Jedwart stave

{{Short description|16th century polearm from the Scottish Borders}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

The Jedwart stave (called the Jeddart or Jedburgh stave){{cite book |last1=Caldwell |first1=David |editor1-first=David |editor1-last= Caldwell|title=Scottish Weapons and Fortifications 1100-1800 |year=1981|publisher= John Donald|location= Edinburgh|isbn=0-85976-047-2|pages=290–9|chapter= Some Notes on Scottish Axes and Long Shafted Weapons}} was a polearm weapon commonly found in the Scottish Borders in the 16th century. It consisted of a large, thin, double-edged axe-like blade attached to a roughly four-foot long studded stave with a hand guard, similar in appearance to a bardiche. The upheaval of the sixteenth century in the borders proved the weapon to be too light to be effective against the heavy cavalry of the Border Reivers and attacks from the English, and it fell out of favour in combat. It remained however a common household weapon for purpose of self-defence.{{cite book |first=Jonathan |last=Cooper |title=Scottish Renaissance Armies 1513–1550 |isbn=978-1-84603-325-4 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |publication-place=Oxford |year=2008 |pages=29–30}}