 The term "backsword" can also refer to the singlestick, which is used to train for fighting with the backsword, or to the sport or art of fighting in this fashion.<ref name="Winn"></ref>

Being easier and cheaper to make than double-edged swords, backswords became the favored sidearm of common infantry, including irregulars such as the Highland Scots, which in Scottish Gaelic were called the "claidheamh cuil" (back sword), after one of several terms for the distinct types of weapons they used.Backswords were often the secondary weapons of European cavalrymen beginning in the 17th century.</doc>
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