Chiswickite - formerly The Croydonian

Courtesy of the ballista currently up for auction on ebay - at a reserve price of £25,000, although the seller will charge you more for erection chez vous. Still, being able to lob a head-sized stone ball 100 yards would be a handy way of ensuring military dominance in one's patch. And following on from the previous post, it was not made by BAe.

Anyway:



The Q&A at ebay are worth the click alone:

"

Q:	I have often said I wouldn't trust my Mother in Law as far as I could throw her. This device raises interesting possibilities. Could a Witch's Stool be fitted....?
A:	I have now doubt that such a modification would be within the capabilities of even the most modest DIY enthusiast. Just beware of health and safety regulations. Q: If the catapult where to fire again would there be enough room to load a cow? A: Does your mother in law know that you have plans for her? If however you are referring to the bovine variety there are some points to consider with regard to ammunition. Firstly the ballista has a fairly narrow launch channel designed to accommodate a stone ball of about 350mm diameter which is launched by a sling behind the it. Clearly a cow would require a much larger ‘slipway’ and of course a sling of equal proportions. In addition, whilst festering cows were a favourite in times of siege to spread disease amongst the enemy I have a feeling that these days there might be certain conventions controlling the use of biological weapons. However adaptation of the ballista to accommodate dysfunctional relatives is a possibility.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 02, 2008 at 10:37 pm. You can skip to the end and leave a response.