RN Officer's sword

kronckew · 26th October 2017, 11:01 AM

sword arrived, along with the book i bought separately. Book is "British Naval Swords and Swordsmanship" by McGrath & Barton, 2013. interesting book, jumps around a lot. it also covers cutlasses, including my UK coast guard cutlass, posted elsewhere here.

as far as i can tell, my sword is late victorian, it says in 1902 they reduced the word width to a max of 7/8 in. (1929 they reduced it even further) tho some 1 in. ones were made post 1902. mine is 1 1/8 in. royal cartouche etching is the later victorian one.blade is sharp and double edged & sharp for about 8 in. from the point rest of the blade, in the etched portion, is dull but not flat. some pitting and staining near the tip, has a ground out rounded nicknear where the lower suspension ring is on the scabbard. no owner's name on blade, just the whiteman info. guard has the late victorian folding guard/retention mechanism, in fine working order. looks like an old warhorse that still wants to charge when it hears the bugle call, but ithat never comes. it's still deadly, warts and all, and rarin' to go. i'll buy it a new sword knot to make it feel better.

kronckew · 1st November 2017, 06:56 PM

i bought it some new clothes, a nice RN sword knot.

for some reason lost in time, the powers that be decided to use a two part knot, unlike everybody else, the sword is set up to use this oddball knot. it has two holes drilled thru the guard at the lower part, the separate loop portion is threaded thru the hole from the top then back thru the other hole next to it. the ends are rejoined by a hook/eye and covered with a sliding turks head. it is then poke thru a slot in the finger guard near the pommel where the main portion of the knot is fastened to the loop via a reef knot. the knot is then tied in a figure eight knot with the upper loop of the eight behind the guard, the remainder dangles down. an optional 'court' version is possible with the figure eight knot loop not passing behind the guard, which makes for a longer dangly bit. McGrath & barton indicate that they assume they had a reason for all this, but it was never written down why.

if anyone has an idea as to why this unusual system may have a function, i would appreciate their comments.

1st November 2017, 06:56 PM	#2
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,224	i bought it some new clothes, a nice RN sword knot. for some reason lost in time, the powers that be decided to use a two part knot, unlike everybody else, the sword is set up to use this oddball knot. it has two holes drilled thru the guard at the lower part, the separate loop portion is threaded thru the hole from the top then back thru the other hole next to it. the ends are rejoined by a hook/eye and covered with a sliding turks head. it is then poke thru a slot in the finger guard near the pommel where the main portion of the knot is fastened to the loop via a reef knot. the knot is then tied in a figure eight knot with the upper loop of the eight behind the guard, the remainder dangles down. an optional 'court' version is possible with the figure eight knot loop not passing behind the guard, which makes for a longer dangly bit. McGrath & barton indicate that they assume they had a reason for all this, but it was never written down why. if anyone has an idea as to why this unusual system may have a function, i would appreciate their comments. Attached Images Last edited by kronckew; 1st November 2017 at 07:12 PM.

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26th October 2017, 11:01 AM	#1
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,224	sword arrived, along with the book i bought separately. Book is "British Naval Swords and Swordsmanship" by McGrath & Barton, 2013. interesting book, jumps around a lot. it also covers cutlasses, including my UK coast guard cutlass, posted elsewhere here. as far as i can tell, my sword is late victorian, it says in 1902 they reduced the word width to a max of 7/8 in. (1929 they reduced it even further) tho some 1 in. ones were made post 1902. mine is 1 1/8 in. royal cartouche etching is the later victorian one.blade is sharp and double edged & sharp for about 8 in. from the point rest of the blade, in the etched portion, is dull but not flat. some pitting and staining near the tip, has a ground out rounded nicknear where the lower suspension ring is on the scabbard. no owner's name on blade, just the whiteman info. guard has the late victorian folding guard/retention mechanism, in fine working order. looks like an old warhorse that still wants to charge when it hears the bugle call, but ithat never comes. it's still deadly, warts and all, and rarin' to go. i'll buy it a new sword knot to make it feel better.