"Any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed." John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, DSO & Bar, MC & Bar (16 September 1906 - 8 March 1996) The British Army officer who fought in the Second World War with a longbow, bagpipes, and a Scottish broadsword. Nicknamed "Fighting Jack Churchill" and "Mad Jack"
@@oldmanriver1955 Also as the first guy to surf the Severn Bore, as I understand it. Mad as a hatter, but what a guy. Would have loved to listen to him talk.
@@llearch He was very upset that the Japanese surrendered because it stopped him from fighting them before he could get there. Now days we would sedate and commit him as a madman.
@@oldmanriver1955 The alleged kill was on the retreat to Dunkirk - he only carried the bow with the BEF, as it was primarily for archery practise. Unfortunately for storytellers, it's entirely possible it didn't happen.
Matt pulling specific swords out to act as demonstrations of his points is pretty awesome. Also, it reminds me of that scene in Beyond Thunderdome when Max is disarming himself before going into Bartertown.
Matt, another point on the crosshilted Highland officer's sword is the adoption of the 'Sam Brown' style sword belt in the field. It is not possible to wear a basket hilt close to the body (highland officers traditionally carried them when marching). Highland officers wore a crossbelt with two sword slings for full dress - but in the 1880's & 90's they were adopting other belts for the field, usually suspended close to the body and vertically - the simple crosshilt allows this whereas the basket hilt does not.
Kilts are actually English you know, Thomas Rawlinson was a close friend of a Scottish chief and they worked in logging, the breacan (with the shoulder part) had to have a belt to create the pleats but was dangerous and in logging and getting workers killed when it snagged on things, so he came up with the kilt by taking the top part of entirely. That's how you got a kilt :) kilts are English
Kilts are English? Well, the modern ones, yeah, kinda sorta. If you still believe that old disputed folk tale about the English origins of the kilt. The late medieval ones? No. Not even close. Those were a product of the Highlands.
They really are. I think that's one of the main reasons we don't generally go in for military parades here in the states: our uniforms just aren't that impressive. Yeah the marine dress blues or the navy tropical whites can be quite striking in the right context, but they're really no match for kilts and heavy drums or really anything else from the old world.
@@wilsoncalhoun military parades are a weird item today anyway, given changes in governmental organization and battlefield movement. Additionally strange is Canada continuing to have Scottish / highland regiments.
Also, I guess the swords were just hanging by the side 99% of the time, so a cross guard meant less weight and not getting in your way. The basket hilt you can tolerate at formal occasions, but it would be a pain for everyday carry, when you're not actually expecting to use it often.
While an Officer Cadet in a particular Scottish UOTC I was in the Pipes and Drums and we were issued Dirks and Skian Dubs. Several of our dirks (all featuring the 'Kings Crown' on the pommel incidently) were/are service sharpened. While Highland (and Lowland) officers in full dress carried swords and dirks. Pipers from Scottish regiments carried dirks in action. I think this might explain it. Would be great to find out more.
One point you made in the past that I think is very relevant to the type of combat you just mentioned is drawing the sword. The basket hilt really restricts that, whereas the cross hilt doesn't at all. For skirmishing type combat, that's brilliant.
I was thinking how faster drawing would be a big factor for using the cross hilt over a basket hilt - you went on for a while before you mentioned it at then end.
Thanks for giving me clarity about the "claymore sword". I've been reading Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe" books and found it weird that the highlanders were scaling walls and fighting with claymores, and not with basket-hilted broadswords. Turns out they were one and the same.
Thanks so much for the interesting video Matt! I've been curious about the cross-guarded swords for a long time. Gutted that I missed them when they were up on the store!
When you talked about the fullers, questions came to my mind. How much impact do different fullers have, and how noticable are those differences actually when handling?
Are you familiar with the Japanese series Rurouni Kenshin? It's about a reformed manslayer who uses a sakabato, a katana with the false edge on the outside curve, to represent his pursuit of peace. It has some really interesting philosophical treatises on swordsmanship.
