Man shoots an anvil through a smokering
Gaze upon the AWESOME!
You could not get permission from your superiors in England or any European nation to do this act. Here in America, you have no superiors, and we are all, despite the best efforts of the Progressives, still considered equal under the law.
Happy Independence Day!
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UPDATE: I have been corrected by a mavin, no doubt of our overseas brethren. See here:
http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/story-13910301-detail/story.html
For hundreds of years the heavy clang of the blacksmith toiling at his anvil could be heard in villages, towns and cities dotted across the Westcountry.
At the weekend these time-honoured skills were on display at a unique celebration of the art.
Blacksmiths from across the country gathered at Finch Foundry, Sticklepath, near Okehampton, to celebrate their patron saint, Saint Clement in the traditional manner.
Finch Foundry is a traditional 19th-century working forge powered by three water wheels driving a huge tilt hammer and grindstone.
Originally it produced a plethora of agricultural tools including sickles, scythes and shovels for Dartmoor farmers and miners.
The foundry produced up to 400 tools a day to keep local workers supplied.
The spectacle held on Saturday included the firing of the anvil with gunpowder.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Clement’s_Day#Festivities
“Old Clem’s Night” started literally with a bang and showers of sparks during the ritual “firing of the anvil.” The smith packed gunpowder into a small hole in an anvil, and then struck it soundly with a hammer, causing a small explosion. Anvil firing was also a test of the anvil’s durability: weak anvils would break under pressure, and had to be re forged.
The smith, or apprentice, dressed up in wig, mask and cloak to represent ‘Old Clem’ led a procession of smiths through the streets, stopping at taverns along the way. Boisterous singing was followed by demands for free beer or money for the ‘Clem feast’. Traditional toasts included ‘True hearts and sound bottoms, check shirts and leather aprons’; and ‘Here’s to old Vulcan, as bold as a lion, A large shop and no iron, A big hearth and no coal, And a large pair of bellowses full of holes.’
In the nineteenth century at Bramber in West Sussex an effigy of Old Clem was propped up in the public bar while the smiths enjoyed their dinner. This was rounded off with the blacksmith’s anthem, ‘Twanky Dillo’:
“ Health to the jolly blacksmith, the best of all fellows
Who works at his anvil while the boy blows the bellows!
So it seems the blasting of the anvil with gunpowder is allowed as part of the traditional celebration of St Clement’s Day.
So, back when England was Catholic, there was liberty like we have here in America. It continued from that day to this, and the Muslims have not yet shut down the celebrations because they lack the power. That is good to know.
Now show me an Englishman of St Clement’s Day shooting the anvil through a smokering. Just askin’ is all.
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
