THE FIRST EPOCH (EARLY 14TH CENTURY TO 1845) This period is marked by the use of smooth-bore weapons of low striking velocity. It is notable for the small progress made in five centuries of considerable warfare, beginning with the Hun dred Years' War. Wrought iron pieces came largely into use in the latter part of the 14th century, owing, no doubt, to the difficulty of obtaining sufficiently sound metal castings for the bigger guns and to the high cost of copper. These guns were constructed of rods or bars which were beaten and welded to gether lengthwise and reinforced by iron rings clamped round the outside of the gun. This radically unsound form of con struction survived during the 15th century notwithstanding many accidents, the most notable of which caused the death of King James II. of Scotland in 146o.
Stone balls came into general use for the larger pieces during the 14th century; such balls were cheaper than those of lead or iron and, being relatively much lighter, were better suited to the feeble guns of the period as these increased in size. Before the middle of the 15th century guns had developed from small weapons firing a 1 lb. or 2 lb. pellet to large "bombards" capable of throwing balls of 300, 400 and even 700 lb. weight. One of the most famous of these, Dulle Griete, the giant bombard of Ghent with a 25-inch calibre, was built as early as 1382. (See fig. 2.) Exceptionally large bom bards were used by the Turks at the siege of Constantinople in 1453. The Turkish bombards were of cast bronze, but wrought iron construction was more gen eral and is exemplified by Mons Meg, a 15th century gun now at Edinburgh Castle. It is noteworthy that many early guns were loaded from the breech end by a detachable chamber. (See fig. 3.) Another interesting feature of primitive gunnery was the common use of the ribauld or ribauldequin between 135o and 140o. This was the prototype of the mitrailleuse and consisted of a number of small iron gun tubes clamped together in a bundle and fired in quick succession from the breech end, the whole being mounted on a wheeled carriage.
The art of casting improved in the latter part of the 15th century, though not introduced into England until 1521, and the large cast bronze guns of that time were often beautifully orna mented with renaissance workmanship. Cast iron shot came into use at the end of the 15th century and by the end of the i6th century stone shot only sur vived for use in petrieros, slyngs, fowlers, murtherers and other relics of the preceding period. As cast iron shot displaced stone, its greater efficiency as a projectile tended to encourage the manufacture of a smaller and stronger type of gun and medium calibre muzzle-loading pieces, made first of forged iron and later of cast iron, came into use. These and cast brass weapons were developed steadily for field and naval service, whereas hitherto siege purposes had been the pre dominant consideration. It was not until the 17th century that cast iron muzzle-loading guns came into general use and they then continued as the principal weapons ashore and afloat until the end of the epoch. The improvement in the composition and strength of gunpowder after the introduction of "corned" gun powder about 1450 had long made these stronger weapons a re quirement. The use of cast steel was tried during the i6th and 17th centuries, but was generally found objectionable and finally abandoned, the metallurgical ignorance of the time making it impossible to obtain sound castings.
The above table, taken from The Royal Navy, A History by Laird Clowes, vol. i., p. 410, shows the guns mounted in ships during Queen Elizabeth's reign. A column has been added to this table, indicating the wea pons in general use in the 17th and 18th centuries, with the classification in terms of the projectile's weight, which was carried out under Cromwell's government when a greater uni formity in the size of shot and in the clearance between the shot and the bore (windage) was demanded.