Illustrations have been moved so they do not break up paragraphs. Old or antiquated spellings have been preserved. Typographical and punctuation errors have been silently corrected. [Illustration] Fotoset and Lithographed by COLORTONE PRESS, Washington 9, D. C. ARMS AND ARMOR OF THE PILGRIMS 1620-1692 by Harold L. Peterson [Illustration: Patrero or “murderer”] Published by Plimoth Plantation, Inc. and the Pilgrim Society, Plymouth 1957 [Illustration: _A seventeenth century musketeer ready to fire his matchlock. From Jacques de Gheyn_, Maniement d’Armes, _1608_.] The average colonist landing on the wild shores of North America in the early 1600’s set great store by his arms and armor. The Pilgrims were no exception. They were strangers in a vast and largely unknown land, inhabited by wild beasts and peopled by savages who were frequently hostile. Greatly outnumbered by known enemies and possibly facing dangers of which they were not yet aware, these Englishmen placed their main hope for survival on the possession of superior weapons and protective armor. On the more peaceful side, their firearms were also valuable, for they provided fresh meat for the table and furs for sale back home. Because the colonist was so dependent on his arms he soon learned to select the most efficient kinds that he could obtain. In so doing he pushed the evolution of military materiel far ahead of contemporary Europe and developed a high degree of skill, particularly in the use of firearms. The military supplies which the Pilgrims brought with them may be divided into three major categories: defensive armor, edged weapons, and projectile weapons. A completely armed man, especially in the first years, was usually equipped with one or more articles from each of the three groups, usually a helmet and corselet, a sword, and a musket. ARMOR Of all the pieces of defensive armor, the most popular was the helmet. Almost everyone wore one when he prepared for trouble. Most of those worn at Plymouth were undoubtedly open helmets which left the face uncovered, although it is possible that a few completely closed helmets were also used. These open helmets were of three principal types: the cabasset, the morion, and the burgonet. The cabasset was a simple, narrow brimmed helmet with a keeled bowl and a tiny apical peak pointing to the rear. The morion had a larger crescentic brim pointed at the front and back and a high comb along the center-line of the bowl. The better specimens of both these helmets were forged from a single billet of steel, and both were very efficient defenses. The curving lines of the bowls caused most blows to glance off without imparting their full impact, and the comb of the morion presented an extra buffer of metal through which a sword would have to cut before it reached the bowl. Inside each helmet was a quilted lining held in place by a row of rivets around the base of the crown which acted much like the modern helmet liner in holding the steel shell away from the wearer’s head. [Illustration: _Cabasset._] [Illustration: _Morion._] The burgonet was a slightly more complicated helmet than the morion or cabasset, and it was made in a variety of styles. Basically, it was an open-faced helmet which covered more of the head than the other two. Usually it had a peak or umbril somewhat like the visor of a modern cap over the eyes, a comb on the bowl, and movable plates to protect the cheeks and ears. Often there was a defense for the face in the form of a single adjustable bar which passed through a hole...