Hey Matt, how much of those conversion-style claymore was due to easy of carrying while on active duty. Carrying the baskethilt can bang into you a lot if you are moving quickly. Just curious about your opinion.
I think ease of carrying was probably the primary purpose of the cross hilt, and in fact we know from photos and other sources that some officers chose to retain the basket hilt instead of switching to the cross hilt. But the sword does handle nicer with the cross hilt on... I suspect that opinions and preferences varied a lot.
I'm gonna say, and from Matt's HEMA days, I'm sure he'll concur, it's just not as satisfying when you punch someone with anything other then a guardian, clamshell or basket hilt
Since claidheamh-mòr pretty much just means "big sword", in Scots Gaelic, I suppose it's a matter of degrees. A broadsword blade is a bit of a brute force object, especially with the mass of the basket, when compared to a more traditional sabre.
Matt, that is a beautiful Scottish Highland Officer's basket hilt sword...You Good Sir are a Blessed Man!!! I just had to say I seen the crossguard hilt at the end of your video and it made me want to cry. I Would've loved to have owned that sword. Were they all made the same, grip, and blade wise?
Hey Matt, I’ve got a question. How come many “Highland” broadswords have Lowland style basket hilts? I’m talking about the Glasgow and Stirling style basket hilts that were once common through the Lowlands, sometimes mounted on German blades?
I'm no expert but I suspect that many "highland" broadswords were mounted/manufacturered in the lowlands and that the regional styles has quite a lot of overlap.
One thing which I think you missed regarding the hilts is just that the "service" guards are just plain less bulky and in the way. If you aren't really going to be using them much at all in combat, the primary concern as I see it is how much it affects you when you're just carrying it around on a campaign. Soldiers being soldiers, that's enough of an explanation to me, with any merits of the sword being lighter and more maneuverable being a secondary benefit.
Irish ring pommel swords (at least the one handed ones) had this type of blade, imported and fitted with a S shaped guard and open ring, and engraved with lines on the blade with a small cross at the end. I wonder if they were imported from Spain because the Spanish had a presence in Ireland at the time, if they made this type of blade. Could also be German or Italian imported through Scotland to Ireland then fitted with a hilt, hard to know.
They're too busy on PCs looking for naughty UA-camrs to arrest for bad jokes! Like the rest of the British Constabulary, The 'Polis' have become politicized paramilitary social workers!!!
So Matt, would you say that the 'claymore' blade and the forward placed pommel bars of this Victorian version could be a reaction to the change in fencing style with these swords? Moving away from cutting and slashing we read about in the clan versions of the '45, to a long reach thrusting sword which could practically go up against the bayonet? By Culloden, the army was teaching new bayonet drill that to a point, negated the feasome slashing of the highland broadsword, much in the way the gladius appears to have been designed to counter the long celtic slashing swords of the ancient Gauls and Britons. So these developments allowed the stylistic features of a traditional highland broadsword but with modern features designed for modern combat?
I once saw for sale (possibly on easton antique arms) a field officers broad sword on a scinde regular cavalry hilt, god that was a beautiful sword, I want one so bad! Is that a particularly unusual sword to find?
Wonderful Matt! I wonder what that statistics would be on how many infantrymen a field officer would have to chew through to get to an enemy officer say in a trench warfare scenario. Hm.
Hi , great video although I have to state that the Cameronians are a Lowland Scottish Regiment and no connection to the Cameron Highlanders who were Highland. My family all served in the Cameron and Seaforth regiments who amalgimated to form the Queens Own Highlanders !! The Gordons have now been amalgimated with the Queens Own in 94 to form the Highlanders Regiment (4 Scots I believe) ;)
MY grandfather served in the Seaforths during ww1 and was from Airdrie (not very highland )as were half the battalion, the other half were from Lewis, it was a think one of Kitchners army, but must have been a strange combination at the time, half with Gaelic and the other half with very broad Lanarkshire accents.
@@drno4837 can quite believe that, there's alot from Edinburgh and Glasgow that served too.We have 5 generations that served in either the Seaforth, Cameron's or Queens Own.👍
If I am in combat against someone with a rifle and a bayonet, my primary concern is the rifle as a bullet launcher, not the rifle as a spear shaft/bayonet.
