Tagalog sword translation please!

[Battara]

Soon I will post pictures. In the meantime, I got a sword here in Louisville Show that looks to me to be an Katipunan officer's presentation sword. The hilt is carved horn with a D-guard and and long Spanish type blade with this inscription inlayed in brass and engraved:

"Alay ng Ramagasnakan ng Rgg. Gral "lukban" sa mga Damunuan ng kaniang hokbo. Dilo sa lukban ika 15 ng Agosto ng 1898."

I can only translate half of it (because I am only half Tagalog ) and have figured out that it is an offering of Ramaganakan from Lukban (Rgg-?) and his army presented on August 15, 1898.

Please help me.....

Maraming Salamat!

[CharlesS]

Not sure, but I think it says: "A wise and kind man sells CharlesS 15 nice Moro things anytime after 1898".....could be wrong, but that's the way it looks to me>>>>

[Battara]

Charles, you are soooo subtle....

New info: I have taken another look at the inscription and must rewrite it (I hate Gothic - can't read it whether it be in English, Spanish, German, or Tagalog ).

The corrected form is this:

"Alay ng Ramaganakan ng Rgg. Gral. 'Lukban' sa mga Pamunuan ng kaniang hokbo. Dito sa lukban ika 25 ng Agosto ng 1898."

With correction from the Gothic lettering ( ), I think it now says this:

"A presentation of Ramaganakan of General Lukban from the officers of his army. Here at Lukban on August 25, 1898."

Is my translation correct? Who is Ramaganakan? Could this be the great Vincente Lukban of later PI-American war fame? Will Charles ever leave me alone about selling my Moro collection to him?

[CharlesS]

Seriously, that was a very interesting sword. The hilt and inscription were very unique. Should it be associated with this general, can you tell us a little more about him?

[Battara]

I think this e-article says it well:

Lukban and His Camp

By CHITO DELA TORRE
September 1, 2005

"But perhaps Basaynons and Catbaloganons should proclaim him, first, as an “adopted son” by way of a resolution of the Sangguniang Bayan of each of their towns..."

Did you know that Vicente Lukban, for whom Camp Lukban was named, was not a Samarnon? He was a native of Labo town in Camarines Sur where he first saw the light on February 11, 1860. However, he married Pacencia Gonzalez, a Samareña. After over 3 years of a colorful military career marked by battles against Spaniards and American soldiers, while he was under command of General Emilio Aguinaldo, he joined the rank of businessmen in Tayabas and there won as governor. In 1916 he died.

Hardly however does every Samarnon, particularly Catbaloganons and Basaynons know this man for whose “commitment to Philippine Independence” the present military camp, now serving as headquarters of the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division (known also by its signal name, “Storm Troopers” - following the “Desert Storm” legend before the end of the first millennium, was named. Even the 8ID does not possess an official document showing why Camp Lukban was so named. There are also no accounts about his being considered as an “adopted son of Catbalogan”. There are not here even records linking “Lukban” to “Lucban”, another known family name, and to “Lucban” the street.

But perhaps Basaynons and Catbaloganons should proclaim him, first, as an “adopted son” by way of a resolution of the sangguniang bayan of each of their towns, next, as a hero by way of a resolution from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Samar or if this is not possible at the local level then perhaps the SP could urge Congress through Samar’s Representative Reynaldo S. Uy of the First District and Representative Catalino V. Figueroa of the Second District, then, put up a giant statue for him right on the site which history could claim of his most valuable contribution to the fight for Philippine Independence.

The 8ID could not possibly initiate this move. It was a late comer and late occupant. It has been here only 17 years ago. Lukban, the camp, was there a long, long time ago.

Vicente Lukban became a general in the army of Gen. Aguinaldo. In 1899, he was assigned to Leyte and Samar. He established a hideout at the rocky cliffs of the Sohoton Caves in Basey - which later became known among the Basaynons as the “Panhulogan Caves”, noting the place by the legendary Golden River as where Lukban’s soldiers dropped big rocks to ward off or drown American soldiers who were sent out to get him. That was to be Lukban’s last line of defense against the American, until November 1901. He survived, just as he did in August, 1901 in an attack elsewhere in Samar that resulted in the capture of his beloved Samareña wife. He suffered wounds but managed to escape. It was in February, 1902 that the American soldiers captured him successfully.

