Basket hilted swords

[E.B. Erickson]

Hi Jim,
If Darling said that, then I'd have to disagree with someone considered an authority. Take a look at most of the swords produced by Walter Allan: backswords are in the majority. And how about the Scottish Turcael?

Just to get a sampling of how many back versus broadswords one finds in a Scottish context, I got out my copy of "Culloden; the Swords and the Sorrows". Out of 50 Scottish baskets shown, 20 have backsword blades. That's 40%. And, consider the blades that have Scottish patriotic mottos ("Prosperity to Scotland and No Union"; "God save King James") that date from the early 1700s: they're all backsword blades (well, the ones I've seen are, but I imagine there's a broadsword out there somewhere).

Concerning English cav/dragoon swords, the backsword does predominate in the 1700s, but there are still broadsword blades in an English cavalry context. In "Culloden", sword 1.52, while not a baskethilt, is an English cav sword. I think that one of these is in Neumann as well. And while the troopers mainly received back blades, the officers could do what they pleased, so you do find their swords with broadsword blades. Maybe later I'll get out Mazansky and do some tallying!

--ElJay