Regarding the position of the sidebars on the basket: Schiavona? Didn't the same idea come up in Germany and parts east, but with a different basket layout? I've not seen any treatises on schiavona but I'd be interested in Matt's opinion
Yay, I was waiting for a video on 19th century swords for months now and a long one, what a treat. Excellent video, Matt, I just have a few questions: Most of the victorian era claymores I see seem to have only 1 inch wide blades, which to me seems to make them kind of the worst of all worlds. The blades feel like they're too narrow to be very good for cutting, especially since they're more hilt heavy than the sabers; and too flexible to thrust well. The swords you show, on the other hand, look like they're 1.125 or 1.25 inches, and are stiffer, which I would imagine makes them much better fighting swords. Was it uncommon for the 1828 pattern claymores to be wide or is it more of a time period kind of thing( or maybe I haven't looked at enough swords and am wrong)? Also, do we have any info on the King-Harman sword? He himself ostentatiously boasted over the non regulation sword he designed for himself and said that the Wilkinson company was very much impressed by it, with rumors being that the 1892 pattern blade was insipired by his sword. Yet, if I'm not mistaken, all we have are a photograph and a sketch to go by, and in both, the sword seems very unimpressive, with just a knucklebow for hand protection. Do you think that he had his sword rehilted with a real hilt and was bragging about that( although even then the sword just looks like a small sword-ish weapon rather than a new ingenious design)? Regarding the 1853 pattern Royal Engineers' sword, it appears as if it was a lot more common for them to be steel hilted and gilded to fit regulation compared to the infantry officers' swords. Could this have been linked to the fact that the original scinde irregular cavalry swords had steel hilts or were they just more concerned with getting good swords? I heard that officers serving in India had a tendency of getting steel scinde pattern hilts, so do you think that it may have had something to do with Indian service? Btw, why did the British army go to such lengths to get a new hilt for infantry officers' swords in the 1890s when they could just give them the scinde pattern hilt or the honey suckle hilt( which I would imagine are just as just as protective, especially with a liner)? On a final note, I heard that the 1895 and '97 pattern hilts are a bit lighter than the previous brass hilts. Is that true, considering they have a lot more coverage than the brass hilts, and how do the honey suckle/ladder hilt and the scinde pattern hilt compare to that? Cheers!
A Campbell discussing loyalty. That's hilarious 😆. Seriously no offense but you know of the clan campbells reputation for changing to the winning side mid-battle right. Not making fun of your kin in seriousness, just your distant ancestors politics. I'm just a history nerd.
11:19 the "cameronians" refers to the 26th regiment of foot (later the 1st, Scottish rifles "cameronians"), the 79th Foot where the Cameron Highlanders, it is confusing having such similar names, for two Scottish Regiments.
also the Cameronians where a lowland regiment, and, to my knowledge, would never carry the Highland style sword (unlike other lowlanders, post-childers reforms, like the KOSB or the Royal Scots), the lowland regiments until 1881 where nearly identical to English regiments, and carried the same sword as the rest of the army. However upon the Cameronians being formed into the Scottish Rifles, carried rifle-pattern swords, based on photographs and illustrations I have seen.
Well, maybe because I'm only a theorist in the subject, and not a practitioner (for many reasons), I find Highlanders' Broadsword and British Backsword designs the best all-around designs ever. ;P Maybe as a Pole I should prefer a Polish Saber (and it is great as a specialized cutter), I prefer for some reason more generic features and hand protection of the above-mentioned swords. :)
That cross-hilt sword is also going to hang closer to the hip and protrude less when not in action than the basket hilt sword by an absolute mile. The basket hilt was brilliant in the particular context in which it emerged, but In trench warfare, or any other enclosed environment, that's going to be much less inconvenient than a basket hilt. Even during the heyday of basket-hilted swords, naval swords tended to have simpler hilts, as they'd have been carried in more restrictive environments. Nobody wants to be constantly snagging themselves on walls and doorways, especially not in combat situations. Coupled with the fact that infantry officers in the Great War were vanishingly likely to end up in a fencing match, then simpler hilts would be massively preferable to most from a practical standpoint.
