Targe

Common card · No. 287501

The targe (Scottish Gaelic: Targaid) is a type of strapped round shield that was used by Scottish Highlanders in the early modern period. From the late 16th century, until the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Scottish Highlander's main means of defence in battle was his targe. In February 1596, the clan leader John Grant of Freuchie was able to muster 500 men, including 40 armed "according to the Highland custom" with bows, helmets, swords, and targes. After the disastrous defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden, the carrying of the targe ("target", as it was referred to in the original text of the legislation) was banned by a 1746 amendment to the 1715 Disarming Act, and many were destroyed or put to other uses. Those that remain have intricate patterns and are decorated, indicating that they would have originally belonged to important people. The targe is a concave shield fitted with enarmes on the inside, one adjustable by a buckle, to be attached to the forearm, and the other fixed as a...

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