Capn, as we, along with so many others, are passionate students of history and these amazing weapons, I share your outrage intensely. It is impossible to study these things without being exposed to the sheer ugliness of war and the politics and the flaws in humanity that cause it.
The disarming of the Scots was not to seize and prohibit their arms, but more broadly to break their spirit and take their identity. Many of those who fought with the Jacobites at Culloden were fighting to preserve the deteriorating clan system and the social entity of Episcopalism .
Your analogy of the confiscation of the Japanese weaponry, which included many thousands of heirloom Samurai swords is well placed, and very much like this with the Scottish broadswords after Culloden.
The Samurai's sword, was the very soul of the warrior who wielded it, and as much as they loved these cherished weapons, a Samurai would break it rather than be disgraced by handing it over to an enemy.
This was, as I earlier noted, the case with the Scot's broadsword. It is clear that Cumberland's exact purpose in offering bounty for these was maliciously intended, and the heinous degradation of them being dismantled and placed in the fence of a political stooge is part of the disdain held for the Jacobites by these 'victors'.
However, as sickened I am, as well as you, in the destruction of these amazing weapons, I would note that I choose to remember the high side of these situations. With the Japanese swords, there were many tens of thousands of these weapons taken away as souvenirs by American and allied soldiers. Most of these were the treasured Samurai examples, but even the more pedestrian military types were taken as well.
For many years, there have been Japanese figures who traveled the US to repurchase these important swords, to be returned to thier homeland and properly restored and documented. In many cases, these were returned to their respective families. I can recall one instance where a katana with remarkable history and provenance was taken personally to Japan by a collector, and given to the family. Quite literally, a small temple was built to hold the sword.
I spoke to one of these traveling repatriation figures on one occasion, and he showed me the incredible examples he had acquired that day, some were over 600 years old! He actually had tears as he reverently showed me one example.
So returning to the dismantling of the Scottish broadswords to make dirks.
Think of it this way, rather than suffering the disgrace perpetrated by Cumberland and many of the victors at Culloden......many of these precious swords were dismounted, and the blades survived in the families as the permitted dirks. In many cases, the hilts, so many carrying the symbolism and heritage of the family also survived...but no longer weapons, just art or a family heirloom, not subject to confiscation.
I would venture to say that this is the very reason we have so many Scottish basket hilts (relatively of course) that survive today. While many were hidden away in entirety (as your wonderful example) or perhaps taken overseas, numbers of these remaining hilts were likely remounted with old blades in the 19th century with the new fascination with Scottish dress and items.
The blades that were intended to be disgraced in this travesty of a 'fence', however, stood proudly as the warriors who wielded them on that fateful day at Culloden. Though wounded, that pride could not be taken from them, instead it empowered their legacy.
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