It's a bit like a weather vane, when you swing a curved sword the tip naturally wants to trail directly behind the rest of the blade, pulling the whole thing into alignment.
Yes you also can gain similar characteristics by widening the tip of the blade with a yelman if you're unwilling to sacrifice thrust alignment characteristics of a straight blade.
The cross hilted sword would also be far easier to wear. That could well be the primary reason to choose it in an era when officers very rarely used their swords.
Ease of wear and ability to draw quickly are somewhat marginalized when aiming for maximum hand protection. I'm usually confident with a simple knucklebow guard as far as hand protection goes.
Matt, in every one of your vids I keep thinking to myself that you missed your true calling in life as a type-cast British officer in Hollywood. You were made for the part(s)! You could also help out with props and choreography :) Seriously Matt, you could probably rent out your less-than-stellar gear to shoots in Europe. You have been a guide and have some speaking experience. It might help business for EAA. I bet some rich director/producer types have loads of money to throw at a sword or two. 5 seconds of screen time could really help out the biz.
Wow. You really like him . . . A LOT!! You ever think that hollyweird isn't a shit hole everyone thinks is apex of success lol not everyone fantasize about getting on a casting couch 🛋️ like you 😅😬
Related question, on Scottish swords, have you come across any genuine Gallowglass swords in your travels, I would like a serious Historian to do some proper research on this class of Warrior, and separate out the fact from the fiction, given they were a sought after resource and important but now largely forgotten Scottish export, that were valued across late Medieval Europe.
I really like that Infantry saber. I love sabers but they are so dang long and slow to use off of a horse. At least the ones I have. That shorter blade is nice.
Afternoon y’all , have a question I’ve come across a Scottish basket hilt sword made in Spain from the 1970s , amd thoughts on swords from Spain in the 70s ???
Plaid highland trousers are called 'trews'. As far as I know there was one Scottish Broadsword, (and only one), used in combat during WW2, by an interesting fellow named 'Black' Jack Churchill. I very much object to these swords being called Claymores. The 'Claymore' is an entirely different Highland sword.
Here's a related question about the term 'claymore' - I knew that 'claymore' could mean the two handed Scottish greatsword, but also the straight blades used with the basket-hilted swords. But how was it that the term came to apply to both of them, when they are quite different blades and swords?
Someone mentioned in another comment that the Gaelic root of "claymore" just means "big sword," so it could equally mean a two-hander or, in the case of the broadsword, one that was bigger than the sabers, smallswords, and whatnot of the day.
Hi Matt, I like that period of sword/saber and want to buy one eventually; however, I am ambidextrous and like to change which hand I fence with when I'm at my hema club. Which sword would you recommend that is a good cut and thrust blade?
Please be advised that the Cameronians (26th Foot aka "Scottish Rifles) were always a LOWLAND Regiment, while the Cameron Highlanders (79th Foot aka Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) were always a HIGHLAND Regiment. They are not interchangeable, even if one is an Englishman.
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 if you are likely to ever wear them, you know what to call them. I only see them on Highland officers or judges at pipe band or bagpipe competitions.
Governor of the colony of New South Wales (Lt Col) Lachlan Macquarie brought his 1st Battalion of the 73rd Regiment of Foot with him upon his appointment and they were a Trewes battalion. (Sister regiment of the Black Watch I think.)
Not really because the whole point of the kukri is to bring the mass as far forward as possible to increase cutting power, if you combined that with a basket hilt you would end up with a very heavy knife that didn't cut particularly well. A more real world version of what your suggesting would be a D-guard Bowie Knife, because they have most of the cutting power of a kukri while also having a bit of hand protection.
@@scholagladiatoria many thanks! I will definitely look into them. Not as many competent swordsmith's on this side of the pond as in europe even these days. Was quite hard to source a suitable hanger for hunting wild hogs, even though custom forged knives for the purpose are somewhat of a regional speacialty. I'll most likely keep using my hanwei model for sabreage at weddings and wakes. But you'd trust a blade from the company you mentioned for, how should I put this...social purposes? Or, more politically correct, trust one to finish a large boar at bay? Love your work, by the way, been a fan for years.
