Deadly DUEL of Court Dwarf Jeffrey Hudson

 The thing about shooting "modern guns" is that when you pull the trigger - it goes BANG - and all that's left to do is fire again & again & again ... That can get expensive and a bit boring after a few hundreds of shots eh - whereas if you start learning the art of Muzzle Loading and using antique propellant Black Powder .. well there's so much more to it to get used to - that if you are young and HASTY and can't keep it up and going for more than 30 seconds you are most unlikely to succeed in your enterprise ..

Now here's another enlightenment for youse .. Did you know that the venerable WHEEL LOCK  system for black powder ignition is not a 'flintlock' because it DOES NOT USE FLINTS ?

Flintlocks work by using a very hard piece of shaped FLINT to scrape iron shards from a "steel" surface as white hot sparks, to set off the gun powder .. BUT a Wheel-Lock uses a hardened toothed wheel to scrape and chip off glowing particles of IRON PYRITES that light the gun powder .. if you're lucky - which might be why pyrites is mostly called Fools Gold.

FOOLS GOLD - Iron Pyrites

Now, if you're not already too bored you should enjoy Ethan's video showing you him firing the wheel-lock he had such fun making ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNS8Eoxmuqg

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Jeffrey Hudson 1619-1682 was a very small man born to a respected father who was a butcher & BULL BAITER. 

He was a tiny wee lad of some 46 centimeters 18 inches tall and he was passed to royalty to be an amusing gift as "a rarity of nature" a mixed blessing that exposed him to the upper classes as a freak, but over time he became an intelligent and capable wee man who got really fucked off by folk pinching and poking him and taking the piss.

In 1644 - the brother of an English Baron, a William Crofts challenging him as unable to fight a turkey-cock - turned up for a duel equiped with a water squirter that he amused himself by aiming and emptying at the small man mounted on his pony - who urged his steed forward - to shoot Crofts squarely in the forehead with his pistol killing him stone dead.

Moral of the story .. Don't take the piss and don't underestimate anyone.

“The giving cavalier [Croft] took no firearms, but merely a huge squirt, with which he meant at once to extinguish his small adversary and the power of his weapon. The vengeful dwarf, however, managed his good steed with sufficient address to avoid the shower aimed at himself and his loaded pistols, and, withal, to shoot his laughing adversary dead.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/amazing-story-18-inch-duelling-28517793

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Hudson

Hudson had a VERY interesting life - Well worth reading about.

Marty K.

50,000 Volts or Only 8,000?

Recently the whole country was shocked to learn of the deaths of an aged Waitakere couple having both been attacked by a RAM.

We all know enough not to trust fullgrown Bulls - but many widely encountered farm animals may be very dangerous .. such as Stags, Boars, Stallions, and Rams - particularly in the breeding season.

When I was a youngster my sister and I were charged by a cow with calf at foot that chased us from her field back over the gate. And all those bitey Sandflies are female.

A boar can make a weight of 110 kilos with wicked tusks - while rams can easily weigh up to 160 kilos of hard headed muscle.

- I'm a big lad at 95 kilos .. and don't have either horns or tusks.

Ask Yourself WHY these things have got HORNS ..

One answer, to any lack of respect, may be a Livestock "Cattle" Prod.

A wide choice of these is sold in New Zealand ranging in cost from the best Gallagher at around NZ$600. down to much more affordable brands

A PROD that works by pain is not a Taser such as those restricted to use by police ..

- 'Tasers' deliver upwards of 50,000 VOLTS to disrupt the target's nervous system and muscle control - whereas a prod is limited to delivering some 8,000-10,000 volts 'only' with low amperage of 120 Milliamps that is a painful belt similar to an electric fence unit.

Bainbridge Livestock Prod

.. There is a high cost thing called a cattle anal immobilizer sold to vets ..

Marty K.