1298, and it's the battle of Falkirk. William Wallace on one side, Edward  Longshanks on the other. Wallace has erected schiltrons, so the cavalry is ineffective
Solution? Archers and slingers!
"Stoutly the Scots stood, shoulder to shoulder;and though the infantry came up, and showers of cloth yard shafts were shot point blank into the ranks of Wallace, while with a storm of stones, the Welsh and Irish ( they fought on the side of the English) slingers plied their missles securely from behind, they could not penetrate that wall of spears. "
From Robert Gunn, for the Clan Wallace Society

Well, I didnt know that! Well found, Mr Badger.

The movie lied!!! :'( :'(

Fundibularius wrote on Dec 1^st, 2009 at 5:41pm:

The movie lied!!! :'( :'(

And you expect reality in Hollywood?

slingbadger wrote on Dec 1^st, 2009 at 8:28pm:

Fundibularius wrote on Dec 1st, 2009 at 5:41pm: The movie lied!!! :'( :'( And you expect reality in Hollywood?

Ah, come on. Next thing you're gonna tell me is that Bambi never really existed.

Actually, Walt Disney shot him and had his head mounted on the wall, right next to the 7 dwarfs.

:-[ :'(  Very sad. But it might explain why none of them answered to my letters.

Back to topic: Jaegoor told me that the Parzival, a German epic from the early 13th century, also mentions Welsh (!!!) slingers as famed for their skills. I was quite surprised. Maybe Ill try to make a translation of the passage.

Nowadays the sling seems forgotten here. Actually, afaik there is only one native slinger left in Wales, our co-member adsi.

this is right.

it will also fling from frauen reported which

Ya forgot after feeding his carcass to Goofy and Pluto......

Marc Adkins


slingbadger wrote on Dec 2^nd, 2009 at 7:51am:

Actually, Walt Disney shot him and had his head mounted on the wall, right next to the 7 dwarfs.

Thanks for finding that Badger. I will have to include it in my Ground School class. Going to be 2 hours this year if we can ever get a bleeping site......

Marc Adkins


slingbadger wrote on Dec 1^st, 2009 at 4:56pm:

1298, and it's the battle of Falkirk. William Wallace on one side, Edward  Longshanks on the other. Wallace has erected schiltrons, so the cavalry is ineffective Solution? Archers and slingers! "Stoutly the Scots stood, shoulder to shoulder;and though the infantry came up, and showers of cloth yard shafts were shot point blank into the ranks of Wallace, while with a storm of stones, the Welsh and Irish ( they fought on the side of the English) slingers plied their missles securely from behind, they could not penetrate that wall of spears. " From Robert Gunn, for the Clan Wallace Society

I suppose Welsh, and Irish, slingers, in this battle (C14th, no ?) go back in direct line to celtic slinging traditions, that disappeared in other parts of the British isles with the Roman conquest and the end of hillfort cultures ?

Off the top of my head and looking around: Welsh slingers because they were poor and the only thing abundant here was/is sheeps' wool? And rain, of course...

Fundibularius wrote on Dec 9^th, 2009 at 5:24am:

Off the top of my head and looking around: Welsh slingers because they were poor and the only thing abundant here was/is sheeps' wool? And rain, of course...

The Archaeological Journal of 1869 mentions "... that the people of Anglesey to this day are most skilful in throwing stones." In the context the author apparently means with a sling.

- not much more that this short mention (look for this via Google Books)

- Fundibularius, you need to go to the real Wales, not the almost English bit ;).

wanderer wrote on Dec 9^th, 2009 at 6:23am:

The Archaeological Journal of 1869 mentions "... that the people of Anglesey to this day are most skilful in throwing stones." In the context the author apparently means with a sling. - Fundibularius, you need to go to the real Wales, not the almost English bit ;).

  :) ;)

Thanks for the hint with Anglesey, wanderer. Hope I'll get there one day. 1869 is rather recent.

Actually the Portsmouth (?) area was famous for it's slingers up to the 19th Century.....

The UK slingers can help me out here. I'm out in the field don't have any of my sources handy ( Read i don't have my personal Laptop).

Marc Adkins


Thearos wrote on Dec 8^th, 2009 at 7:44pm:

I suppose Welsh, and Irish, slingers, in this battle (C14th, no ?) go back in direct line to celtic slinging traditions, that disappeared in other parts of the British isles with the Roman conquest and the end of hillfort cultures ?

Wink, it's Portland, the isle of the Slingers. It's in the south of England. Myself, AArdvark and David Morningstar  did a pilgrimage there. Nowhere near Wales.

Badger, That is one trip I wished I could have gone on :(

Actually I was posting in regards to this sentence

"that disappeared in other parts of the British isles with the Roman conquest and the end of hillfort cultures ? "

Marc Adkins



slingbadger wrote on Dec 11^th, 2009 at 9:43pm:

Wink, it's Portland, the isle of the Slingers. It's in the south of England. Myself, AArdvark and David Morningstar  did a pilgrimage there. Nowhere near Wales.

Don't be so fast to jump to conclusions just because you read it. Look where it is coming from. A guy from the Clan WALLACE society. (As in William Wallace). A light should have just gone on now. Of course he is going to try and make the Scots look good. What are HIS sources??

http://www.scottish-history.com/falkirk.shtml

Three pages on the Battle of Falkirk. The slingers were Irish.