Historic Firearms, Antique Guns, & Curiosities

Louis XIV —- The Enema King,

(note; this is not a joke, this is historical fact)

In the 16th to 19th century a clyster was an early form of enema administered with a device called a “clyster”, essentially a large syringe which was inserted … you know where.  For millenia regular colon cleansing was a staple of medicine going back to ancient times.  Even the ancient Egyptians hired a special physician called the “Guardian of the Anus” to administer colon cleansing to the Pharaoh.  By the middle ages the administration of enemas became a staple among physicians, almost as popular as bloodletting. However the people of 17th century France would take the clyster to a whole new level.

In pre-revolutionary France clyster mania spread across the country’s upper class.  Clysters were administered daily to maintain good health, sometimes being administered multiple times a day, and often containing various herbs and fragrances.  They even became as fashion statement as ladies had regular clysters as a way to preserve beauty and youth.  According to the Duc de Saint-Simon the Duchess of Bourgogne was known to take clysters during parties, often conversing with the king, “while her loyal maid crawled beneath her bejewelled evening gown to administer an enema.”  For such public lavements special clyster syringes were designed with special butt concealment plates.  Curved syringes were also created for those who wanted to self administer, forgoing the need of a servant.

One of the biggest fans of the regular colon cleansing was King Louis XIV. Known as “The Sun King”, Loius XIV installed absolute monarchy in France and was the most powerful man in Europe at the time.  At first Louis XIV would enjoy a once and a while clyster, usually administered after dinner to aid digestion.  However as his reign continued on the King was known to have around three or four clysters a day. His favorite lavement was a mixture of almond oil, honey, and lentitive electuary (a laxative). Being a king who had to manage a powerful empire with limited time, eventually Loius XIV began taking clysters while conferring with government ministers and advisers. Throughout his long reign King Louis XIV recieved in excess of 2,000 clyters.

Calmative Lavement for the King, 1652

30 grammes oil of almond

45 grammes honey

15 grammes lentitive electuary

Mix with warm water.

source

(Source: doctorsreview.com)

The Seattle Windshield Pitting Epidemic of 1954,

Starting in Bellingham Seattle in 1954 residents began to notice unexplained pitting on the windshields of their cars.  Over time the problem began to grow as more and more people reported pitting on their windshields, most of which the police determined to be kid vandals with bb guns.  However, by April reports of mysterious pitting began to occur in surrounding neighborhoods.  Within a week isolated reports of windshield damage turned into mass delusion as over 3,000 people filed police reports detailing unexplained windshield pitting.  When the epidemic reached metropolitan Seattle the mass hysteria soon grew out of control.  People by the thousands went to the police and car experts to report every nick, ding, dimple, scratch, or pit that appeared on their windshields.  Wild speculation and theories abounded including secret government radio waves, sand flea eggs, gremlins, and cosmic rays.  Many others claimed that they saw pits and bubbles form right before their eyes. One newspaper even reported that a strange and unknown “gravel-like” substance could be found on roads throughout the city.

On April 15th Sergeant Max Allison of the Seattle police crime laboratory stated that the pitting reports consisted of “5 per cent hoodlum-ism, and 95 per cent public hysteria.”  By April 17th reports of phantom windshield pitting had come to an end.  Today scientists and experts blame the incident as a case of “collective delusion”.  Most of the pitting cases were caused by natural forces but it was only due to media hype that people began noticing windshield damage that they had not noticed before.

(Source: historylink.org)

Landsknecht Mace/Gun Combo Weapon,

During the early 1500’s the Landsknechts were an elite group of soldiers who operated out of Germany and Switzerland.  Traditionally pikeman, the Landsknechts also carried shortswords, and a very large longsword called a Zweihander (two hander).  Among their arsenal was a much stranger  and less common weapon, a special mace made to double as a four shot matchlock musket.

Crafted by German gunsmiths and blacksmiths, this odd weapon was a large club studded with spikes, much like any other mace.  On the end a spike provided the user the option of stabbing as well as smashing.  However, the spike was situated on cap, which when opened revealed four gun barrels.  The barrels would have been loaded with loose powder and a round bullet.  To fire the gun powder was placed on a touch-hole close to the grip and ignited with a slow match.  The user could then rotate the weapon to fire the other barrels.

While an interesting weapon few were produced due to cost and difficulties in production.  Most were used almost exclusively by the Landsknechts, although Henry VIII of England carried a similar weapon which is now on display at the Tower of London.  Most surviving mace guns are also relegated to museum display pieces.

(Source: vikingsword.com)

The James Reid “My Friend” Knuckleduster revolver,

Made in a small factory in the Catskills of New York, these small revolvers were the invention of James Reid, a gunsmith and Irish immigrant.  Back then small revolvers and knuckledusters were popular weapons among both good and bad alike.  James Reid had the idea of creating a weapon that combined both knuckleduster and revolver. Knicknamed “my friend” it was a seven shot .22 revolver that also had a large ring shaped handle that could be used as a good bludgeoning instrument.  Small and compact, the first models of the revolver lacked a barrel but instead just had a pepperbox style cylinder.  Will certainly compact, it was a bit two small.  Because it was a single action many complaints revolved around the stubby hammer, which was often very difficult to work.  As a result James Reid modified his design.  Called the “new model”, Reid added a larger spur hammer and a barrel.  Around 15,000 were produced between 1865 and 1883.

