horse pistol

horse pistol (plural horse pistols)

1. A type of large pistol carried on the pommel of a saddle while riding.
   • 1847, Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, section I:

     Above the chimney were sundry villainous old guns, and a couple of horse-pistols: and, by way of ornament, three gaudily-painted cainsters disposed along its ledge.

   • 1926, Ford Madox Ford, A Man Could Stand Up— (Parade's End), Penguin, published 2012, page 559:

     From time to time he pulled the trigger of the horse-pistol; from time to time he rested the butt on his ledge and rammed a charge home.

• strophioles