Vallon Lagarde was so celebrated for his encounters [duels] that Bazanez, jealous, sent him a feathered hat as a challenge, with a note saying to wear it in peril of his life. Lagarde of course clapped it on his head and swaggered forth. They met, exchanged the usual formalities, and on the field of honor Lagarde whacked Bazanez over the head. Bazanez’s head was unusually thick and deflected the blow. Lagarde lunged again with his sword, crying, “This is for the hat!” and again, “This is for the feathers!” and then again and again for the tassels.
Bazanez was bleeding hard but he rallied, felled Lagarde, and stabbed him fourteen times in the neck and chest, saying “I am giving you a scarf to wear with the hat!” While he was stabbing away, Lagarde bit off part of his chin and then fractured his skull with the pommel of his sword. At this point both men fainted from loss of blood and were carried away, but against the odds they rallied and lived to pick more fights.
Source:
Holland, Barbara. “III. Starting a Fight.” Gentlemen’s Blood: A History of Dueling From Swords at Dawn to Pistols at Dusk. Bloomsbury, 2004. 39. Print.
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