Awesome Jacobite period basket hilt broadsword

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by toaster5sqn

M Eley, regarding your interest in knowing more about the Scottish fencing style the main 2 references would be:

Thomas Page's "The Use of the Broad Sword" published in 1746 and availiable online at https://linacreschoolofdefence.org/L...Page/Page.html

And Donald McBane's "The Expert Sword-man's Companion" published 1728 and currently available in print in a modern edit by Jared Kirby.
Donald McBane is primarily a small sword instructor but he does devote a small chapter to the broad sword.

Both authors only touch briefly on the use of the targe with the broad sword which has led to the Cateran Society https://cateransociety.wordpress.com/ turning to the additional resource of the Penicuik Sketches in an attempt to recreate the system.

Robert

These are excellent references Robert! It is interesting that these masters approached 'fencing' but more in the sense of dueling and the small sword and rapier. It seems that 'fencing' is perhaps a misnomer as far as the actual use of the Scottish broadsword, and that actual combat protocol was most likely not present in anything other than familiarity in movements.

Sir William Hope was the most prolific writer on 'fencing' in the late 17th into early 18th century ("Complete Fencing Master", 1697) and his contemporary William Machrie also wrote on fencing about that time as well as Donald McBane (as you well point out).

It seems the most commonly thought of fencing writer was Henry Angelo, but he did not write until 1790s.

It would seem that, swordsman that he was, Rob Roy would have been familiar with Hope, Machrie and McBane, and Hope was a proponent of the duel (he wrote outspokenly in 1711 for this), which would come into play when the MacGregor vs. Stuart duel took place c.1730.