Hand Me My Pistol, Please
PHOTO: NEW BRUNSWICK MUSEUM, SAINT JOHN, N.B.--29942
A set of duelling pistols comes with powder.
Between 1646 and 1948, some 300 duelling incidents were recorded in what is now Canadian territory. These ranged from challenges delivered (but not accepted) through to formal combats, many bloodless but approximately 30 with fatal outcomes. The two professions most frequently represented among duellists were military officers and lawyers.
Duels should not be confused with medieval “trial by combat” which was part of a crude legal system and conducted in the presence of judges—even kings. Duels, by contrast, were illegal and hence conducted furtively. Sheriffs were obliged to suppress them and those who killed an opponent were...