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In the Battle of Boyne most Jacobites and some of the enemy carried match lock muskets, flintlocks, bayonets, grenades, pistols, claymore swords, targe shields and dirks.
Muskets were guns that could only fire one bullet before having to reload. Even a well trained soldier could only fire three bullets a minute! The match lock was the first lock invented to make it possible to have both hands free to keep a firm grip on the weapon when you were firing.
Flintlocks are firearms based on the flintlock mechanism - it was an even better type of gun with a lock on it than ever before. It was introduced in 1630. It replaced other firearms such as the matchlock.
A bayonet was a long knife attached to the end of a gun used to kill enemies when they got too close.
A hand grenade was a weapon that exploded a short time after it was released. The word grenade comes from the French word pomegranate because the shrapnel reminded soldiers of seeds.
A pistol was a gun that was held in one hand with the other hand supporting the shooting hand. A pistol was also called a handgun.
A claymore sword or a claymore broasword was a two handed sword with a cross type hilt used by highlanders of Scotland or it was a basket hilted type of broadsword which was adopted in the sixteenth century.
The targe shield was originally made for Bonnie Prince Charlie. He gave them away to his supporters as a reward during the Jacobite rising. It measured about 20inches across and was made out of tooled leather that was stretched across a wooden frame. Its silver decorations were to scare the enemy away. Some had a center made of brass of which a long steel spike could be screwed on to it. When the shield was not being used it could be unscrewed and put in a sheath or a covering on the back of the targe.
Dirk is a Scottish word for a short dagger; sometimes a shortened cut down blade of a sword attached to a dagger hilt instead of a knife blade. It could range from less than 6inches long to 20-25inches. Irish versions were usually 21inches in length. The dirk was used to back up the broadsword and was nearly always held in the left hand
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