a well known utensil, made of divers sorts of metals, as gold, silver, steel, brass, &c.

The fashion or form of buckles is various; but their use, in general, is to make fast certain parts of dress, as the shoes, garters, &c.

Buckles for girdles pay a duty of 3s. 10½d. the gros, or twelve dozen; whereof 1s. 4½d. is drawn back on exportation. Buckles for girts pay likewise a duty of 1s. 5½d. the gros; and both these pay somewhat more, if of brass. But it is be observed, that all buckles are prohibited to be imported.

BUCKER, a piece of defensive armour used by the ancients. It was worn on the left arm, and composed of wickers woven together, or wood of the lightest sort, but most commonly of hides, fortified with plates of brass or metal. The figure was sometimes round, sometimes oval, and sometimes almost square. Most of the bucklers were curiously adorned with all sorts of figures of birds and beasts, as eagles, lions; nor of these only, but of the gods, of the celestial bodies, and all the works of nature; which custom was derived from the heroic times, and from them communicated to the Grecians, Romans, and Barbarians.

Votive Bucklers. Those consecrated to the gods, and hung up in their temples, either in commemoration of some hero, or as a thanksgiving for a victory obtained over an enemy; whose bucklers, taken in war, were offered as a trophy.