The Jedwart stave (called the ''Jeddart'' or ''
Jedburgh
Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in su ...
'' stave) was a
polearm
A polearm or pole weapon is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is fitted to the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, thereby extending the user's effective range and striking power. Polearms are predominantly ...
weapon commonly found in the
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...
in the 16th century. It consisted of a large, thin, double-edged axe-like blade attached to a roughly four-foot long studded stave with a hand guard, similar in appearance to a
bardiche
A bardiche , berdiche, bardische, bardeche, or berdish is a type of polearm used from the 14th to 17th centuries in Europe. Ultimately a descendant of the medieval sparth or Danish axe, the bardiche proper appears around 1400, but there are nume ...
. The upheaval of the sixteenth century in the borders proved the weapon to be too light to be effective against the heavy cavalry of the
Border Reivers
Border reivers were Cattle raiding, raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scotland, Scottish and England, English people, and they raided the entire border ...
and attacks from the English, and it fell out of favour in combat. It remained however a common household weapon for purpose of self-defence.
See also
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Lochaber axe
The Lochaber axe ( Gaëlic: tuagh-chatha) is a type of poleaxe that was used almost exclusively in Scotland. It was usually mounted on a staff about five feet long.
Specifics of the weapon
The Lochaber axe is first recorded in 1501, as an "old ...
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Scottish polearms
Many of the polearms used in Scotland up to the beginning of the 16th century were similar to those used in other parts of the world; however, a number of distinct forms did evolve. The nomenclature of Scottish axes, in particular, is confusing, a ...
References
Polearms
Border Reivers
Weapons of Scotland
History of Scotland
{{Scotland-hist-stub