Basket hilted swords

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you Ibrahiim, outstanding coverage on the Scottish Rebellion of 1745, the '45', and that had crossed my mind. While it would be tempting to presume this kind of patriotic imbuement, it does not fall into place with the nature of the sword, nor its placement, though I would not suggest spurious placement. Numbers placed in similar manner and in various locations may be inventory or issue related numbers, most of which remain unclear and outside most recorded explanations.
These kinds of swords were used by dragoon troopers in British regiments after Scottish subjugation, and while many were of course Scottish, it does not seem likely such a marker would have been in place on one of these swords.

I had forgotten to add to my earlier post that many forms of these English made basket hilts often had a feature within the arms and saltires of the structure an oval ring which has become generally held to be for use in holding the reins, and these are accordingly regarded as horsemans swords.
The absence of this feature does not preclude its use as a cavalry sword, but I wanted to include that detail for general reference.

[stephen wood]

Do you think this is one of the military pattern swords? It is marked "No. 16" on the hilt.

[A Senefelder]

Salaams Jim, Lovely subject by Cathey! Perhaps this 45 is a reference to this Wikepedia historical page Quote''The Jacobite rising of 1745, often referred to as "The 'Forty-Five", was the attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for the exiled House of Stuart, and recreate an absolute monarchy in the Kingdom of Great Britain[citation needed]. The rising occurred during the War of the Austrian Succession when most of the British Army was on the European continent. Charles Edward Stuart, commonly known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie" or "the Young Pretender," sailed to Scotland and raised the Jacobite standard at Glenfinnan in the Scottish Highlands, where he was supported by a gathering of Highland clansmen. The march south began with an initial victory at Prestonpans near Edinburgh. The Jacobite army, now in bold spirits, marched onwards to Carlisle, over the border in England. When it reached Derby, some British divisions were recalled from the Continent and the Jacobite army retreated north to Inverness where the last battle on Scottish soil took place on a nearby moor at Culloden. The Battle of Culloden ended with the final defeat of the Jacobite cause, and with Charles Edward Stuart fleeing with a price on his head. His wanderings in the northwest Highlands and Islands of Scotland in the summer months of 1746, before finally sailing to permanent exile in France, have become an era of Scottish history that is steeped in romance.'' Unquote.

This is my understanding as well. My great uncle Max was president of the clan Maclean here in America when I was young and this is what he explained to me which sincs up with all that I've read since. It better be it's incorporated into a tattoo of the clans history I have.

[E.B. Erickson]

I'm a bit late posting here, but that's because I teach at an international school in Thailand but my sword collection is in storage in the US and is inaccessible for photography. Last week I was going through a box of old vacation photos and discovered a forgotten cache of pictures of many of my swords. This week I began scanning them and plan on posting a couple each day or two to this thread.

So first up is a Scottish basket ca. 1680.
38" de blade, with twin short fullers at the forte,and a shallow moderately wide fuller extending down the blade for about 8".
The basket is of flat ribbon construction, with the unusual feature of an oval panel on the side knucklebows; there is an oval panel on the front knucklebow as well.

More to come! --ElJay

[E.B. Erickson]

Scottish brass basket from the first half of the 1700s.
36" se blade with triple fullers, stamped on the left side with sickle marks and 3 dots at the end of the sickle's arcs.
Very large pommel to balance the blade, otherwise typical construction for one of these.
Grip is leather covered, bound with brass wire and Turk's head knots. I think that the leather is probably a restoration, but it looks OK.

--ElJay

[E.B. Erickson]

Scottish, ca 1680
33" de blade with central fuller engraved "ELVIEGO SAHAGUN". There's an indistinct circular stamp at the end of the fuller.
Basket construction is normal, but the smith elected to cut small rectangular slots in the pommel to receive the ends of the hilt. This is a feature usually seen on earlier ribbonhilts.
Grip has some wormholes and is covered in old hard leather.

[E.B. Erickson]

English hilt based on a heart shaped guard pierced with scrollwork.
Blade 35" se, with the typical narrow and wide fullering.
Grip is shagreen bound with copper wire