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Austria it enjoys less favour than in Germany. Altogether there are few questions of armament or military detail more freely disputed, in the See also:

PRESENT

present See also:

day as in the past, than this of sword versus lance. The lances used in the British service are of two kinds, those with ash and those with See also:

BAMBOO

bamboo staves. The latter are much pre= ferred and are generally used, the " male " bamboo being peculiarly tough and elastic. The lance is provided with a See also:

SLING (from M. Eng. slingen, to fling, throw with a jerk, Icel. slyngva, cf. Ger. schlingen, to twist)

sling, through which the trooper passes his right See also:

ARM (a common Teutonic word; the Indo-European root is ar, to join or fit; cf. the Lat. armus, shoulder, and the plural word arma, weapons, Gr. apphs, joint, and the reduplicated apapilKSV, to join)

arm when the lance is carried slung, the point of the See also:

STEEL, FLORA ANNIE (1847– )

steel See also:

SHOE (a word appearing in the Teutonic languages in various forms, as Ger. Schuh, Swed. and Dan. sko, sometimes supposed to come from an unknown root ska or sku, cover)

shoe fitting into a bucket attached to the right See also:

STIRRUP (O. Eng. slirap, stigrap, M. Eng. stirop,styrope,&c.,i.e. a mounting or climbing-rope; O. Eng. stigan, to mount, climb, and rap, rope, cf. Du. stijbeugel, literally mounting bow or loop, Ger. Steigbugel)

stirrup. A small " See also:

dee " See also:

LOOP

loop is also provided, by which the lance can be attached to the See also:

SADDLE (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Sattel, Dut. zadel, also in Russ. siedlo and Lat. sella, for sedla; it is not derived directly from Lat. sedile, which means a chair, but all the words are to be referred to the root sad-, which gives

saddle when the trooper dismounts.

The small See also:

FLAG (or " FLAGGE," a common Teutonic word in this sense, but apparently first recorded in English)

flag is removed on service. The See also:

head is of the best steel. The Germans, doubtless owing to difficulty in obtaining bamboos, or ash in large quantity straight enough in the See also:

GRAIN (derived through the French from Lat. granum, seed, from an Aryan root meaning " to wear down," which also appears in the common Teutonic word " corn ")

grain over a consider-able length, for lance staves, have adopted a stave of steel tubing as well as one of See also:

PINE (Lat. Pinus, Gr. srlrur)

pine (See also:

FIGS

figs. 2, 3 and 4). As to the question of the relative efficiency of the lance and the sword as the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal arm for cavalry, it is alleged that the former is heavy and fatiguing to carry, conspicuous, and much in the way when reconnoitring in See also:

close See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country, working through See also:

woods and the like; that, when unslung ready for the See also:

charge, it is awkward to handle, and may be positively dangerous if a See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse becomes restive and the rider has to use both hands on the reins; that unless the thrust be delivered at full See also:

SPEED, JOHN (1552–1629)

speed, it is easily parried; and, lastly, that in the niilee, when the trooper has not See also:

ROOM

room to use his lance, he will be helpless until he either throws it away or slings it, and can draw his sword. While admitting the last-mentioned objection, those who favour the lance contend that success in the first See also:

SHOCK, or COLLAPSE

shock of contact is all-important, and that this success the lancer will certainly obtain, owing to his long reach en- Fi p Fi9.3. Fig.4. abling him to deliver a 9' _ See also:

BLOW, JOHN (1648-1708)

blow before the swords- See also:

man can retaliate, while, when the melee commences, the See also:

REAR

rear rank will come to the assistance of ,he front rank. Further, it is claimed that the See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of delivering the first blow gives confidence to the See also:

young soldier; that the See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance of a lancer See also:

REGIMENT (from Late Latin regimentum, rule, regere, to rule, govern, direct)

regiment, preceded as it were by a hedge of steel, has an immense moral effect; that in single combat a lancer, with room to turn, can always defeat an opponent armed with a sword; and, lastly, that in pursuit a lancer is terrible to an enemy, whether the latter be mounted or on See also:

FOOT

foot. As in the See also:

case of the perennial See also:

ARGUMENT

argument whether a sword should be de-signed mainly for cutting or thrusting, it is unlikely that the dispute as to the merits of the lance over the sword will ever be definitely settled, since so many other factors — See also:

HORSEMANSHIP

horsemanship, the training of the horse, the skill and courage of the adver- sary—determine t he TYPES OF BRITISH AND See also:

GERMAN LANCES. trooper's success quite as much as the weapon FIG. I is the British bamboo lance; he happens to wield. figs. 2 and 3 the German steel tubular The following passage lance, and fig.

4 the German pine-See also:

wood from Cavalry : its His- lance. The full length of the German tory midi See also:

TACTICS (Gr. TaeTOc*, sc. TEXvnI, from TavQecv, to arrange in order of battle)

Tactics (Lon- lance is 11 ft. 9 in., that of the Cossacks See also:

don, 1883), by See also:

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. ca put, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus)

Captain 9 ft. io in., that of the See also:

AUSTRIAN

Austrian lancers Nolan, explains how the ft. 8 in., and the See also:

French lance 11 ft. lance gained popularity The British lance is 9 ft. long. The See also:

WEIGHT

weight in Austria:—" In the of a lance varies but slightly. The steel-1 a s t Hungarian war staved lance weighs 4 lb, the bamboo 41. (1848–49) the Hungarian Hussars were . . . generally successful against the Austrian heavy cavalry—See also:

CUIRASSIERS

cuirassiers and dragoons; but when they met the Polish Lancers, the finest regiments of light horse in the Austrian service, distinguished for their discipline, See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

RIDING

riding, and, above all, for their esprit de See also:

CORPS (pronounced as in French, from which it is taken, being a late spelling of tors, from Lat. corpus, a body; cf. " corpse ")

corps and gallantry in See also:

ACTION

action, against those the Hungarians were not successful, and at once attributed this to the lances of their opponents. The Austrians then extolled the lance above the sword, and armed all their light cavalry regiments with it." The lancer regiments in the British service are the 5th, the 9th, the 12th, the 16th, the 17th and the 21st. All these were converted at different See also:

DATES

dates from hussars and light dragoons, the last-named in 1896. The typical lancer See also:

UNIFORM

uniform is a light-fitting short-skirted See also:

TUNIC (0. Eng. tunice, tunical, taken, before the Norman con-quest, directly from Lat. tunica, of which the origin is unknown)

tunic with a See also:

double-breasted front, called the plastron, of a different See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour, a See also:

GIRDLE (O. Eng. gyrdel, from gyrdan, to gird; cf. Ger. Gurtel, Dutch gordel, from giirten and gorden; "gird" and its doublet " girth " together with the other Teutonic cognates have been referred by some to the root ghar—to seize, enclose, seen in Gr. )(s

girdle, and a See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat-topped lancer " cap," adapted from the Polish czapka (see See also:

UNIFORMS

UNIFORMS: See also:

NAVAL

Naval and Military). The British lancers, with the exception of the 16th, who See also:

WEAR

wear See also:

SCARLET

scarlet with See also:

BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

blue facings, are clad in blue, the 5th, 9th and 12th having scarlet facings and See also:

green, See also:

black and red plumes respectively, the 17th (famous as the " See also:

DEATH

death or See also:

GLORY (through the O. Fr. glorie, modern gloire, from Lat. gloria, cognate with Gr. KXebs, abets)

glory boys " and wearing a See also:

SKULL

skull and crossbones badge) See also:

white facings and white plume, and the 21st light-blue facings and plume.

End of Article: LANCE

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