"Any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed." John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, DSO & Bar, MC & Bar (16 September 1906 - 8 March 1996) The British Army officer who fought in the Second World War with a longbow, bagpipes, and a Scottish broadsword. Nicknamed "Fighting Jack Churchill" and "Mad Jack"
Credited with the last combat kill with bow and arrow during a raid on the occupied European coast.
@@oldmanriver1955 Also as the first guy to surf the Severn Bore, as I understand it. Mad as a hatter, but what a guy. Would have loved to listen to him talk.
@@llearch He was very upset that the Japanese surrendered because it stopped him from fighting them before he could get there. Now days we would sedate and commit him as a madman.
@@oldmanriver1955 The alleged kill was on the retreat to Dunkirk - he only carried the bow with the BEF, as it was primarily for archery practise. Unfortunately for storytellers, it's entirely possible it didn't happen.
@@oldmanriver1955 Except for these three by Hardy Kruger with a cross bow. ua-cam.com/video/yvTgiEJrP28/v-deo.html
Matt pulling specific swords out to act as demonstrations of his points is pretty awesome.
Also, it reminds me of that scene in Beyond Thunderdome when Max is disarming himself before going into Bartertown.
Really appreciate you putting out consistent, often longer than usual videos Matt. Cheers to you and your family, stay safe.
I love that cross hilted one, like getting an arming sword with superior steel and tempering.
Matt, another point on the crosshilted Highland officer's sword is the adoption of the 'Sam Brown' style sword belt in the field. It is not possible to wear a basket hilt close to the body (highland officers traditionally carried them when marching). Highland officers wore a crossbelt with two sword slings for full dress - but in the 1880's & 90's they were adopting other belts for the field, usually suspended close to the body and vertically - the simple crosshilt allows this whereas the basket hilt does not.
Kilted regiments are quite a glorious sight to behold on Remembrance Day.
Kilts are actually English you know, Thomas Rawlinson was a close friend of a Scottish chief and they worked in logging, the breacan (with the shoulder part) had to have a belt to create the pleats but was dangerous and in logging and getting workers killed when it snagged on things, so he came up with the kilt by taking the top part of entirely.
That's how you got a kilt :) kilts are English
Kilts are English? Well, the modern ones, yeah, kinda sorta. If you still believe that old disputed folk tale about the English origins of the kilt. The late medieval ones? No. Not even close. Those were a product of the Highlands.
They really are. I think that's one of the main reasons we don't generally go in for military parades here in the states: our uniforms just aren't that impressive. Yeah the marine dress blues or the navy tropical whites can be quite striking in the right context, but they're really no match for kilts and heavy drums or really anything else from the old world.
@@wilsoncalhoun military parades are a weird item today anyway, given changes in governmental organization and battlefield movement.
Additionally strange is Canada continuing to have Scottish / highland regiments.
Kilts always look good however no matter how much my Scottish brothers love their trews they are an aesthetic abomination.
Also, I guess the swords were just hanging by the side 99% of the time, so a cross guard meant less weight and not getting in your way. The basket hilt you can tolerate at formal occasions, but it would be a pain for everyday carry, when you're not actually expecting to use it often.
I imagine with a crossguard, they would be comfier to wear and easier to draw quickly, more usefully if you can rely on your pistol more.
This is why I follow the channel. A well thought out rant about swords and weaponry
i have one of these in my collection, just chopped a melon in half with it yesterday... the one with the cross hilt
While an Officer Cadet in a particular Scottish UOTC I was in the Pipes and Drums and we were issued Dirks and Skian Dubs. Several of our dirks (all featuring the 'Kings Crown' on the pommel incidently) were/are service sharpened. While Highland (and Lowland) officers in full dress carried swords and dirks. Pipers from Scottish regiments carried dirks in action. I think this might explain it. Would be great to find out more.
