Hi Gav,
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Originally Posted by freebooter
Hi, I am very new to this website and the use of forums, but am not new to collecting edged weapons.
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Welcome to this forum.
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The first line reads "Si esta vibora te pica no hay remedio en la botica",
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First I must remind all forumites that right up to the the early decades of the 20th century, illiteracy in Spain was the norm, rather than the exception and cutlers coming from the lower classes were notoriously bad spellers. BTW You nerly got it right. The correct translation is: "If this snake bites you, there is no remedy in the pharmacy". "Vibora"is Spanish means snake, not viper as is often but erroneously thought. "Pica" literally means to pierce or sting, but in this instance it obviously refers to a bite.
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The second line reads "___ defensora de mi dueno bas ta el _____ ______", "
___ defender of my owner you go to ______ ______".
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Starts to get tricky. "defensora de mi dueño" is easy enough and means "defender of my owner".
"bas ta el" does not make much sense. If it is a misspelled "hasta el", which is probable, then it means "until (when)". However if what was intended was "basta el" then that means "(whatever) suffices".
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The third line is " O le ____ __ Grava __ Labra" ....something like "it burdens working to him" with a few words missing.
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With this I cannot do any better than you. "Grava" means "burden" and "Labra" "to work".
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Those of you in the know, may know of this inscription or be able to fill in the blanks if fluent in Spanish.
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Why don't you give us a photo of the inscription and the navaja?
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I also remember reading in other forum discussions about the Navaja and someone stating how hard some were to open.
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Most navajas used in Spain in the 19th century were French and fitted with what I call a "demi-lock" using a very powerful spine spring. These were notoriously difficult to open and close. The impediment in opening the ratcheting native variety was, of course, the ratchet. However, as blade size increased and if the the ratchet teeth were few and worn, as well as the pivot pin loosened up, then some could be flung open.
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a 16inch blade ratchets forth.
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That is an unusually long blade and probably an exhibition piece by a cutler. Most did not exceed 9 inches; Reason being the weight and strength limitations.
Cheers
Chris