The firing mechanisms of primitive firearms applied one of two methods: the slow match or the quick match. The slow match was a rope or cord boiled in lye and gunpowder and then dried, which would smolder indefinitely in the touchhole before igniting. For the quick match, the cord was moistened and then rolled in finely-ground gunpowder. Both methods often rendered uncertain results and were quite dangerous.

In the fifteenth century, the Spanish invented the harquebus or arquebus, a portable but heavy gun equipped with a matchlock, which was a slow-burning match lowered into the breech of the barrel to ignite the gunpowder. This weapon was equipped with a movable clamp, known as a serpentine, that held the match on the gun. The serpentine was hooked to the trigger so that as it was pulled, the match dipped into the powder in the pan...