This class of weapon, like several others, had its inception among the implements of husbandry; and it owes its name, like the goedendag, doubtless to a brutal jest. It is stated by Whitacre that the agricultural flail was introduced into Italy about the time of the Roman conquest of Britain. The Anglo-Saxons called it “Therscol,” or thrasher. This terrible weapon consists of a shaft of wood, garnished with iron, attached to which is a flail of iron, moving on a ring; or a chain or chains connecting the head of the shaft with a wooden or iron ball or balls at the extremity. The balls are usually garnished with iron spikes, but this is not always the case. The holy-water sprinkler is often confounded with the “morning star,” which is a spiked mace, described under that heading. It would appear from the Tower Survey of 1547, that the “Holy Water Sprinkler” was at that time in two varieties, viz., with long and short shafts. The above record catalogues “Holly Water Sprincles with gonnes in th’ ende. Little holly water sprincles.” Perhaps what was called the long variety was the goedendag. The author has two with short shafts, and chains at the ends, to which are attached spiked wooden balls. The MS. of Matthew Paris at Benet College, Cambridge, furnishes us with an example of the simple form. THE MORNING STAR. This weapon is a spiked mace, and was greatly used in Germany and Switzerland. There are both long and short shafted kinds; the latter, made of iron, is mentioned in the eleventh century, and was much used by horsemen in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. They were sometimes supplemented with hand-guns. This variety was called “Schiesspringel.” Several writers confound the “Morning Star” with the “Holy Water Sprinkler,” but the latter is a weapon of the flail family. The heads vary in shape, being round, square, and a half oval narrowing towards the shaft, and all are spiked. GISARME AND VOULGES. The gisarme is a scythe-shaped weapon, fixed on a long shaft. It is double-edged, and provided with a hook and spurs. It is often mentioned in early chronicles of the thirteenth century, and is specially alluded to by Froissart in the next century. The voulge has a broad blade, pointed at the head, and is generally square at the edge. It was usually forged with two strong iron rings, through which the head of a pole is passed. This weapon was often carried by archers. The pageant voulge is shaped very like a Lochaber axe, with its curved, pointed, hook-like spear at the head of the shaft. MILITARY FORKS. These forked, trident-like weapons, of prongs of unequal length, are mentioned in records of the eleventh century. They were much used in the fourteenth century. The weapon appears in the Sloane MS., No. 346. THE HALBARD.