since I'm going back and re-reading some of the classics...

How come the Three Musketeers are never actually mentioned using muskets? Swords, yes, but muskets, no.

This caused me to do a mental double-take while looking over some of the titles I'm planning on reading again. Was wondering if anyone else had noticed this before.

I'm believe I may have given ~erik~'s new cache a little too much thought if my brain is going in strange directions like this. Funny what your mind will do when you're sick and bed-bound. Maybe I've had too much time to think!

Regards,

S-4-C

I think you are confusing the movies with the book. Read the chapter about the siege of La Rochelle and you’ll see them discharging their duty as Musketeers with muskets.

Because the book doesn't mention muskets often and the movies less we think of the Musketeers as swordsmen. However in this period, a sword was a man's personal weapon; a Musketeer's professional weapon was his musket. The adventures of movie Musketeers almost always happen during 'peace' time when the Musketeer is not carrying his musket.

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Some of those that wander are lost!

Based on that, and it makes sense, I wonder what the Mouseketeers' weapon of choice was?

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Ra! Ra! Ra!

It's been easily 15-20 years since I read Dumas' works (the father, not the son). My favorite was The Count of Monte Cristo, and can remember the detail in that book to a large degree, but the Three Musketeers, though entertaining, didn't capture my imaginiation as well. Guess that's why I don't recall the chapter with the seige.
However, I'll be reading it again soon.
Your comment about the personal and professional weapons was very insightful. Guess I'm just not thinking deep enough to pick that out.
Thanks,
S-4-C

See this for a VERY interesting biography of Alexander Dumas: http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/jsp/db/author.jsp?authorId=4&authorName=Alexandre+Dumas

As is indicated in the biography, Dumas was not a stickler for accuracy in his historical fiction. However, the "job" of the gentlemen featured in his first novel: "The Three Musketeers" (1844), were guardsmen. As guardsmen, they would have been armed with muskets of the time. Interestingly Dumas' novels were so popular that he had something akin to the Disney studios of today, in that he had a whole shop where people wrote stories under his direction and there were over 300 of these "romance" type stories that were published.

So, in the long run, what research shows is that these guys more accurately were the "Three Guardsmen" who would have been armed with muskets. The teacher is now, "OUT."


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Anna

Just because you know the latitude and longitude, doesn't mean you know where you are!

Sometimes the first, and most common, definition of the word isn't the one appropriate to the situation. From www.dictionary.com:

Musketeer:
2. A member of the French royal household bodyguard in the 17th and 18th centuries.

~erik~

quote:

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Originally posted by DaRebel:
Based on that, and it makes sense, I wonder what the Mouseketeers' weapon of choice was?

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Annette Funicello?

The 4 heroes also were equipped with pistols, and these weapons are mentioned often.

Dumas wrote a number of sequels to this story, following the career of D'Artagnan and his friends over a period of 30 years. The final, entitled 'The Vicomte de Bragelonne' includes as one portion the history of 'The Man in the Iron Mask.'

My personal favorite of his works is 'Count of Monte Cristo', but I've also read almost all of his other major novels, including 'Queen Margot'. It was a fascinating historical period.

quote:

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Originally posted by Strapped-4-Cache:
since I'm going back and re-reading some of the classics...

How come the Three Musketeers are never actually mentioned using muskets? Swords, yes, but muskets, no.

This caused me to do a mental double-take while looking over some of the titles I'm planning on reading again. Was wondering if anyone else had noticed this before.

I'm believe I may have given ~erik~'s new cache a little too much thought if my brain is going in strange directions like this. Funny what your mind will do when you're sick and bed-bound. Maybe I've had too much time to think!

Regards,

S-4-C

http://www.geocaching.com/stats/img.aspx?uid=F0DED49F-51A6-45D7-B717-91DCF37A37EB&txt=Broke+and+bug+bitten&bg=1

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This brings to mind something I always wondered in school. If a small part is a particle, why do they call a small test a quiz?