Schotish basket hilt sword

[serdar]

Schotish sword
I know very small, to correct myself i onow nothing, i bought it becouse i love Highlander movies, and Schotish whisky, it should be 18 century, it is magnificent in hand and on the wall, it is very hard to say but it is much bezer made and feels better than all my schiavona swords, so if someone knows something i dont 😅😁

[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.

[corrado26]

I would like to remind you of the discussion from 2017, which was about the "notches" on Pallasch blades (01/22/2017)

Originally Posted by corrado26
Here are the fotos of a Prussian dragoon sword 1732 with a notch at the tip of its blade. Remarkable is the Prussian eagle mark on the blade what proofs that this blade is no Austrian lute but made and accepted in Prussia.
corrado26
Yes well done Corrado26, you have just proved that the notches on blades are not limited to Austro-Hungarian swords but was a practice elsewhere too. Quod Erat Demonstrandum. Now we can quote you on that. Interestingly, the notched blade practice seems to have occurred mostly at the beginning of the 18thC.

[serdar]

Thank you very much on info Jim! 😃

It is a beautiful sword!

Regarding that notch on the front, i do have a austrian palasch with similar notch, will take a picture of it.

I was wondering why was that notch made there, it is clearly visible it isnt from damage it is intentionaly put there, this one look slike double notch.

Regarding inflicting a scarr it could, especialy when it was freshly made.

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you Udo. As usual my wording is often unclear, and in my post I noted that the Austrian practice had 'influenced' other European cavalry swords in adding these curious notches. The two I specified were French and Prussian. In the nearly thirty years I pursued this conundrum, nearly everyone I reached out to seemed to wonder what in the world I was talking about.

Virtually nobody had given this strange feature a second thought, many seeming to wonder what such an insignificant feature or practice mattered, often just throwing out flip responses.

Actually Wagner, the single source who had thought the practice significant enough to include in his detailed line drawings in 1967, was the only one who suggested the possible purpose behind these notches.....to add to the wounding capacity of the 'old hewers' (heavy Austrian pallasches).
What puzzled me was, why then would the back of a saber blade be notched? with it being a slashing weapon, so the 'barbed' points effect in thrust etc. ?

It is often hard to understand for those insistent on pragmatic solutions for things to grasp practices or vestigial features which are a matter of simple symbolic convention or talismanic device, so the only solutions which were seemingly worthy of consideration were these practical notions.

Could you please post that Prussian 1732 example ?

Here is my 'pandour' saber, which is I believe Hungarian, but of course Austro-Hungarian (with page from 'Wagner' , 1967).

[corrado26]

Here comes the Prussian 1732 Cuirassier Sword and a 1732 dragoon sword with notches

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you so much Udo!! Wonderful examples, and clearly the Prussian connection would be quite likely toward this basket hilt blade as well as Austrian. It is interesting how this unusual feature, most esoteric, did filter into the swords used by various national cavalries in the 18th century.

Serdar, the purposes of the notch remain unclear, but the possibilities I noted in my earlier posts. One of the first thoughts I had when I first noticed these notches in Eduard Wagners drawings of 1967, was 'were these damaged'? and if so, why would he include such infractions in his art?

That was why I contacted the museums that held the swords he drew, to obtain photos to confirm that these swords indeed had 'notched blades'.
My queries and efforts over many years brought others to wonder, why was I striving to discover answers for such a 'triviality' ?
As said by Holmes, trifles often hold important clues