Gen. Lukban was imprisoned thrice. First, in 1894, the very same year that he became a freemason, a member of Andres Bonifacio’s KKK (or the Katipunan). Spanish soldiers tortured him, until he was released in 1897, eight months after Dr. Jose P. Rizal was shot to death at Bagumbayan. Next, in February, 1902, for a few weeks, though. Finally, just for being suspected that he had again involved himself in “further insurrection attempts”, he was hailed back to the karsel, but only briefly.

During his leadership in Samar, the guerillas, including the Pulahanes, in the whole island enjoyed a centralized authority. More and more Samareño and Samareña guerillas joined the expanding groups of Pulahanes whose mettle and genuine fight for nationalism was found out during the command of the American forces in the Philippines by General Arthur MacArthur (a hero of the American Civil War who was later military governor of the Philippines, and father of Gen. Douglas MacArthur who figured in history as the Liberator of the Philippines when he saved Leyte and the Philippines from the vicious and tyrannical hands of the Japanese Imperial Army). With their general in command, the Pulahanes fought savagely against the Americans. Since his fall, the local resistance groups weakened.

Vicente Lukban has been considered by the “Storm Trooper” magazine of 8ID as a “revolutionary general serving the government under General Emilio Aguinaldo. That magazine said of him: “He studied at the prestigious Ateneo Municipal de Manila and law at San Juan de Letran, and then worked in the Court of First Instance in Quiapo, Manila, before becoming Justice of the Peace in Labo.”

The magazine continued to say of him when he was in the revolutionary Katipunan society, Lukban “established lodges (of the freemason) in the region” and “set up cooperatives for small and medium scale farmers who not only helped them economically but also helped raise funds for the revolt against Spain.”

Of his imprisonment in 1894, the “Storm Trooper” said: “Days of imprisonment in a flooded cell left him with a permanent limp. He denied his involvement in the revolutionary movement but, unlike Luna who hardly stopped talking - Lukban refused to expose his fellow revolutionaries.”

The magazine said further: “August 1897 saw his release from prison and he formally joined Aguinaldo and participated in several battles against the Spanish (soldiers). After the Pact of Biak na Bato towards the end of that year, he went into exile with Aguinaldo in Hongkong and became part of the revolutionary junta.

“There, according to some sources, he studied military science under Commander Joseph Churchase.

“In 1898, he returned to the Philippines and fought very successfully against the Spanish. Painted in contemporary American accounts, Lukban is described as little more than a wily oriental bandit with a touch of a sneaky Chinese blood in him, a useful addition to the weaponry of propaganda warfare after the Boxer Revolt. General Vicente Lukban was probably the most competent and imaginative general in Aguinaldo’s team.

“He certainly outshone the erratic Antonio Luna and managed to impose discipline on his forces that Luna failed to achieve, and which, indeed, cost the latter his life.”

The magazine also said about his being a hero: “Indeed, one of the few who did not surrender. His name is rarely connected with the ‘Bayani’, the Filipino heroes, most of whom would hardly rate a mention in any objective hall of heroes, possibly because his major actions were against the US, rather than the Spanish and he was strange that he was assigned to what at first appears to be mere backwater, Leyte and Samar, in early 1899. Yet as the war of independence faltered in Luzon, it became clear that Samar, at least the Visayas, could be the kernel of a continuing guerilla warfare, which could last for years. “These islands had an international trade in abaca, through British trading houses like Smith, Bell, which could provide income to keep the fight going and provide a channel for the influx of arms and ammunition.....

“General Arthur MacArthur offered $5,000 for Lukban’s head, and nobody tried to collect. He was offered the position of governor of Samar under the American regime, with autonomy, if he would surrender, but he refused to accept the offer.”

Some twists in oral tales had portrayed the general from Labo as a killer of priests and the doctor of Balangiga massacre in September, 1901. These were not the case. As for the massacre, the “Storm Trooper” said: “Although bearing command responsibility for the Balangiga incident, he only learned about it a week later, on October 6, 1901. Other than a letter to town mayors encouraging them to follow the Balangiga example on the same date, there are no published records of his reaction to the news or later comment from him.”

