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Donald McBane
Donald McBane (1664 - April 12, 1732) was a noted Scottish swordsman, career soldier, and fencing master, who is widely regarded as one of the most prolific duelists of all time. He was born in the Highland town of Inverness during the late seventeenth century. In 1687 McBane ran away from home, enlisting in the British army under the Duke of Marlborough. As a career soldier, he served throughout much of Europe, fighting in The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), and taking part in fifteen skirmishes and sixteen battles, including Blenheim (1704) and Malplaquet (1709). By the time of the Jacobite Rising of 1715, he was serving as a sergeant in General Honeywood’s Regiment of Dragoons and guarded the Colours at the Battle of Preston. His autobiography mentions that at one point he had the command responsibility equivalent to a Colonel of Artillery, but it is unlikely he ever received an officer's commission. His Colonel made several recommendations for McBane to 'Chai ...
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Donald McBane, Scottish Fencing Master
Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the Gaelic pronunciation by English speakers, and partly associated with the spelling of similar-sounding Germanic names, such as ''Ronald''. A short form of ''Donald'' is ''Don''. Pet forms of ''Donald'' include ''Donnie'' and ''Donny''. The feminine given name ''Donella'' is derived from ''Donald''. ''Donald'' has cognates in other Celtic languages: Modern Irish ''Dónal'' (anglicised as ''Donal'' and ''Donall'');. Scottish Gaelic ''Dòmhnall'', ''Domhnull'' and ''Dòmhnull''; Welsh '' Dyfnwal'' and Cumbric ''Dumnagual''. Although the feminine given name ''Donna'' is sometimes used as a feminine form of ''Donald'', the names are not etymologically related. Variations Kings and noblemen Domnall or Domhnall is the name of many ancie ...
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Royal Hospital Chelsea
The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an independent charity and relies partly upon donations to cover day-to-day running costs to provide care and accommodation for veterans. Residents are known as Chelsea Pensioners. The gardens of the Royal Hospital are Grade II listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. History King Charles II founded the Royal Hospital as a retreat for veterans in 1682.Guidebook, p. 3 The initiative is said to have come from Nell Gwyn according to Peter Cunningham's "The Story of Nell Gwyn" 851 The tradition was perpetuated when her portrait was used as a sign for a public house in Grosvenor Row (a thoroughfare which disappeared in the 19th century). The provision of a hostel rather than the payment of pensions was inspired by Les Invalides in P ...
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Alfred Hutton
Alfred Hutton FSA (10 March 1839 – 18 December 1910) was a Victorian officer of the King's Dragoon Guards, writer, antiquarian, and swordsman. He originated the first English revival of historical fencing, together with his colleagues Egerton Castle, Captain Carl Thimm, Colonel Cyril Matthey, Captain Percy Rolt, Captain Ernest George Stenson Cooke, Captain Frank Herbert Whittow, Sir Frederick and Walter Herries Pollock. Early life Alfred Hutton was born on 10 March 1839 at Beverley, Yorkshire the eleventh and youngest child and seventh son of Henry William Hutton (1787–1848) and his wife Marianne (before 1795-1879), only child of John Fleming of Beverley. Henry W Hutton was a captain in the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, retired 1811. Alfred attended Blackheath Proprietary School (Lewisham), matriculated at University College, Oxford, on 25 November 1857. He was intended for the Church, but the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny in 1857 turned his thoughts toward a m ...
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Egerton Castle
__NOTOC__ Egerton Castle M.A., F.S.A. (12 March 1858 – 16 September 1920) was an author, antiquarian, and swordsman, and an early practitioner of reconstructed historical fencing, frequently in collaboration with his colleague Captain Alfred Hutton. Castle was the captain of the British épée and sabre teams at the 1908 Summer Olympics. He was born in London into a wealthy family; his maternal grandfather was the publishing magnate and philanthropist Egerton Smith. He was a lieutenant of the Second West India Regiment and afterwards a captain of the Royal Engineers Militia. He was also an expert on bookplates and a keen collector. Egerton Castle co-authored several novels with his wife, Agnes (née Sweetman). Selected works *''Schools and Masters of Fencing : From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century'', (2005), (2006). (The first edition: G. Bell & Sons, London 1885)"The Baron's Quarry"(short story) *Consequences. London: Richard Bentley and Son. 1891. 3 volume ...
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Historical Fencing In Scotland
There is some evidence on historical fencing as practised in Scotland in the Early Modern Era, especially fencing with the Scottish basket-hilted broadsword during the 17th to 18th centuries. Most of our current knowledge of these arts derives from various combative treatises or Martial arts manuals, as well as written anecdotes (i.e. battle accounts, folklore, etc.) and artistic representations from different periods and locations in Scottish history (see Penicuik SketchesHighland Swordsmanship: Techniques of the Scottish Sword Masters, by Mark Rector (editor) and Paul Wagner (editor), Published by The Chivalry Bookshelf (15 November 2001)). Scottish fencing masters The following is a list of fencing masters that were very influential in their day, and have contributed to our current knowledge of the martial practices of Scotland (see ''Combat Treatises'' below): * William Machrie – a Scottish fencing master who taught in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, Scotland in the late 17th, ...