(Source: beforeitsnews.com)

The History of Oliver Cromwell’s Head,

The most powerful man in English history, Oliver Cromwell, is remembered for overthrowing King Charles I during the English Civil War, becoming England’s all powerful Lord Protector, and conducting a genocidal conquest of Ireland.  However, one part of history forgotten to the masses is what happened to Cromwell’s head after his death.  In 1658 Oliver Cromwell died, leaving the office of Lord Protector to his son, Richard Cromwell.  Richard Cromwell did not have the charisma or experience to handle the complicated affairs of the English state and hold the Cromwellian Empire together.  He stepped down in 1659, the Cromwellian government collapsed, and King Charles II was recalled from exile to rule England.

Public favor quickly shifted away from Cromwell and the former parliamentarians.  In 1660 Cromwell’s corpse was disinterred from its grave and subjected to a “posthumous execution” by hanging.  His head was removed from his corpse and placed on a 20 ft pole above Westminster Hall.  In the late 1680’s a storm threw the head to the ground, where it was stolen by a guard who hid it in his house for several decades.  In 1710 the former guard then sold it to Caldius Du Puy, a Swiss antiquities collector who owned a private museum in London.  Cromwell’s head became the star attraction of the museum, earning Du Puy a large sum of wealth.  After Du Puy’s death the head passed to a number of collectors who tried to display the head for profit.  Each was a failure due to the fact that Cromwell’s head was no longer looked upon with a sense of infamy, but as a minor curiosity akin to a carnival sideshow.  

By 1900 there were questions as to the authenticity of the head, as the head had passed through the hands of many shady people throughout its history.  In 1911 the head was in the possession of Horace Wilkinson when it was subjected to examination by the scientist Karl Pearson and anthropologist Geoffrey Morant.  In a 109 page report they detailed how they compared the structures of the head’s skull with the shape of Cromwell’s face and head based off of period portraits and Cromwell’s death mask.  By the end of the report Pearson and Morant concluded that there was a “moral certainty” that the head did indeed once belong to Oliver Cromwell.

When Horace Wilkinson died in 1957 the head passed into the possession of his son, Horace Wilkinson Jr.  However Wilkinson chose to finally put the head to rest after almost three centuries of handling by the living.  In 1960 the head was interned in an unknown location near the antechapel of Sidney Sussex College.  Today a plaque commemorates the general area where the head currently rests.  The location of Cromwell’s body is unknown to this day.

(Source: talesofcuriosity.com)

Repent for the end is Near! —- Mary Bateman and The Prophet Hen of Leeds, 1806.

In 1806 a hen located in the English city of Leeds began foretelling the end of the world.  Of course the hen didn’t actually say that the end was nigh, but instead began to lay eggs engraved with the inscription “Jesus is coming”.  Alarmed by such foreboding, the people of Leeds were driven to religious frenzy to repent for their sins before the apocalypse came.  Many thousands of other people traveled to Leeds in order to witness the miracle for themselves.  The hens owner was one Miss Mary Bateman who made a living as a con artist, fortuneteller, and seller of medicinal potions.  One day she was caught administering to the bird and the “Prophet Hen” was revealed to be a fraud.  Miss Bateman wrote on the eggs with a type of corrosive ink, which etched the prophetic messages on the eggshells.  She then carefully re-inserted the eggs into the hen.  Voila! A prophetic hen laying doomsday eggs!

After the Hen Prophet hoax Mary Bateman continued her life as a quack and two bit con artist.  In 1809 she murdered a woman with poison in a scheme to steal her money.  She was convicted of the crime and executed by hanging.  Oddly enough her body was put on display for money, the proceeds going to charity.  Odder yet, pieces of her skin were removed and sold as magic charms.  Oddest of all, her skeleton currently resides at the Thackary Museum in Leeds.

(Source: murderpedia.org)

The Guycot Chain Pistol,

In 1870’s France an interesting rifle was produced called the Guycot Chain Rifle.  Incredibly it was a rifle that held 80 rounds.  Cartridges (6.5mm) were placed in a chain which looped around the reciever and through the stock.  When the trigger was pulled the chain would rotate, loading fresh cartridges into the chamber.  

Essentially the Guycot Chain Pistol was the same thing, except since it was smaller than the Chain Rifle, it held only 40 rounds. Like the Chain Rifle few were sold due to their complexity, expense, and all around strangeness.

(Source: artfact.com)

The Jarre Harmonic pistol,

During the 1800’s there were many attempts to create pistols that could compete with the standard six shot revolver, often with very strange results.  One such result was the invention of a Frenchman named Jarre in the mid 19th century.  His solution involved a bank of six barrels that looked much like a harmonica, each barrel being loading with a pinfire cartridge.  Pulling the trigger would would move the harmonica to the left, aligning a loaded barrel with the hammer and discharging it.  Unfortunately this design was complicated and much heavier than the typical six shot revolver.  The bank of barrels was large and clumsy.

Jarre improved the design by creating a pistol with one fixed barrel, with the harmonica portion being a magazine which was loaded independently of the gun.  The result was a much smaller and compact design, with greatly improved capacity (10 rounds).  While a great improvement, they were still bulky and impractical when compared with a standard revolver.  The Jarre Harmonica pistol of both types never became very popular.  Other designers tried to improve on the harmonic pistol, one being Jonathan Browning, father of the famous John Moses Browning.

(Source: thefirearmblog.com)

Very unique 19th century Japanese three barreled percussion pistol.

Estimated Value - $5,500 - $8,000

(Source: rockislandauction.com)