content_output-074_6 (Q6579)

The first English illustration of a hand-gun appears in the Royal MS. 18 E. fol. xxxiv., written in 1473. On page 51 is reproduced the illustration, which, however, has already appeared in “Hewitt’s Ancient Arms and Armour.” The drawing is not an explicit one; it fails to show the position of the touch-hole, or to explain in which way the gun was fired. As the bearer carries neither flask nor pouch, he must have been accompanied by an attendant, who carried the accessories and applied