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James Figg
James Figg (before 1700 – 8 December 1734; also spelt James Fig) was an English prizefighter and instructor in historical European martial arts. While Figg primarily fought with weapons including short swords, quarterstaffs, and cudgels, he also played an important role in boxing's development. In 1719, he opened a London fighting venue that could seat more than 1,000 spectators and was one of the first of its kind. In 1725, he organized and promoted modern history's first international boxing match at his amphitheatre. He claimed to have won more than 200 matches during his career, and was posthumously considered to be the first boxing champion. Little is known about Figg's early life, except that he came to London from Thame, Oxfordshire. In London, Figg gained a reputation as a skilled fighter and set up a business training students in combat with weapons and fists. He promoted fights with both male and female combatants at his venue as well as bouts of animal blood sport. ...
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Hockley-in-the-Hole
Hockley-in-the-Hole was an area of Clerkenwell Green in central London where bull-baiting, bear-baiting and similar activities occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries.Boulton, W. 1901. The Amusements of Old London: CHAPTER I - THE DIVERSIONS OF HOCKLEY IN THE HOLE, AND AT FIGG'S'' The Beargarden was located at Hockley-in-the-Hole where the ''Coach & Horses'' pub at Back Hill and Ray Street meet today, north of the junction of Clerkenwell Road and Farringdon Road. See also * Beargarden * Westminster Pit The Westminster Pit was a well-known blood sport arena in nineteenth-century London, England. It reached a zenith of popularity between 1820 and 1830, and hosted such spectacles as dog-fighting, cock-fighting, bear-baiting, badger-baiting, monk ... References

Animal cruelty incidents Baiting (blood sport) Clerkenwell Sports venues in London {{London-sports-venue-stub ...
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Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in the late 18th century in England, duels were more commonly fought using pistols. Fencing and shooting continued to co-exist throughout the 19th century. The duel was based on a Code of conduct, code of honor. Duels were fought not so much to kill the opponent as to gain "satisfaction", that is, to restore one's honor by demonstrating a willingness to risk one's life for it, and as such the tradition of dueling was originally reserved for the male members of nobility; however, in the modern era, it extended to those of the upper classes generally. On occasion, duels with swords or pistols were fought between women. Legislation against dueling goes back to the medieval period. The Fourth Co ...
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Warrant Officer
Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the most senior of the non-commissioned officer (NCO) ranks, or in a separate category of their own. Warrant officer ranks are especially prominent in the militaries of Commonwealth nations and the United States. The name of the rank originated in medieval England. It was first used during the 13th century, in the Royal Navy, where Warrant Officers achieved the designation by virtue of their accrued experience or seniority, and technically held the rank by a warrant—rather than by a formal commission (as in the case of a commissioned officer). Nevertheless, WOs in the British services have traditionally been considered and treated as distinct from non-commissioned officers, as such (even though neither group has, technically, held a commiss ...
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Battle Of Preston (1715)
:''See Battle of Preston (1648) for the battle of the Second English Civil War.'' The Battle of Preston (9–14 November 1715) was the final action of the Jacobite rising of 1715, an attempt to put James Francis Edward Stuart on the British throne in place of George I. After two days of street-fighting, the Jacobite commander Thomas Forster surrendered to government troops under General Charles Wills. It was arguably the last battle fought on English soil. Background The Jacobites moved south into England with little opposition, and by the time they reached Preston, Lancashire had grown to about 4,000 in number. Their cavalry entered Preston on the night of 9 November 1715, and as they approached two troops of dragoons and part of a militia regiment retreated to Wigan. General Charles Wills was ordered to halt their advance, and left Manchester on 11 November with six regiments, arriving on 12 November. The Jacobite leader was Thomas Forster, a Northumberland squire with m ...
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Scottish People
The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ''Alba'') in the 9th century. In the following two centuries, the Celtic-speaking Cumbrians of Strathclyde and the Germanic-speaking Angles of north Northumbria became part of Scotland. In the High Middle Ages, during the 12th-century Davidian Revolution, small numbers of Norman nobles migrated to the Lowlands. In the 13th century, the Norse-Gaels of the Western Isles became part of Scotland, followed by the Norse of the Northern Isles in the 15th century. In modern usage, "Scottish people" or "Scots" refers to anyone whose linguistic, cultural, family ancestral or genetic origins are from Scotland. The Latin word ''Scoti'' originally referred to the Gaels, but came to describe all inhabitants of Scotland. Cons ...
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Dragoon
Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat with swords and firearms from horseback. While their use goes back to the late 16th century, dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the 17th and early 18th centuries; they provided greater mobility than regular infantry but were far less expensive than cavalry. The name reputedly derives from a type of firearm, called a ''dragon'', which was a handgun version of a blunderbuss, carried by dragoons of the French Army. The title has been retained in modern times by a number of armoured or ceremonial mounted regiments. Origins and name The establishment of dragoons evolved from the practice of sometimes transporting infantry by horse when speed of movement was needed. In 1552, Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma ...
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