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Background & ResearchDuring the seventeenth century the black powder for muskets was usually carried in small bottles on a bandolier.
Although they are now referred to mainly as bandoliers, in the seventeenth century they were also called "powder boxes" or "charges".
In the nineteenth century they became known as "apostles" because the most common surviving sets carried twelve bottles!
Each bottle contained enough powder to fire the musket once.
A number of varieties of bandolier bottles survive.
The Basic Bandolier or Bandoleer
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The lead tops of bandolier bottles are a common find on archaeological sites. They offered an advantage over wooden tops because they did not seize up in bad weather. Examples of these have been found throughout the country at sites with Civil War connections such as Edgehill 1642 & Naseby 1645. To see our reproductions click here
The New Model Army contracts of 1645/6 include orders for large numbers of bandoliers with blue painted bottles (with blue & white strings). They were more expensive than other types and it is not clear whether they were for issue to specific regiments or for 'parade' duties. It is this type of bottle that is usually depicted in recent studies of the New Model Army, although other types of bottles also appear to have been issued. Blue painted sets are to be found in the Royal Armouries collection in Leeds, although it is not known if these are the New Model era bottles often quoted. Both the surviving bottles and leatherwork conform to the same basic patterns, although with some degree of differences.
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Leather-covered bottles appear to have been widely used throughout the period. Many of these are still to be found. Hampton Court Palace has a large collection which may post date the civil war. Others may be found in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. A number of bottles have been found in this country including at Newcastle upon Tyne and Corfe Castle. Most of the surviving ones appear to have wooden tops covered in leather, though some appear to have had lead tops. It is possible that this style are an import from the Netherlands - many of the surviving examples are similar to Dutch examples and illustrations. The leather covering is presumably for protection from the weather. Interestingly one of the complaints of using bandoliers was the noise produced when the bottles knocked together this leather covering does greatly reduce this. The original bottles I have seen have whole bottoms, though it would appear that some may have had inserted plugs in the base, the leather possibly being used as an aid to keeping the bottle complete. Some original leather covered bottles appear to have lead tops.
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Priming Wires (also know as "Touch hole prickers")
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When Hopton and his Cornish forces were besieged in Devizes by Waller in June 1643, they discovered that they had insufficient match to fend of an attack. Hopton ordered his men to 'search every house in the town and to take all the bedcords they could find, and to cause them to be speedily beaten and boiled' Clarendon. 'On service the soldier carried a 'link' of match, that is a coil of two or three yards of it, hung on his bandolier,' Firth, C.H. Cromwell's Army p 83 'The garrison of Lyme, which numbered 1,500 men, often used five hundredweight of match in twenty-four hours.' 'a careless soldier in fetching powder where a magazine was, clapped his hand carelessly into a barrel or powder with his match between his fingers, whereby much powder was blown up and many killed.' Sir Richard Bulstrode's account of Edgehill
A feature of some of the surviving illustrations of bandolier sets, includes a little oil bottle attached to the belt, hung near the bullet pouch, presumably for rudimentary maintenance. It's not clear from the illustrations whether they were made in metal or wood. Although possibly originally produced in metal, we can offer some turned wooden examples complete with wooden stopper.
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