256 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE. lish bill, of the times of Henry VIII., and a halbard, likewise of the six- teenth century. They were purchased by Mr. Neville, at a recent sale of effects at Debden Hall, Essex, the seat of Sir Francis Vincent, Bart. The halbard, generally considered to have been introduced from Switzer- land, appears to be first mentioned in England in the indentures of re- tainer for the muster of the forces raised by Henry VII., A.D. 1492, by which the greater number of chieftains engaged to serve with footmen armed with bills or bows, besides horsemen ; and John, Viscount Welles, covenanted to bring 45 archers on foot, and "20 halberdes on fote^" Halbards, resembling the weapon here I'epresented, are seen in the " Tri- umph of Maximilian," 1516-19. They appear to have been frequently imported into this country from foreign parts, since the following entiy is found in the Book of Custom-House Rates, printed by Act, 1 Mary, A.D. 1582,— "Halberts gilt, the peece, 6s. 8d. Ungilt, 20d." The same rates are given in the lists of 2 James I., and 12 Charles I. On the weapon here represented appears the armourer's stamp of three crowns, possibly indicating that it had been fabricated at Cologne^. Sir John Smythe, in his Discourses, 1589, complains of the mistaken usages introduced into the English army by those who had served in the low countries, such as the preference of halbards of the Italian fashion, with long points, short edges, and long staves, to halbards and battle-axes with short points, long edges, and short staves, demonstrating the defect of such wea- pons in an onset. He gave the preference to short halbards or battle-axes of 5i ft. in length, with short strong points. Weapons of this description appear frequently in the woodcuts in Fox's Acts and Monu- ments, 1570. Mr. Orlando Jewitt has communicated the follow- ing description, accompanied by drawings, of the mural paintings found during the last two years in Beckley church, Oxfordshire. " The subjects appear to have been executed at four or five distinct periods, extending from the close of the thirteenth century to the time of George III. The most ancient of them is one in the belfry, which occupies a space of about 6 feet from the level of the original floor on the east wall. The pattern consists of stems, leaves, and flow- ers, rudely drawn with a brush in an irregular man- ner on the original plaster of the wall. The plant is evidently intended for the Herba Benedicta, Herb Bennet, or Avens [Gcum urhanum), which seems to • Meyrick's Grit. Enqu., vol. ii. p. 194; edit. 18.34. ' A halbard of the time of Henry VIL, being similar to that here represented, is in the Goodrich Court Armoury ; Skel- ton's lUustr,, pi. xc. fig. 2.
