Page 79 - All About History - Issue 09-14

Killing for honour

fought at around 12 paces; 15 was at the upper Duellists often stood at ten paces apart,
end of the scale, but not uncommon. Eyesight but there was no standard distance
occasionally played a part in the decision, and it
may have done so here. Seton was afterwards to
say: “Had we stood at the distance my opponent
wished (six paces) he would now have been in
my place and I his.” This could well indicate that
he was near-sighted and hampered by the much
longer distance.
One of the seconds gave the command to fire
– but only one pistol shot rang out. When Pym
had handed Hawkey his pistol, it had been at half-
cock and so incapable of discharging its ball. An
experienced second would have realised that his
man was about to receive a shot without being able
to return fire himself and alerted him. Luckily for
Hawkey, Seton missed with his shot. Smooth-bored
flintlock pistols firing round balls weren’t the most
accurate of weapons, so this was hardly surprising.
An ex-army officer carried out a statistical analysis
of known duels in the pistol era and calculated that
around half of duellists were wounded and about a
fifth killed.
By the accepted principles and etiquette of
duelling, the duel should now have been halted.

Etiquette

Duels were very rarely fought on the spot
Duelling was often when tempers were hot, which was one of the
conducted early things that distinguished a gentlemanly way
in the morning to of settling matters from the sort of unseemly
minimise the chances fight the lower classes might indulge in. A
of getting caught. gentleman would fight, but only if the proper
procedure and conduct had been met.
A ‘heat of the moment’ duel was more likely
in the days when swords were the primary
duelling weapon, as they were worn by most
gentlemen as part of everyday dress. Certainly
into the 19th century, when swords were no
longer carried and pistols became the weapon
of choice, duels tended to be arranged in
a quite businesslike manner. The challenge
might be presented in the form of a letter or
even a calling card, as if issuing an invitation to
some pleasant social engagement.
The principals rarely took part in any of
this themselves. Third parties were engaged
– usually the men who were to act as seconds
at the duel itself. The idea was that they
should be experienced and level-headed men,
Combatants stand
sideways at a distance both in regard to duelling and in the wider
marked out by the world – men who could be trusted, to act with
seconds – there is no sufficient impartiality to ensure fair play and
set distance ‘rule’. ‘good sport’ at the eventual meeting.
If, after the initial exchange of shots,
neither party was hit, the duel could be ended
with both men keeping their honour. It was
the duty of the second of the challenged to
Dropping a approach the other second and state that
handkerchief was a shots had been fired and ask if there was any
common alternative reason for the duel to continue. In the case
to a cry of ‘fire’. that is was a serious matter of honour – rather
than a petty dispute – the duel continued
until one of the participants was hit. When
someone was hit it was the duty of their
second to announce this to the other second.
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