"sling arms" (not in OED2) -- why not before 1824?

[Jonathan Lighter]

Recall, however, that OED does have "Granadeers have a care. Sling your
musketts." from 1688. It wasn't published till 1905, which may explain its
absence from EEBO.

N&Q (Ser. 2) IX (Feb. 4, 1860) 77 has "1. Handle your Slings. 2. Sling your
Firelocks." as drill commands for grenadiers in 1702. Musketeers are
ordered instead to "Shoulder [firelocks]."

Grenadiers carried sling muskets because they needed both hands to prepare
their grenades.

But I think the upshot of all this is that Bellona's "Arms" in the poem are
unspecified "weapons," not her flesh-and-blood arms, and she's slung them,
at her side or over her shoulder,  because the battle is over.


JL


On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 1:23 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "sling arms" (not in OED2) -- why not before 1824?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> I am still focusing on swords. Here is a an 1831 reference to
> "sword-slings":
>
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=8bk8AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA500&dq=%22sword+sling%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sltRU6KtLIaVyAT1-oKAAw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAg
>
>
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> DanG
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 12:49 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
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> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: "sling arms" (not in OED2) -- why not before 1824?
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > >>[Joel wrote:] A good point about no slings for spear and sword ...
> > >>unless we can
> > >>find an image (in words or picture) of Bellona with a musket ...
> > >>well, Wikipedia, s.v. "flintlock", says "Examples of early flintlock
> > >>weapons can be seen in the painting "Marie de' Medici as Bellona" by
> > >>Rubens (painted around 1622-25)."
> >
> > >[Amy wrote:] Yeah, I can't see the mechanism closely enough to
> > >determine whether in
> > >fact it's flintlock or matchlock (or wheelock or doglock. . . )
> >
> > >>[Joel wrote:]  Lots of "impressions" at Google
> > >>Images.  I believe that's a musket, with bayonet, in her left had,
> > >>perhaps resting on a sling at her waist (images are very dark).
> >
> > >[Amy wrote:] Nope. That's some sort of scepter or mace in her left hand.
> >
> > I think I've been mislead from the smaller images at Google Images
> > into thinking the "arm" in Bellona's left hand is a musket.  It is, I
> > agree with Amy, a scepter.  See
> >
> >
> http://www.imagiva.com/rubens-pieter-pauwel/marie-de-medicis-as-bellona.html
> > The object is essentially of a single diameter, tapered somewhat to a
> > point.  It has some ornamental knobs along the top of the shaft, but
> > no heavy knob at the end.  Not a mace, but a scepter.  (Although it
> > must be resting on something -- The position of Bellona's fingers
> > could not I think support anything.)
> >
> > In this image there is a dark rectangle just to the right of the
> > lower left corner of the golden-colored cloak.  An artifact of vision
> > makes this seem to be a rectangle extending down to Bellona's
> > hand.  Rather, I now see the top part of this dark "rectangle" as
> > just an area of the cloak that is shadowed by the direction of the
> > light.  Its color is darker than the portion of the shaft it is
> > adjacent to.  In the smaller images, I could not distinguish this,
> > and so the "arm" looked like it had two differing diameters.
> >
> > However, we still have long arms, that might be slung, "painted
> > around 1622-25". The flintlocks seen by Wikipedia are resting on the
> > ground (or perhaps are some other type of musket).  Like Jon, I find
> > it interesting that "sling arms" (in various forms) can't be found in
> > ECCO.   I would have supposed that "sling arms" as a command was
> > spoken at musters with muskets in the 18th or 17th centuries.  If so,
> > why isn't it manifested in the militia manuals?  (Forgive me -- I've
> > been overdosing on M&M's.)
> >
> > Jon, or someone -- what about EEBO?  Or EAImprints?  Or is there no
> > point in looking if it's not in ECCO?
> >
> > Joel
> >
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