[Jim McDougall]

It is good to have Cathey join us on this, as basket hilts are one of her primary fields of collecting, which is well illustrated by her formidable knowledge on these fascinating swords. With that noted I heartily concur with her assessment, and after reading it was inspired to drag out the books!

Apparantly the interest in Scottish basket hilts for horsemen began around 1707, where they were ordered by the Crown for all British cavalry regiments, and remained the standard horsemans sword until the 1788 patterns. With this being the case, naturally many of these 'English' type hilts were made in Scotland, while forms following the Scottish style were also produced in England.

I have always thought that after the tragedy of Culloden (April 17,1746) ending the rebellion which has become known as 'The '45', that weapons were officially outlawed in Scotland. It would seem that my somewhat adamant perception needed to be reconsidered as the 'Proscription Act of 1747' did outlaw weapons, but apparantly was somewhat vague in which regions it was enforced (it was repealed in 1782).

Apparantly in Glasgow, there was considerable dissent in political and religious sentiments, and in this climate, especially supplying swords for the Crown, production must have continued there contrary to my earlier perceptions.

Therefore, this hilt probably is Scottish in manufacture, and the conical pommel is another apparant distinction attributed to Scottish hilts.
The oval ring in the hilt, as noted now believed to hold reins to free the other hand in discharging firearms, seems to have appeared around 1730s-40s, and became common on British cavalry basket hilts by about mid 18th century.
It is noted that these rings were often inserted later by removing the inboard saltire plate.

I also agree with Cathey on the blade, and the shouldered forte does seem to be 19th century, probably into Victorian period. While I can well imagine the altogether too well known practice of dealers marrying often period incongruent blades to earlier hilts, unless the blade was in terrible shape I cannot see why they would do this. Naturally close examination will better tell whether such refurbishing was done during the swords working life.

In the Scottish regiments, now integral components of the British army, there was a great deal of ancestral pride of course, and with the typical latitudes afforded officers, it does not seem unreasonable that a heirloom hilt might have been mounted with a more contemporary broadsword blade. Naturally these type of practices, while probably not unusual, would not likely have been recorded in official documents or personal narratives, so all we can do is optimistically speculate.

Cathey, could you say more on the book by the Baron of Earlshall. I would like to see more on obtaining a copy.

Manolo, a magnificent acquisition!!! Thank you so much for posting it. I have really wanted to get more discussions on basket hilts going here, and Cathey, again, its wonderful having you here with us!!! ")


All best regards,
Jim

Manolo, we cross posted, thank you for the kind words! but Im still learnin'!!!