It certainly is very old ... but what is it ?

kronckew · 28th May 2008, 12:24 AM

i have visions of the invading hordes of napoleon plundering the countryside, and the local cowboy stalwarts beating their plowshares into lance heads and poking them back across the border into spain.

more seriously, didn't gauchos used to use a crude lance to control cattle in their drives. there are vague memories of reading somewhere the gauchos on their horses were the last to mount a proper lance (tacuara?) charge against modern armed troops down in so. america.

fernando · 28th May 2008, 12:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kronckew

i have visions of the invading hordes of napoleon plundering the countryside, and the local cowboy stalwarts beating their plowshares into lance heads and poking them back across the border into spain...

For a vision, is not totally unreal, Wayne

.

A. G. Maisey · 28th May 2008, 12:56 AM

A cattle prod?

Yeah, I could see it as that.

Sounds good to me.

M ELEY · 29th May 2008, 02:16 AM

Wayne brings up a very plausible contender-one I had mentioned at the start of this thread. Problem is, I can't seem to find any material on these lances. I learned about them awhile back when I acquired a weird bowie knife with an inscription of a gaucho with said lance. It might have even had a spike butt cap, but don't recall. While researching them I learned about French cowboys of the Comarge region...always thought that sounded like a Monty Python script

kronckew · 29th May 2008, 08:00 AM

the only reference i've found was one that they called their 'emergency' lances tacuara, they were made by tying their knives to a length of sugar cane. the rider on the right in the photo i inserted above seems to be carrying one, the others seem to be carrying more normal lances with pennants. way back in pre-history when i was a younger, i think i read that gauchos sometimes used lances with removable points that they then carried in scabbards, but now that i could afford to buy one i also cannot find any references. the gaucho roamed from brazil down to argentina, so i assume some customs varied and changed over time.

28th May 2008, 12:24 AM	#1
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,243	i have visions of the invading hordes of napoleon plundering the countryside, and the local cowboy stalwarts beating their plowshares into lance heads and poking them back across the border into spain. more seriously, didn't gauchos used to use a crude lance to control cattle in their drives. there are vague memories of reading somewhere the gauchos on their horses were the last to mount a proper lance (tacuara?) charge against modern armed troops down in so. america.

28th May 2008, 12:56 AM	#3
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,049	A cattle prod? Yeah, I could see it as that. Sounds good to me.

29th May 2008, 02:16 AM	#4
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,184	Wayne brings up a very plausible contender-one I had mentioned at the start of this thread. Problem is, I can't seem to find any material on these lances. I learned about them awhile back when I acquired a weird bowie knife with an inscription of a gaucho with said lance. It might have even had a spike butt cap, but don't recall. While researching them I learned about French cowboys of the Comarge region...always thought that sounded like a Monty Python script

29th May 2008, 08:00 AM	#5
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,243	the only reference i've found was one that they called their 'emergency' lances tacuara, they were made by tying their knives to a length of sugar cane. the rider on the right in the photo i inserted above seems to be carrying one, the others seem to be carrying more normal lances with pennants. way back in pre-history when i was a younger, i think i read that gauchos sometimes used lances with removable points that they then carried in scabbards, but now that i could afford to buy one i also cannot find any references. the gaucho roamed from brazil down to argentina, so i assume some customs varied and changed over time.