One point you made in the past that I think is very relevant to the type of combat you just mentioned is drawing the sword. The basket hilt really restricts that, whereas the cross hilt doesn't at all. For skirmishing type combat, that's brilliant.
I was thinking how faster drawing would be a big factor for using the cross hilt over a basket hilt - you went on for a while before you mentioned it at then end.
Thank you. I always come away from your videos with so much information i cant remember it all. Good job.
The Cameron Highlanders, the 79th Foot, were a different regiment from The Cameronians, the 26th foot and 90th foot, a Lowland regiment.
And after the 1881 amalgamation, the 'Cameronians' were 1st Battalion, Scottish Rifles.
@@macfilms9904 I think you'll find that's "Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)".
That cross hilted sword made my day. Couldn’t have gotten anymore classic.
Simply amazing - a Brit speaking and I can understand every word!
Thanks for giving me clarity about the "claymore sword". I've been reading Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe" books and found it weird that the highlanders were scaling walls and fighting with claymores, and not with basket-hilted broadswords. Turns out they were one and the same.
That deep dive into such a narrow topic was fantastic.
Thanks so much for the interesting video Matt! I've been curious about the cross-guarded swords for a long time. Gutted that I missed them when they were up on the store!
So with the Claymore, you didn’t have to keep the front toward enemy?
I see what you did there.
Don't loose your clacker
At least they didn't use to write the instruction on it.
Depends on if it's a broadsword or a backsword blade.
great breakdown of the sword!
When you talked about the fullers, questions came to my mind. How much impact do different fullers have, and how noticable are those differences actually when handling?
Splendid video, very interesting and informative.
Are you familiar with the Japanese series Rurouni Kenshin? It's about a reformed manslayer who uses a sakabato, a katana with the false edge on the outside curve, to represent his pursuit of peace. It has some really interesting philosophical treatises on swordsmanship.
Aye, that's the second best sword. The most stylish though, and I love that basket protection.
These, and certainly the first basketsword you held, are absolutely beautiful things. I want one :D
I really like that three bar hilt on the broadsword blade. I may have to start looking for one of those.
Gah, I wish I had the money for that Rifles Officer saber with the steel hilt. Beautiful to my eye.
Hey Matt, how much of those conversion-style claymore was due to easy of carrying while on active duty. Carrying the baskethilt can bang into you a lot if you are moving quickly. Just curious about your opinion.
I think ease of carrying was probably the primary purpose of the cross hilt, and in fact we know from photos and other sources that some officers chose to retain the basket hilt instead of switching to the cross hilt. But the sword does handle nicer with the cross hilt on... I suspect that opinions and preferences varied a lot.
I'm gonna say, and from Matt's HEMA days, I'm sure he'll concur, it's just not as satisfying when you punch someone with anything other then a guardian, clamshell or basket hilt
22:12 Woah! I didn't expect THAT!
Didn't expect what?? Your timestamp and description equal a 🦆 🥚🍳
At the last bit there he was describing sport sabre fencing. Attack attack attack and little fencing lol.
A very interesting video indeed about a subject I know next to nothing about - ta very muchly, Matt.
☝️😎
Since claidheamh-mòr pretty much just means "big sword", in Scots Gaelic, I suppose it's a matter of degrees. A broadsword blade is a bit of a brute force object, especially with the mass of the basket, when compared to a more traditional sabre.
Matt, that is a beautiful Scottish Highland Officer's basket hilt sword...You Good Sir are a Blessed Man!!!
I just had to say I seen the crossguard hilt at the end of your video and it made me want to cry. I Would've loved to have owned that sword. Were they all made the same, grip, and blade wise?
Hey Matt, I’ve got a question. How come many “Highland” broadswords have Lowland style basket hilts? I’m talking about the Glasgow and Stirling style basket hilts that were once common through the Lowlands, sometimes mounted on German blades?
I'm no expert but I suspect that many "highland" broadswords were mounted/manufacturered in the lowlands and that the regional styles has quite a lot of overlap.
❤ that cross-hilt sword!
