A peculiar 1796 Pattern 'Spadroon'

[Radboud]

Hi Jim,

Please don't misunderstand me, your comments, including the 'devils advocate' ones are appreciated and taken in the spirit of learning.

I try to remain pragmatic about these things, the sword, or its parts are likely to be 200 plus years old (older than the founding document of my country!). That is a lot of time for things to happen that are difficult to unravel and I purchased it mostly because it appealed to me as an oddity. The possible Scottish connection is a nice touch because it brings us a tiny fraction closer to who the original owner might have been.

Regarding the iron scabbard, maybe the officer ordered two but the leather one was lost or didn't survive?

I have asked Richard if I can post his photo here, but he has not replied to my message so I will wait.

However, yes, one sword (a backsword with three narrow fullers) has a ladder hilt and an iron scabbard while the other is a broadsword (double-edged with a single short fuller) with a boat-shell hilt and a leather scabbard. Both are more 'Scottish' looking blades than is usual of the 1796 pattern heavy cavalry swords. Richard commented that the dress sword is reasonably balanced and that blades were often cut down when re-hilted.

This was posted in reply to my post about this sword on the Antique Sword Forum that he moderates.

[Radboud]

Hi Jim,

Coming back to the iron scabbard, I've had a look through my reference photos and this style is fairly typical for 'field service' scabbards on 1796 Pattern officer swords with the boat-shell guard.

Cheers
Bas

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Bas,
Thank you so much for this response, and for reaching me privately on the swords you mention involving Richard Dellar. Those two examples, apparently with sound provenance, perfectly answer my questions regarding what seems to be a known practice with Scottish officers in at least some degree.

The variation in the Andrea Ferara markings would appear to be a normal circumstance with these earlier Scottish blades coming from different Solingen makers, who had these applied in expectedly different interpretations.
That these two swords, from the same family, would be held and only sold as a pair, highlights the provenance as well as integrity of the seller.

It also illustrates your suggestion of a Scottish officer having two 'heirloom' (family) blades used in swords for both dress and campaign situations.
I would suspect that these swords may be the subject of further research and publication so possibly deferring on more on them likely the best course. Very prudently handled on your part with this.

I have learned from this discussion notably, and look forward to the arrival of the sword, and hopefully more research forthcoming.

Best regards
Jim

[Radboud]

So the sword finally arrived yesterday and I was able to take some photos of it and get more of an impression of it in the hand.

The stats are:
Length Over All: 975 mm
Blade Length: 823 mm
Point of balance: 125 mm
Sword Weight: 870 grams
Total Weight: 1250 grams

Guard
- Length (Across the hand) 125 mm
- Width (Across the hand) 87 mm
- Height (Including langets) 21.9 mm
- Thickness 2.0 - 4.0 mm
- Inside (Grip to guard) 39.7 mm

Grip
- Outside Length 135 mm
- Inside Length 100 mm
- Width 31.7 to 17.9 mm
- Thickness 24.0 to 20.0 mm

Blade Width Thickness Thickness Inside Fuller
- Ricasso 32.0 mm 6.1 mm 3.8 / 5.2 mm
- 200mm 28.9 mm 4.5 mm 1.9 / 2.8 mm
- 400mm 27.7 mm 3.2 mm 2.0 / 2.5 mm
- 600mm 25.2 mm 2.7 mm 1.3 / 1.5 mm
- 800mm 16.5 mm 1.3 mm

My initial thoughts are that while the stats appear fine on paper and the sword balances fine, I don't think that the grip is optimal to the style of fighting this type of blade favours i.e. cut over thrust. But when held at the lower end of the grip it feels serviceable. Naturally, these are just the opinions of someone who has never trained in sword fighting.