Lochaber axe
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The Lochaber axe was a Scottish war axe that came into use around 1600. The name of the weapon derives from Lochaber, an area in the western Scottish Highlands, as the weapon was employed principally by the Scottish highlanders, who (generally without any cavalry of their own) required armament against cavalry.
The axe itself is similar to tools used with crops, such as implements like the scythe designed for reaping. The hook on the back bears a passing resemblance to a shepherd's crook, although within agriculture a smaller hook such as this may have been used in order to lift and carry tied bundles of a harvested crop. It is possible, then, that earlier Lochaber axes served a dual purpose as, or were adapted from, farming tools.[citation needed]
[edit] Specifics of the weapon
The Lochaber axe took many incarnations, although all of them had a few elements in common. It was a heavy weapon, used by foot soldiers for a defense against cavalry and as a pike against infantry. Like most other polearms of the time, it consisted of two parts: haft and blade. The haft was usually some five or six feet (1.5 or 1.8 m) long, and mounted with a blade of about 18 inches (45 cm) in length which usually resembled a bardiche or voulge in design. The blade might be attached in two places and often had a sharp point coming off of the top. In addition a hook (or cleek) was attached to the back of the blade.
The Jeddart (or Jethart) axe was a similar weapon.[1]
[edit] Use
In hand-to-hand combat, the axe, in common with other polearms such as the halberd, has a spike on the end, to be used on close combat in a thrusting motion. The axe on the side, coupled with the long pole, delivered a powerful blow to infantry or dismounted cavalry.
Finally, the hook on the back allowed infantry to hook the cavalry off of their horses. To accomplish this, as the cavalry charged, the highlanders would suddenly change formation from a large body, into smaller bodies of men with clear channels between them. The horses would naturally go into these channels, and the foot soldiers would hook the cavalry off of their horses, then using their axes on them with a devastating effect. The hook supposedly could also be used for scaling walls.
By around 1767, the Lochaber axe was used mainly as a ceremonial weapon by the town guard of Edinburgh, Scotland.[citation needed]
[edit] In Fiction
In David Eddings' Elenium and Tamuli book series, the knight Sir Bevier uses a Lochaber Axe as his weapon of choice, and often receives comments about how it is a brutal looking weapon.