The magazine said: “There were many myths about him - that he’d had every priest on Samar killed and replaced with his own men, for instance, or the tale that his men had wrapped an American sympathizer’s head in the stars and stripes and set fire to it. These stories are nonsense, but he may even have encouraged them, he knew the value of propaganda.”

[CharlesS]

Good stuff.

You know I have sent several requests to Osprey Military Books to do a "Men at Arms" book on the Moro Wars. They did, indeed, just publish a work on the SP-AM war and the Insurrection, but they combine the two topics giving very little attention to the areas I was most interested in.

It is worth the buy though...Amazon should be the cheapest.

[Battara]

Finally here are some pictures:

[Battara]

And here is one of the elaborately carved horn hilt with tang going through the brass cap at end:

[Battara]

OK here is the final reading: (I HATE Gothic script! ):

"Alay ng kamaganakan ng kgg. Gral. LUkban sa mga pamunuan ng kaniang kokba. Dito sa Lukban ika 25 ng Agosto ng 1898"

My father (full blood Tagalog) translated it fully:

"Dedicated by the relatives of the most respected General Lukban to the officers of his troops. Here at Lukban on August 25, 1898"

Now all I need to do is figure out what this event was and the history behind it. If anyone has any leads or information please post here or email me at battara@hotmail.com. As you all can see, this is a project in process.

[Battara]

Well here is an update.

The Antiques Roadshow is here in Louisville and my wife and I just came back from it. I took this piece to is and they said that it is a "significant piece" and that "it belongs in a museum".

Happy I brought it

(Still doing research on it......)

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Battara

Well here is an update.

The Antiques Roadshow is here in Louisville and my wife and I just came back from it. I took this piece to is and they said that it is a "significant piece" and that "it belongs in a museum".

Happy I brought it

(Still doing research on it......)

Are we going to see you on TV?

[Battara]

Unfortunately...no.

I was hoping though.

However I was on TV weaving in and out of line 10 years ago on the show....

[ShazamsLaw]

Originally Posted by Battara

I think this e-article says it well:

Lukban and His Camp

By CHITO DELA TORRE
September 1, 2005

"But perhaps Basaynons and Catbaloganons should proclaim him, first, as an “adopted son” by way of a resolution of the Sangguniang Bayan of each of their towns..."

Did you know that Vicente Lukban, for whom Camp Lukban was named, was not a Samarnon? He was a native of Labo town in Camarines Sur where he first saw the light on February 11, 1860. However, he married Pacencia Gonzalez, a Samareña. After over 3 years of a colorful military career marked by battles against Spaniards and American soldiers, while he was under command of General Emilio Aguinaldo, he joined the rank of businessmen in Tayabas and there won as governor. In 1916 he died.

Hardly however does every Samarnon, particularly Catbaloganons and Basaynons know this man for whose “commitment to Philippine Independence” the present military camp, now serving as headquarters of the Philippine Army’s 8th Infantry Division (known also by its signal name, “Storm Troopers” - following the “Desert Storm” legend before the end of the first millennium, was named. Even the 8ID does not possess an official document showing why Camp Lukban was so named. There are also no accounts about his being considered as an “adopted son of Catbalogan”. There are not here even records linking “Lukban” to “Lucban”, another known family name, and to “Lucban” the street.

But perhaps Basaynons and Catbaloganons should proclaim him, first, as an “adopted son” by way of a resolution of the sangguniang bayan of each of their towns, next, as a hero by way of a resolution from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Samar or if this is not possible at the local level then perhaps the SP could urge Congress through Samar’s Representative Reynaldo S. Uy of the First District and Representative Catalino V. Figueroa of the Second District, then, put up a giant statue for him right on the site which history could claim of his most valuable contribution to the fight for Philippine Independence.

The 8ID could not possibly initiate this move. It was a late comer and late occupant. It has been here only 17 years ago. Lukban, the camp, was there a long, long time ago.

