British Naval Officer's Blue & Gilt Dirk

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Richard G

Jim,
Not only no naval insignia but also, as far as I can see, no monarch's cypher. Only the style of this dirk connects it to the Navy. As you point out, if the Cross Pattee has any significance maybe it connects it to a Masonic Knights Templar organisation, or even the legal profession via the Inns of Court.
Regards
Richard

Well pointed out Richard. Military swords and edged weapons for officers indeed had the Royal cypher in the blued field of the blade. Not only is the naval fouled anchor notably absent, but the blade is covered in a mélange of Masonic allegoric symbols. Of these, the cross pattee is of course to the Knights Templar order in the heirachy of Masonic rites.

It seems by its style that this dirk would certainly be Georgian, and inherently aligned with a naval weapon, but as noted earlier, the dirk was also a weapon used in Masonic regalia. As such it would be presumed that the according symbolism would be impressively displayed as with this example.

I wonder if naval officers of this period were perhaps simply absorbed within the membership of the broader scope of Masonic lodges, rather than there being a specific 'naval lodge'. It does by no means dismiss the notable rarity and keen naval gestalt of this example, and that it is indeed of the Georgian period.

As I could find no examples of naval dirk with Masonic motif until the one I noted from 1880, and as the only specific naval lodge recognized was not founded until 1838, the question remains if there was actually a recognized naval lodge in the end of the 18th into early 19th c .
The 1739 lodge apparantly became disassociated with the Grand Lodge as noted, and its members presumably filtered into other lodges .

This dirk is an outstanding example, and its Masonic character presents opportunities to look deeper into its history.