Part of swordsman’s kit shows evidence of damage by poet (8)
I believe the answer is:
scabbard
'part of swordsman's kit' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'evidence of damage by poet' is the wordplay.
'evidence of damage' becomes 'scab' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'poet' becomes 'bard' (bard is a kind of poet).
'scab'+'bard'='SCABBARD'
'shows' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scabbard that I've seen before include "Case for a sword" , "sword-carrier" , "foil cover?" , "It keeps food off clothes" , "One holding a sword" .)