Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Chris Evans · 24th July 2009, 12:48 AM

Hi Hotspur,

Great post!

The nomenclature associated with gaucho knives will be contentious for ever. The problem is that both the words `gaucho' and `facon' changed constantly from the time they were first used. Worse still, is that we know very little of the halcyon days of the real gauchos, those that lived on the Pampas before 1800. What passes for gaucho history these days pertains to the rapidly changing 19th century Pampas due to commercial cattle grazing, immigration and the mythologization of agricultural workers, in keeping with nationalistic and romantic trends of the mid to late 1800s.

`Gaucho' went from a malingering vagabond, who lived off wild cattle, to a mounted farm labourer and then onto the embodiment of national virtue. And the `facon' from an oversize knife primarily used to hunt and slaughter wild cattle to a weapon (when the wild cattle disappeared) and then a national icon symbolizing masculinity and the warrior spirit. In popular parlance to this day, any reasonably sized knife worn at the small of the back by an Argentinean horseman (gaucho?) is a facon, though my the mid 19th century a facon was seen as a weapon and the `cuchillo' (knife) as a tool. Here, it is worth remembering that `facon' literally means large knife, even though by popular convention it acquired other nuances and meanings. It is also worth remembering that the wild cattle of the Pampas was in severe decline by the early 19th century and with it the life style of the original gauchos - What cattle was left, was fiercely competed for by the rapidly increasing native Indian population; So the gaucho was compelled to become a mounted hired hand, or a soldier for a local warlord and later, the national army.

Collectors and edged weapon historians needed something more precise than and hence the more definitive names associated with gaucho blade ware used nowadays. For unambiguous discussions it is better to stick to the terms favoured by Osornio and later Domenech.

Re Swordforums: That was an interesting thread and Leonardo made many valid points. Unfortunately, English is not his first language and he had difficulty in articulating himself against hostile interlocutors who greatly misunderstood him.

This is now drifting OT, and perhaps we ought to start a new thread on gaucho knives and Pampean culture, if one is needed. I was merely enlarging on Gonzalo's excellent post regarding blade terminology is Spanish (Castillian!) and mentioned facons etc by way of examples.

Cheers
Chris
PS please post a picture of the brand on you knife and perhaps we can help to identify its origins.

24th July 2009, 12:48 AM	#23
Chris Evans Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 673	Hi Hotspur, Great post! The nomenclature associated with gaucho knives will be contentious for ever. The problem is that both the words `gaucho' and `facon' changed constantly from the time they were first used. Worse still, is that we know very little of the halcyon days of the real gauchos, those that lived on the Pampas before 1800. What passes for gaucho history these days pertains to the rapidly changing 19th century Pampas due to commercial cattle grazing, immigration and the mythologization of agricultural workers, in keeping with nationalistic and romantic trends of the mid to late 1800s. `Gaucho' went from a malingering vagabond, who lived off wild cattle, to a mounted farm labourer and then onto the embodiment of national virtue. And the `facon' from an oversize knife primarily used to hunt and slaughter wild cattle to a weapon (when the wild cattle disappeared) and then a national icon symbolizing masculinity and the warrior spirit. In popular parlance to this day, any reasonably sized knife worn at the small of the back by an Argentinean horseman (gaucho?) is a facon, though my the mid 19th century a facon was seen as a weapon and the `cuchillo' (knife) as a tool. Here, it is worth remembering that `facon' literally means large knife, even though by popular convention it acquired other nuances and meanings. It is also worth remembering that the wild cattle of the Pampas was in severe decline by the early 19th century and with it the life style of the original gauchos - What cattle was left, was fiercely competed for by the rapidly increasing native Indian population; So the gaucho was compelled to become a mounted hired hand, or a soldier for a local warlord and later, the national army. Collectors and edged weapon historians needed something more precise than and hence the more definitive names associated with gaucho blade ware used nowadays. For unambiguous discussions it is better to stick to the terms favoured by Osornio and later Domenech. Re Swordforums: That was an interesting thread and Leonardo made many valid points. Unfortunately, English is not his first language and he had difficulty in articulating himself against hostile interlocutors who greatly misunderstood him. This is now drifting OT, and perhaps we ought to start a new thread on gaucho knives and Pampean culture, if one is needed. I was merely enlarging on Gonzalo's excellent post regarding blade terminology is Spanish (Castillian!) and mentioned facons etc by way of examples. Cheers Chris PS please post a picture of the brand on you knife and perhaps we can help to identify its origins.