Vicente Lukban became a general in the army of Gen. Aguinaldo. In 1899, he was assigned to Leyte and Samar. He established a hideout at the rocky cliffs of the Sohoton Caves in Basey - which later became known among the Basaynons as the “Panhulogan Caves”, noting the place by the legendary Golden River as where Lukban’s soldiers dropped big rocks to ward off or drown American soldiers who were sent out to get him. That was to be Lukban’s last line of defense against the American, until November 1901. He survived, just as he did in August, 1901 in an attack elsewhere in Samar that resulted in the capture of his beloved Samareña wife. He suffered wounds but managed to escape. It was in February, 1902 that the American soldiers captured him successfully.

Gen. Lukban was imprisoned thrice. First, in 1894, the very same year that he became a freemason, a member of Andres Bonifacio’s KKK (or the Katipunan). Spanish soldiers tortured him, until he was released in 1897, eight months after Dr. Jose P. Rizal was shot to death at Bagumbayan. Next, in February, 1902, for a few weeks, though. Finally, just for being suspected that he had again involved himself in “further insurrection attempts”, he was hailed back to the karsel, but only briefly.

During his leadership in Samar, the guerillas, including the Pulahanes, in the whole island enjoyed a centralized authority. More and more Samareño and Samareña guerillas joined the expanding groups of Pulahanes whose mettle and genuine fight for nationalism was found out during the command of the American forces in the Philippines by General Arthur MacArthur (a hero of the American Civil War who was later military governor of the Philippines, and father of Gen. Douglas MacArthur who figured in history as the Liberator of the Philippines when he saved Leyte and the Philippines from the vicious and tyrannical hands of the Japanese Imperial Army). With their general in command, the Pulahanes fought savagely against the Americans. Since his fall, the local resistance groups weakened.

Vicente Lukban has been considered by the “Storm Trooper” magazine of 8ID as a “revolutionary general serving the government under General Emilio Aguinaldo. That magazine said of him: “He studied at the prestigious Ateneo Municipal de Manila and law at San Juan de Letran, and then worked in the Court of First Instance in Quiapo, Manila, before becoming Justice of the Peace in Labo.”

The magazine continued to say of him when he was in the revolutionary Katipunan society, Lukban “established lodges (of the freemason) in the region” and “set up cooperatives for small and medium scale farmers who not only helped them economically but also helped raise funds for the revolt against Spain.”

Of his imprisonment in 1894, the “Storm Trooper” said: “Days of imprisonment in a flooded cell left him with a permanent limp. He denied his involvement in the revolutionary movement but, unlike Luna who hardly stopped talking - Lukban refused to expose his fellow revolutionaries.”

The magazine said further: “August 1897 saw his release from prison and he formally joined Aguinaldo and participated in several battles against the Spanish (soldiers). After the Pact of Biak na Bato towards the end of that year, he went into exile with Aguinaldo in Hongkong and became part of the revolutionary junta.

“There, according to some sources, he studied military science under Commander Joseph Churchase.

“In 1898, he returned to the Philippines and fought very successfully against the Spanish. Painted in contemporary American accounts, Lukban is described as little more than a wily oriental bandit with a touch of a sneaky Chinese blood in him, a useful addition to the weaponry of propaganda warfare after the Boxer Revolt. General Vicente Lukban was probably the most competent and imaginative general in Aguinaldo’s team.

“He certainly outshone the erratic Antonio Luna and managed to impose discipline on his forces that Luna failed to achieve, and which, indeed, cost the latter his life.”

The magazine also said about his being a hero: “Indeed, one of the few who did not surrender. His name is rarely connected with the ‘Bayani’, the Filipino heroes, most of whom would hardly rate a mention in any objective hall of heroes, possibly because his major actions were against the US, rather than the Spanish and he was strange that he was assigned to what at first appears to be mere backwater, Leyte and Samar, in early 1899. Yet as the war of independence faltered in Luzon, it became clear that Samar, at least the Visayas, could be the kernel of a continuing guerilla warfare, which could last for years. “These islands had an international trade in abaca, through British trading houses like Smith, Bell, which could provide income to keep the fight going and provide a channel for the influx of arms and ammunition.....

“General Arthur MacArthur offered $5,000 for Lukban’s head, and nobody tried to collect. He was offered the position of governor of Samar under the American regime, with autonomy, if he would surrender, but he refused to accept the offer.”

