Original Item. Only One Available. There are few weapons that carry such cultural significance as that of the Scottish Basket-Hilted Broad sword. "...frequently a family heirloom-often in its second or third hilting-the Highlanders 'sword was far more than just a weapon. The great symbolic value of these arms was not lost upon the Duke of Cumberland. A bounty was paid from the royal purse of one shilling for every broadsword picked up from the battlefield".

Just as intriguing are the sheer number of baskets absent from the field of Culloden after the battle. In other words, despite the massive numbers of fallen Scots, others retrieved their baskets and hid them away. Those that were recovered, perhaps 150 or so, were taken as war trophies or chopped up/destroyed. Of the 190 swords recovered from the field, 150 of them were given to the master of ordnance, John Hay, 4th Marquis of Tweeddale, who then had points broken off and hilts removed, taking these amazing blades made into a travesty of poor taste of a fence at his estate at Twickenham House. The ultimate insult!

This is a tremendously preserved example of a Mid-18th Century Scottish Basket-Hilted Broadsword with a lovely Glasgow-style hilt, which shares some similarities in hilt design with another example we had which had supposedly been found near the 1746 Culloden Battlefield, where the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart were finally defeated in 1746. This example bears several lovely designs in the basket, namely the four-hearted squares with five dots around them. The grip of this example bears a lovely Moroccan leather wrap, which is further affixed with three strands of brass wire, with braided wire bushels at the top and bottom of the grip. 

The blade of the sword is well-retained, with partial double fullers along the first 8 inches. The blade is roughly 35” long with an overall length of 40¾”. The blade has a heavy amount of past oxidation and pitting, but still presents very well and looks to retain its original length. There are some chips in the blade’s edges as shown, but nothing too serious or detracting. This is one of the most tremendous basket-hilted broadswords we have offered, ready for further research and display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 35"
Overall length: 40 3/4“
Crossguard: 5 1/2”