Their prey were the young men of fashion in the city,
and especially 'country gulls', who were newly come to town and
were anxious to become sophisticated.
and especially 'country gulls', who were newly come to town and
were anxious to become sophisticated.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
Jonson speaks of the frequency of the practice in France in _The
Magnetic Lady_.
No private duel seems to have occurred in England before the sixteenth
century, and the custom was comparatively rare until the reign of
James I. Its introduction was largely due to the substitution of the
rapier for the broadsword. Not long after this change in weapons
fencing-schools began to be established and were soon very popular.
Donald Lupton, in his _London and the Countrey carbonadoed_, 1632,
says they were usually set up by 'some low-country soldier, who to
keep himself honest from further inconveniences, as also to maintain
himself, thought upon this course and practises it'. [67]
The etiquette of the duel was a matter of especial concern. The two
chief authorities seem to have been Jerome Carranza, the author of a
book entitled _Filosofia de las Armas_,[68] and Vincentio Saviolo,
whose _Practise_ was translated into English in 1595. It contained two
parts, the first 'intreating of the vse of the rapier and dagger', the
second 'of honor and honorable quarrels'. The rules laid down in these
books were mercilessly ridiculed by the dramatists; and the duello was
a frequent subject of satire. [69]
By 1616 dueling must have become very common. Frequent references
to the subject are found about this time in the _Calendar of State
Papers_. Under date of December 9, 1613, we read that all persons who
go abroad to fight duels are to be censured in the Star Chamber. On
February 17, 1614, 'a proclamation, with a book annexed', was issued
against duels, and on February 13, 1617, the King made a Star Chamber
speech against dueling, 'on which he before published a sharp edict'.
The passion for dueling was turned to advantage by a set of improvident
bravos, who styled themselves 'sword-men' or 'masters of dependencies,'
a _dependence_ being the accepted name for an impending quarrel. These
men undertook to examine into the causes of a duel, and to settle or
'take it up' according to the rules laid down by the authorities on
this subject.
Their prey were the young men of fashion in the city,
and especially 'country gulls', who were newly come to town and
were anxious to become sophisticated. The profession must have been
profitable, for we hear of their methods being employed by the 'roaring
boys'[70] and the masters of the fencing schools. [71] Fletcher in _The
Elder Brother_, _Wks. _ 10. 283, speaks of
. . . the masters of dependencies
That by compounding differences 'tween others
Supply their own necessities,
and Massinger makes similar comment in _The Guardian_, _Wks. _, p. 343:
When two heirs quarrel,
The swordsmen of the city shortly after
Appear in plush, for their grave consultations
In taking up the difference; some, I know,
Make a set living on't.
Another function of the office is mentioned by Ford in _Fancies Chaste
and Noble_, _Wks. _ 2. 241. The master would upon occasion 'brave' a
quarrel with the novice for the sake of 'gilding his reputation', and
Massinger in _The Maid of Honor_, _Wks. _, p. 190, asserts that he would
even consent 'for a cloak with thrice-died velvet, and a cast suit' to
be 'kick'd down the stairs'.
