, that means ... what: about 15000 men? I hope they had more than 20 officers.

I'm more interested in the thrusting sword you showed ,that one really called to me for some reason

How do the 1840's curved blade and the 1890's straight blade compare as fighting swords. If you were sent to that time period and there were no guns, which would you take for use?

Hi, Matt! Does provenance in swords add value to them? How much in % would the difference be for this particular sword without provenance or with the provenance that you uncovered? Does the fact that it had been taken to war add any value?

@scholagladiatoria

5 жыл бұрын

Yes it definitely adds value, anywhere from 20% to infinity (eg. if it was owned by George Washington).

weird flickering in the video - is it a ceiling fan?

@scholagladiatoria

5 жыл бұрын

My fault, I left the camera on a different setting than normal.

@lucasrezende7214

5 жыл бұрын

Most likelly to do with his camera's framerate/shutter speed not synching up very well to his light's frequency.

Do you provide a data sheet of your research with purchase of the sword?

What is that hanging on the tulwar, is it a boxing glove, a flask, a club, a water skin, or something else entirely?

@kiltymacbagpipe

5 жыл бұрын

Michael Patterson looks like a club of some sort.

Have you any good information on why most Celtic daggers have an upside-down male figure with the arms and legs In a cruciform shape as the handle? I am making one for mother's birthday and I would like to know the significance. I have also seen them refered to as Scottish daggers.

@breaden4381

5 жыл бұрын

It's either a completely serious reason or culture wide penis joke.

@e.zponder7526

5 жыл бұрын

That sounds like the cross of Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. The saltire on the Scottish flag depicts the same thing. I assume it's a reference to that.

@breaden4381

5 жыл бұрын

I was thinking of the La Tene celts. I think we need some more specifics on location and time period

@CanalTremocos

5 жыл бұрын

"Celtic" is a loaded term. it was coined by the greeks to refer to any nation to the north of them. Anthropoid hilts seem to be an evolution of the antenna hilt. Note that the item would be almost all the time seathed, the figure is only upside-down when held. My guess is they thought that if they were carrying that huge x-shaped handle at their waist they might as well replace it with a cool bronze statue to add some bling. Whatever the statue is a ancestor or a god is probably secondary to the status of carrying all that bronze with you.

@nicholasstephenson573

5 жыл бұрын

@@breaden4381 good God I hope not.

How good would that sword be as a fighting sword?

Turtle 1775, H. L. Hunley 1863, neither was very successful, the Turtle was lost with it's transport ship after several failed attempts at sinking British ships, the Hunley sank (for the 3rd time) while sinking the USS Housatonic,

Why even have such a tiny curvature on a sword ? It doesn't help in cutting really and takes away form thrusting and a bit from reach, looks maybe ? A straight later one is better imho.

@scholagladiatoria

5 жыл бұрын

It actually helps quite a bit with edge alignment.

@vedymin1

5 жыл бұрын

@@scholagladiatoria Becouse of the way the curved part drags behind the rest of the sword ? Well maybe :)

@scholagladiatoria

5 жыл бұрын

Yes exactly that.

Could he have bought a used sword from the 1860s and had his initials and crest added?

@scholagladiatoria

5 жыл бұрын

He could, but from the etching on this blade it is clear that they were all done at one time.

@CookAfloat

5 жыл бұрын

From the perspective of someone in a reserve service, he may have been provided an older sword model. In an over simplified nutshell of fiscal politics way above my pay grade, the reserves get the active duty's hand me downs.

@clasdauskas

4 жыл бұрын

@@scholagladiatoria bought it blank, had it etched and engraved? Got from his father?

It would an even more interesting story if this video was seen by living decedents of mr Prior. A nice drama. Could bring attention to your channel from a wider audience. Spread the word.

Hey, Matt. Do you know how medieval soldiers carried/drew swords on horseback? This video goes into it a bit, but it does seem awkward in every respect. kzread.info/dash/bejne/kW2KrtN8mai6k9o.html

beautiful 大英帝国的工业之美

I can't watch this because of the flicker. Please fix before you upload again.

Matt: I seriously doubt army engineers were looking to defeat submarines in Victorian times. Chances are this guy was engaged in digging tunnels under water.

@scholagladiatoria

5 жыл бұрын

Simply Google it - they were involved in creating minefields to defend British ports from sea attacks, both from ships and submarines.

@gonatas1

5 жыл бұрын

Love your stuff Matt. I get that he would have been involved in underwater fortification/mining, but I think you are taking the title "submarine" in a more modern context as if his job was focused on submarines; whereas the title surely means "underwater" in the context of his specialty. Its seems a little too Jules Verne to imagine that the Victorian military had engineer officers focused on defeating submarines opposed to being more generally skilled in performing engineering tasks underwater. Which is not to say that defeating the submersibles of the time did not enter into it.

@legacyShredder1

5 жыл бұрын

@@gonatas1 A quick Google search will tell you exactly what they were doing. There is no need to guess.

@gonatas1

5 жыл бұрын

Understood. Clearly they were involved in specifically placing mines underwater to interdict ships and submarines.

@SUB0SCORION

5 жыл бұрын

@@gonatas1 as far as I know the first 'submarines' were U-boats.. So they were only a little below the surface of the water and mostly used periscopes for orientation. Not like submarine today which can dive deep under water.

First.

3th hahaha

@jeanpaulgartier3404

5 жыл бұрын

Rd

@jeanpaulgartier3404

5 жыл бұрын

Rd

@marcuszc3172

5 жыл бұрын

not native and in a hurry...

Swords are like women, you can't date them just by looking at them.