A linstock (also called a lintstock) is a staff with a fork at one end to hold a lighted slow match. The name was adapted from the Dutch lontstok, "match stick".[1] Linstocks were used for discharging cannons in the early days of artillery; the linstock allowed the gunner to stand further from the cannon[2] as it was dangerous applying the lighted match to the touch hole at the breech of the gun. Not only could the charge flash back, but the recoil of the cannon might send the carriage toward the gunner.
- ^ "Linstock Definition | Definition of Linstock at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 2009-11-05.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 735.