]
About the same period, however, iron must have been regarded as almost
a precious metal even in England itself; for we find that in Edward the
Third's reign, the pots, spits, and frying-pans of the royal kitchen
were classed among his Majesty's jewels.[24]

The same famine of iron prevailed to a still greater extent in the
Highlands, where it was even more valued, as the clans lived chiefly by
hunting, and were in an almost constant state of feud. Hence the smith
was a man of indispensable importance among the Highlanders, and the
possession of a skilful armourer was greatly valued by the chiefs. The
story is told of some delinquency having been committed by a Highland
smith, on whom justice must be done; but as the chief could not
dispense with the smith, he generously offered to hang two weavers in
his stead!

At length a great armourer arose in the Highlands, who was able to
forge armour that would resist the best Sheffield arrow-heads, and to
make swords that would vie with the best weapons of Toledo and Milan.
This was the famous Andrea de Ferrara, whose swords still maintain
their ancient reputation. This workman is supposed to have learnt his
art in the Italian city after which he was called, and returned to
practise it in secrecy among the Highland hills. Before him, no man in
Great Britain is said to have known how to temper a sword in such a way
as to bend so that the point should touch the hilt and spring back
uninjured. The swords of Andrea de Ferrara did this, and were
accordingly in great request; for it was of every importance to the
warrior that his weapon should be strong and sharp without being
unwieldy, and that it should not be liable to snap in the act of
combat. This celebrated smith, whose personal identity[25] has become
merged in the Andrea de Ferrara swords of his manufacture, pursued his
craft in the Highlands, where he employed a number of skilled workmen
in forging weapons, devoting his own time principally to giving them
their required temper. He is said to have worked in a dark cellar, the
better to enable him to perceive the effect of the heat upon the metal,
and to watch the nicety of the operation of tempering, as well as
possibly to serve as a screen to his secret method of working.[26]
Long after Andrea de Ferrara's time, the Scotch swords were famous for
their temper; Judge Marshal Fatten, who accompanied the Protector's
expedition into Scotland in 1547, observing that "th