[urbanspaceman]

While leaving no stone unturned during my early search for an accurate history of the German swordmakers of Shotley Bridge I came across a very well regarded Tyneside writer and collector from the first half of the 20thC called Robert Coltman Clephan who, while predominantly concerned with plate armour, published this tersely entitled work
THE DEFENSIVE ARMOUR AND THE WEAPONS AND ENGINES OF WAR
OF MEDIÆVAL TIMES (available from the Guttenberg press. KF).
Reading it I came across this statement:
"The “mortuary” hilt, so named from a number of swords with this basket-hilt having been made in memory of King Charles I., was the broadsword of the Commonwealth, and the Scottish basket hilt is obviously an amalgamation of the schiavona with the mortuary… which is certain from the fact that mortuary hilts were largely made on the island of Islay..."
Having a comprehensive knowledge of Islay after numerous visits to their numerous distilleries I was academically stimulated by the discovery of a shrouded part of the island's history. Add this to the reported habit of calling early basket hilts "Irish" made me wonder even more. I should note that these Hebridean isles were home to the Irish descended Dalriada (another history lost in time). But not having any pertinence to my project in hand I put this curiosity on the back-burner for future reference. Here's the future; it's time to lift the kilt.
What follows is the first information I came across. 
CLAN MACARTHUR.
A prominent contingent of the clan are the MacArthurs of Islay just to the west of Argyll and holding lands at Proaig just south of the aptly named McArthur's Head lighthouse. The MacArthur name is still extensive on the island today.
The MacArthurs of Proaig were hereditary armourers and Pipers to the McDonalds of the Isles which suggests a presence on the island from well before the end of the Lordship in 1493 and an ancestral presence which could predate the founding of the Lordship which ruled from Finlaggan on northern Islay from the 12th century.
Then there was this: The Royal Commerce Directory of Scotland shows that Ronald McArthur, blacksmith and golf club maker (the Islay MacArthurs were the world's first to manufacture golf clubs) was operating in Port Ellen as late as 1903. He died in 1921 at the age of 65, so it's likely that the forge continued up until World War I. His father, James McArthur was the previous blacksmith for Port Ellen and likely would have learned from his father, a blacksmith in the Kildarton region, prior to the founding of Port Ellen forge. There is an R. McArthur of Port Ellen listed as killed in WWI; if he was Ronald's son or grandson that would have been the end of the McArthur blacksmith line for Islay.
Their history is not left behind on Islay however: the clan's contingent in Lochaber invented the iconic Lochaber Axe; and the Skye branch taught the world to Pipe. So, back to Mortuary hilts:
TBC