It takes many years and opportunities of study to achieve much in the direction of judging armour, and it is only by a close comparison, not merely of individual pieces, with a careful examination of every detail, but also a knowledge of the makes of steel of the various ages covered, their composition, manipulation, and relative degrees of hardness, that a reasonable amount of certainty can be arrived at. Much ingenuity has been applied in faking up and partially restoring many suits, still, it is obvious to an expert, in most instances, which pieces are of comparatively modern construction, especially in the cases where ornamentation has been applied, for here the best work of the “renaissance” cannot be adequately reproduced. Many suits, even in national collections, are not only doubtful, but now known to be spurious, while in others the restoration process has left much to be desired. The uninitiated would be surprised if they knew how comparatively few suits are absolutely homogeneous, so many having been set up by dealers, often more or less of pieces of various types and dates. It is most interesting to trace what may be termed the evolution of arms and armour, and to follow the craft and ingenuity of the armour-smith as pitted against that of the makers of weapons; indeed, all through the history of the armour period this contest has proceeded with varying fortune. Fashion also has always been a potent and arbitrary factor in the direction of change, and hence so many preposterous departures, such as both the extravagantly long and ridiculously wide sollerets of the “Gothic” and “Maximilian” periods respectively. Expansive skirts of steel, which must have been very crippling to the wearers, were used at one time by all cavaliers who had the least pretensions to be considered _à la mode_. At the risk of the general subject occasionally overlapping, and of some repetition in matters of historical retrospection, I have concluded to divide these pages into two main sections, viz., “Defensive Armour” and “Weapons of War” over the period set forth in the title-page. This has been done in the interests of conciseness and perspicuity, and more especially with a view to an easy reference to any branch of the subject under discussion. ROBERT COLTMAN CLEPHAN. SOUTHDENE TOWER, GATESHEAD, _March, 1900_. CONTENTS. PAGE PREFACE v SECTION I.--DEFENSIVE ARMOUR. PART I. INTRODUCTORY AND GENERAL 15 II. CHAIN-MAIL AND MIXED ARMOUR 20 III. THE TRANSITION PERIOD 37 IV. HELMS UP TO THE END OF THE TRANSITION PERIOD 44 V. PLATE ARMOUR 48