Schotish basket hilt sword

[Jim McDougall]

Outstanding example of a Scottish horseman basket hilt of Glasgow form (with the ring aperture to secure reins while firing pistol), probably of c.1720s-50s.
What is most interesting is the blade appears to be from an Austrian dragoon pallasche of early 18th c.

There were many Scots who served as mercenaries in Europe, and in the service of Austria in cases. What is an often distinctive feature of these Austrian pallasches is that the back of the blade near the point is often notched.

This seems to have been a convention most notable with Austrian cavalry in the early years to mid 18th century, as seen in the drawings of these swords in "Cut and Thrust Weapons" (E. Wagner, Prague, 1967). I first noticed these curious notches in the 90s in the book, and began a quest to find out why these were there.
In order to confirm these were actually present on the actual examples that the Wagner drawings were drawn from by contacting the museums listed as sources. I received photos of the examples confirming the notches were indeed there.

For years, no explanation could be found other than the grim suggestion offered by Wagner, that these were to worsen a wound. That seemed an unlikely case as the notch would likely cause the blade to become snared in the victim in most cases, much like barbed weapons etc.

Then the notion that these were to pick up items from the ground, which was patently ridiculous in my opinion as these notched were insufficient to secure most items.

I did find that much as Eastern European cavalry, hussars, influenced various other countries in the 18th c. there were instances of French and Prussian cavalry where blades were notched.

Finally in recent years here, someone discovered a most valuable clue, that in dueling there was an odd practice of notching the blade so as to superficially injure an opponent to satisfy the code by the drawing of blood.
Contrary to popular belief. most duels were fought simply to defend honor and not to kill. The notch provided a sharp barb which would slash in a sweeping cut and wound, thus honor was satisfied.
A record was found noting that the notching of epee blades was not permitted though of course it still was.

It seems the notching was a feature added in typical cavalry flamboyance of the time (see "The Duelists" 1977) to suggest the swordsman was indeed a 'duelist'. Such applied features to weapons and clothing were noted among Landsknects, who wore clothing that was tattered or town to suggest having been from combat in many cases.

This is the resolution I personally am inclined toward regarding the notching of blades after the many years of research.

With this basket hilt, there seems a strong possibility that it was mounted with this Austrian blade perhaps as a heirloom for a Scot who had acquired it in Austrian service or from someone who had seen such service.