- stamp. Thus we produce once more that famous illustration from the
Anglo-Saxon Manuscript of Aelfric's Paraphrase: without it we could not safely begin our history of the Englishman's war-gear.
As far as may be, we have taken our illustrations from English sources, to which the reader may go himself for more assurance. Only where English examples fail have we sought help abroad.
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Fig. 1. Showing the plain, almost flat, shield
Cott. MS. Cleop. C. 8 British Museum
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Fig. 2. Showing the strongly convex and probably segmented shield
Cott. MS. Cleop. C. 8, British Museum
In a few words one may make the picture of the Anglo-Saxon warrior of the fyrd, the man who came light-armed from the greenwood and the plough-gang to the mustering. He was unarmoured, save for his byrnie or battle-sark, which doubtless was composed of strips of leather sewn tile-wise to a foundation of coarse linen, as leather of thickness for defensive purposes, unless so arranged, would be too stiff a casing for the body. A cap of the Phrygian fashion, plain leather, or reinforced with copper, occasionally with iron bands, kept his head. His legs, from the knee downward, were protected by thongs of leather, wound puttee-wise and meeting a hide shoe cut after the manner of the Highland brogue of the XVIIth century. A round buckler, either fashioned flat like the Scottish targe with strengthening bands and boss of iron, as seen (Fig. 1), or very deeply hollowed, as we see represented (Fig. 2) (both from Cott. MS. Cleop. C. 8), was his last defensive
