_The Fork._--The military fork undoubtedly owed its conception to the agricultural implement, and in its earlier forms was of equally simple construction. The two prongs were eventually made of unequal length, and examples are to be found having three prongs, all unequal. As usual with shaft weapons, hooks were added with which a horseman might be dismounted from his charger, and barbs were occasionally added to give effect to side blows. During the fourteenth century it was much used; it appeared as early as the eleventh century, and was not entirely discarded until the end of the seventeenth. Plate XXVII. from the Edinburgh Collection is a scaling-fork with a particularly long shaft, the very prominent hooks being designed to drag defenders off the battlements. [Illustration: FIG. 432.--1. Military fork. 2. Halberd. 3. Corseque (partisan). 4. Spetum] [Illustration: FIG. 433.--1. Spontoon (partisan). 2. Partisan. 3. Glaive. 4. Halberd.] _The Bill._--The bill was in its incipient condition the agricultural scythe mounted on a staff, and as such was used for many years following the ninth century, but developments took place in its structure, and it subsequently became much altered in form, invariably, however, preserving the one characteristic feature of a crescent-shaped blade with the inside edge sharpened. A small portion of the point was double-edged. This weapon was usually referred to as the “brown” bill, which suggests that their usual condition was a rusty one. It remained in use until about the fifteenth century, when it was superseded by the pike. The term “bill” is essentially a generic one, and all shafted weapons of peculiar form which do not fall readily under any particular heading are classified as bills. Thus the weapon shown in Plate XXVII., and classified under the term “bill” in the Edinburgh Collection, has a very strong resemblance to that variety of the guisarme called the fauchard, but its extreme narrowness in the centre of the blade disqualifies it. It dates from _c._ 1470. _The Glaive_ differed from the bill in having the cutting edge upon the convex instead of the concave curve of the blade, and also in being much broader. Hooks, spurs, and other projections appear upon the base of the blade. This weapon was more in use upon the Continent than in England, chiefly in France and Germany, and did not become obsolete until the beginning of the seventeenth century. The term “glaive” may be applied to a simple shaft weapon bearing any resemblance to a knife blade: thus No. 7, Plate XXVII., from the Edinburgh Castle Museum, would fall under that category.