Naval Dirk?

Jim McDougall · 16th July 2025, 03:47 PM

Very hard to tell from photos, and age from various conditions that it may have experienced lend to the degree and forms of corrosion. The original forte seems to remain, so if the blade was cut down and reprofiled hard to say. While this was often the case especially with broken blades, not always so.

The classic case for this has long been with the Scottish dirk. When the proscription of arms was levied on the Highlanders, the exception was they were allowed dirks for utility purposes. Many Highland broadswords were thus cut down and remounted into dirks, leading of course to the industry of producing these specifically.

My guess from photos shown it is likely late 18th c. possibly slightly earlier.
I have seen elliptical type blades with similar narrow forte c 1820s.

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16th July 2025, 03:47 PM	#11
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,565	Very hard to tell from photos, and age from various conditions that it may have experienced lend to the degree and forms of corrosion. The original forte seems to remain, so if the blade was cut down and reprofiled hard to say. While this was often the case especially with broken blades, not always so. The classic case for this has long been with the Scottish dirk. When the proscription of arms was levied on the Highlanders, the exception was they were allowed dirks for utility purposes. Many Highland broadswords were thus cut down and remounted into dirks, leading of course to the industry of producing these specifically. My guess from photos shown it is likely late 18th c. possibly slightly earlier. I have seen elliptical type blades with similar narrow forte c 1820s.