Some twists in oral tales had portrayed the general from Labo as a killer of priests and the doctor of Balangiga massacre in September, 1901. These were not the case. As for the massacre, the “Storm Trooper” said: “Although bearing command responsibility for the Balangiga incident, he only learned about it a week later, on October 6, 1901. Other than a letter to town mayors encouraging them to follow the Balangiga example on the same date, there are no published records of his reaction to the news or later comment from him.”

The magazine said: “There were many myths about him - that he’d had every priest on Samar killed and replaced with his own men, for instance, or the tale that his men had wrapped an American sympathizer’s head in the stars and stripes and set fire to it. These stories are nonsense, but he may even have encouraged them, he knew the value of propaganda.”

Thanks for the article, is there any way you could also post a link or the pdf for it, I would like to use it for future references in essays, arguments and research.

With gratitude, Shazam.

[Battara]

No problem. I attached as a pdf so that should the website disappear we will still have record of it.

[ShazamsLaw]

Originally Posted by Battara

No problem. I attached as a pdf so that should the website disappear we will still have record of it.

Thank you for the pdf friend


~ Shazam

[Battara]

Here are some recent and better pictures:

[Ian]

Hi Jose. Kind of hard to read from the pics. Can you transcribe it for us? Ian

[kronckew]

I've 'enhanced' it a bit, slightly easier to see, date is 1898... the rest

[Battara]

Thank you Kronkew.

Ian, the translation is in the middle of this thread.

[kronckew]

Tried reading a book my grandparents had when I was younger written all in olde German. It did not turn out well.

Anyway, Charles is wrong to try to finesse you out of your swords when you can clearly see the fine print under the subsrciption that says

𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔲𝔪 𝔡𝔢𝔯 𝔉𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔢 𝔎𝔯𝔬̈𝔫𝔠𝔨𝔢 𝔞𝔲𝔣 𝔇𝔞𝔲𝔢𝔯, 𝔟𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔢 𝔷𝔲𝔯𝔲̈𝔠𝔨𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔫

[CCUAL]

Originally Posted by Battara

Soon I will post pictures. In the meantime, I got a sword here in Louisville Show that looks to me to be an Katipunan officer's presentation sword. The hilt is carved horn with a D-guard and and long Spanish type blade with this inscription inlayed in brass and engraved:

"Alay ng Ramagasnakan ng Rgg. Gral "lukban" sa mga Damunuan ng kaniang hokbo. Dilo sa lukban ika 15 ng Agosto ng 1898."

I can only translate half of it (because I am only half Tagalog ) and have figured out that it is an offering of Ramaganakan from Lukban (Rgg-?) and his army presented on August 15, 1898.

Please help me.....

Maraming Salamat!

Check the blade for correct wordings Jose!

"Alay ng Ramagasnakan ng Rgg. Gral "lukban" sa mga Damunuan ng kaniang hokbo. Dilo sa lukban ika 15 ng Agosto ng 1898."


Kamaganakan (stylized K)-Blood relative
Pamunuan-Leading
Dito-Here

*Alay ng Kamaganakan ng (Some Brig? Gral of Lukban?) sa mga Pamunuan ng kaniang hokbo. Dito Sa Lukban, Ika 15 ng Agosto 1898.

-Who ever engraved this thing, his/her tagalog is all missed up! are you sure it wasn't you?


If i am not mistaken, this is a gift to the Gral of Lukban from his relatives, in honor/reg. to his commanding army/troops base in Lukban, Quezon? Dated August 15 1898.


speak, visayan, ibanag, ilocano,pangalatok, tagalog and chinese. lol. hope this helps.

[Battara]

𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔲𝔪 𝔡𝔢𝔯 𝔉𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔢 𝔎𝔯𝔬̈𝔫𝔠𝔨𝔢 𝔞𝔲𝔣 𝔇𝔞𝔲𝔢𝔯, 𝔟𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔢 𝔷𝔲𝔯𝔲̈𝔠𝔨𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔫 - hahahahahahaha

Funny Kronckew, very funny! 😄

CCUAL - Maraming Salamat ! I’ll add your translation to Spinger’s and my father’s translation (both match perfectly).

FYI- there were 12 officers under General Lukban at that time. Only know of 2 that have surfaced: this one and one that the Lukban family loaned to a museum in the Philippines after which that museum sold to someone else without permission.🤨