Proto Mortuary Sword

[urbanspaceman]

Returning to the Mortuary hilt motifs; it is all a question of timing.
Those hilts were in constant production till well after the regicide, so it is perfectly reasonable to attribute the heads to Charles and Henrietta on Royalist swords produced later. Those royalists would probably enthusiastically flaunt their allegiance to the Crown even after the war was lost.
It's like Colichemardes: everyone says it is not the name of the soldier but that is pre-supposing we are talking about 'hollow' blades; there were many extra-wide fortes found on flattened hexagonal blades and I've seen some tapering into almost 'foil' like proportions.
Timing !!!
In regard to later horseman's swords, that hilt you illustrate Jim is what they fitted to the first (1687) batch of Shotley Bridge swords, distributed amongst the Jacobites and Catholics up here when the Germans first arrived with smuggled blades featuring the Passau Wolf AND the 'Shotle Bridg' script.

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you Keith! that note on this example corresponding to the Shotley production period from c.1687 is encouraging! I have always felt this was a British example of about that period, but of course the 'walloon' spectrum which included Continental contexts and the simplicity of the form makes it tough to say definitively.

Well noted on the 'timing' factor. The decorative motif on British sword hilts of early in the 17th century included sometimes elaborate foliage, which included the 'green man' theme which arose out of early traditions and lore. These facial characters seem to have gone from that theme to representing 'cavalier' type figures early in the century in some degree. Other fanciful themes often included ecclesiastically associated figures like cherubs etc.

It does not seem unusual that these facial figured motifs on these hilts, which were indeed produced still after 1650, would be presumed to represent Charles I , though of course that would be a presumption easily adopted.
This sort of jingoism is of course not uncommon.

As you note, with the colichemarde, it is like the pappenheimer, these eponyms became somewhat effective identifiers semantically for collectors referring to particular sword forms and features, though the certain connection to these personalities is of course apocryphal.

All very intriguing stuff as we look further into the swords of these times which were in use in the times of these 'mortuary swords'.

[urbanspaceman]

All through the 1600s we had the wide variation on rapier hilts; although the blades of the Cavaliers were predominantly narrow (am I right?) and often Toledo sourced.
Those rapiers persisted via diminishing forms into the Smallsword.
Then their was the Hounslow Hangars, apparently favoured by naval officers.
There is actually both a Mortuary hilt (in the Royal Armouries in Leeds; although it is displayed on a Cavalier manikin which is - given the date of the blade - anachronistic)) and a typical mushroom cap Hounslow hangar style hilt (in our local museum; both featured in my book) fitted onto those Shotley Bridge blades of 1687. Both those examples are obviously retro-fitted heirloom hilts needing good new blades at the end of the 1600s.
See below, sorry they are not to scale:
NB. I must look into the history of the Green Man to see if there is any connection with Islay.
I must also find where was the brass foundry that was making the hilts for the SB blades. Up till now I have seen no evidence of one in the Derwent Valley, but it will not have been such a big deal and may have simply slipped under the radar; or they will have been hilted in Newcastle which is much more likely.
The London Cutlers Guild were not happy with Benjamin Stone fitting his swords with brass hilts which were obviously far cheaper than the Hounslow Mortuary hilts and hangar hilts previously made in iron.

[Triarii]

@Jim - you asked for photos of the other sword with a multi-fullered blade that I mentioned. Fullers are not quite as defined as the other.
I still call this a 'mortuary' for convenience as the basic hilt shape is the same, whereas 'backsword' covers almost anything. Whether the decoration is meant to be feathers or leaves I don't know.
In terms of markings the blade only has three pairs of reversed 'eyelashes' either side. It has lost a bit of the blunt ricasso as the tang had snapped and been repaired (this was done very professionally).
This was due to persons unknown previously taking it apart and cleaning it and instead of extending the tang to re-peen it, they cut into the blade to extend the tang. Muppets.
Very long false edge on this - c.12".
Considerable airmiles on this. I first saw it on line in Oz, then it ended up in the US - where it was cleaned - and from where I acquired it.

[Jim McDougall]

Triarii, I love your manner of speaking! the notable 'mileage' this example has seen, from Oz etc! and best of all, the inept restorers....muppets!!!!

Agreed, the 'mortuary' term has become firmly imbedded in collectors jargon for these half basket English hilts, so semantically identifies the form for discussion convenience. The 'backsword' term seems to be of notable vintage in etymology, but does not seem regularly used notably until about 19th c.
It seems the term 'broadsword' was used rather collectively before that toward basically a straight bladed sword.

Whatever the case, the backsword, as single edged arming swords were notably popularized in England during the Civil Wars and of course these mortuary swords.

The grouping of eyelashes on the blade seems unusual, but then with blades being produced in Germany, there was anything but consistency in these times. Thank you for sharing these added pictures and great that you have a number of these fascinating swords!

Keith, as you note the so called 'cavalier' hilts were aligned with the 'dish' hilt rapiers evolving in these transitional periods with the progressive evolution of the bilobate small sword in about second quarter 17th c. It seems that the Royalist factions in these wars were highly traditional and aligned with the court and gentry with noble presence, so they were of course keenly aligned with swordsmanship. In that regard, I would imagine that the 'cavalier' hilts, lighter versions of swept hilt rapiers, were likely in keeping with that case and had narrower blades.

The mortuary style swords, were more aligned with rank and file of the New Model Army of Parliament and Cromwell, with heavier backsword blades and arming swords with the heavier blades as well. Their armor and helmets of course were usually noted as distinctive, but both sides followed similar equipage.

The 'Green Man' lore seems to have been associated with early pagan followings and traditions, but later became filtered into ecclesiastical association, especially in architecture and decoration. This is of course more of a following in tradition than any sort of religious symbolism.
On the Isles, as noted the notable presence of Irish influence and occupation, along with the number of sainted figures in the Hebrides, St. Columba for example of Iona, St. Patrick of course was Irish.

There must have been of course incidental cases of armorers in the Isles, I know that my own ancestors from Jura were noted as of blacksmith families.
It would be understandable that there would have been certain small scale fabricating of hilts, but to produce hilts that were primarily destined for English context (mortuary hilts) seems unlikely and in the Isles even more so.

Whatever the case, it would be interesting to discover just how this particular 'chestnut' arose.