legends, like the domicilisation of Andrea Ferara in Scotland, or that of Jakob Topf in London, require some more direct evidence for serious attention, which is certainly not forthcoming in these cases, though the probability is greater in the case of the latter than in the former. Excellent rapier blades were also made at Seville, Valladolid, and Solingen. The Solingen blades are stouter and more suitable for military purposes than those forged in Spain; they bore the stamp of the running wolf, but the mark came originally from Passau. A Passau sword of an early date, with the wolf-mark inscribed on the blade, is in the museum at Dresden. The general aspect would indicate a date in the second half of the fourteenth century. The wolf-mark of the Passau sword-smiths was borrowed from the city arms, which consist of “Or, a wolf-figure, statant gardant.” Later, and especially in the sixteenth century, this mark was adopted in other places, and especially by Solingen smiths. These blades were known as “foxes” in England, doubtless from the “wolf” inscription, which might well be taken as a representation of the fox. The term constantly crops up in Elizabethan literature. This mark, like that of “Ferrara,” was freely used by sword-makers up to the end of the last century; indeed, this was the case near Newcastle, where swords forged on the banks of the Derwent, in the county of Durham, bore the mark. The smiths came originally from Bavaria, and brought the brand with them. There are still descendants of these people living in the neighbourhood; and there is a specimen of their handiwork in the Black Gate Museum, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The spadroon is adapted for cutting and thrusting, but is lighter than the sabre. Spanish swords enjoyed a very early celebrity, the Romans having adopted them after the Carthagenian War, for they were never able to forge weapons of equal temper. The best early Spanish swords were made at Bilbilis on the Jalon, and the poet Martial writes of the excellence of the waters of that river for tempering them; indeed, it was universally believed that the fine temper depended on the virtues of a particular river. Probably the steel produced from fine Spanish ores, so free from deleterious ingredients like sulphur and phosphorus, had most to do with the super-excellence of the blades. These weapons are mentioned temp. Julius Cæsar, when the poet Gracio Falisco adds his testimony to their admirability. [Illustration: Fig. 46.--Schiavona, in the Author’s Collection.]