One thing which I think you missed regarding the hilts is just that the "service" guards are just plain less bulky and in the way. If you aren't really going to be using them much at all in combat, the primary concern as I see it is how much it affects you when you're just carrying it around on a campaign. Soldiers being soldiers, that's enough of an explanation to me, with any merits of the sword being lighter and more maneuverable being a secondary benefit.
Irish ring pommel swords (at least the one handed ones) had this type of blade, imported and fitted with a S shaped guard and open ring, and engraved with lines on the blade with a small cross at the end. I wonder if they were imported from Spain because the Spanish had a presence in Ireland at the time, if they made this type of blade. Could also be German or Italian imported through Scotland to Ireland then fitted with a hilt, hard to know.
does the Scottish police force uses basket hilted batons?
Unfortunately not, but I so wish they did!
They're too busy on PCs looking for naughty UA-camrs to arrest for bad jokes! Like the rest of the British Constabulary, The 'Polis' have become politicized paramilitary social workers!!!
So Matt, would you say that the 'claymore' blade and the forward placed pommel bars of this Victorian version could be a reaction to the change in fencing style with these swords? Moving away from cutting and slashing we read about in the clan versions of the '45, to a long reach thrusting sword which could practically go up against the bayonet? By Culloden, the army was teaching new bayonet drill that to a point, negated the feasome slashing of the highland broadsword, much in the way the gladius appears to have been designed to counter the long celtic slashing swords of the ancient Gauls and Britons.
So these developments allowed the stylistic features of a traditional highland broadsword but with modern features designed for modern combat?
I once saw for sale (possibly on easton antique arms) a field officers broad sword on a scinde regular cavalry hilt, god that was a beautiful sword, I want one so bad! Is that a particularly unusual sword to find?
Wonderful Matt! I wonder what that statistics would be on how many infantrymen a field officer would have to chew through to get to an enemy officer say in a trench warfare scenario. Hm.
Hi , great video although I have to state that the Cameronians are a Lowland Scottish Regiment and no connection to the Cameron Highlanders who were Highland.
My family all served in the Cameron and Seaforth regiments who amalgimated to form the Queens Own Highlanders !!
The Gordons have now been amalgimated with the Queens Own in 94 to form the Highlanders Regiment (4 Scots I believe) ;)
MY grandfather served in the Seaforths during ww1 and was from Airdrie (not very highland )as were half the battalion, the other half were from Lewis, it was a think one of Kitchners army, but must have been a strange combination at the time, half with Gaelic and the other half with very broad Lanarkshire accents.
@@drno4837 can quite believe that, there's alot from Edinburgh and Glasgow that served too.We have 5 generations that served in either the Seaforth, Cameron's or Queens Own.👍
At 28:00, what it going to look like? It look like Jedi masters swinging deflecting bullets :))
I've been wondering for ages: what is that thing on the left of the Schola Gladiatoria shield? A wooden club?
He answerd that question in one of his QnA. I believe it's a Philippineo culb like thing
Huh, for some reason I had it in my head that it was a Maori Patu. I could also be wrong.
@@freestatefellow May possibly be I honestly csnt recall I just know it's from that area
@@freestatefellow it is Maori.
If I am in combat against someone with a rifle and a bayonet, my primary concern is the rifle as a bullet launcher, not the rifle as a spear shaft/bayonet.
Thanks for the vid sir.
Regarding the position of the sidebars on the basket: Schiavona? Didn't the same idea come up in Germany and parts east, but with a different basket layout? I've not seen any treatises on schiavona but I'd be interested in Matt's opinion
Yay, I was waiting for a video on 19th century swords for months now and a long one, what a treat. Excellent video, Matt, I just have a few questions:
Most of the victorian era claymores I see seem to have only 1 inch wide blades, which to me seems to make them kind of the worst of all worlds. The blades feel like they're too narrow to be very good for cutting, especially since they're more hilt heavy than the sabers; and too flexible to thrust well. The swords you show, on the other hand, look like they're 1.125 or 1.25 inches, and are stiffer, which I would imagine makes them much better fighting swords. Was it uncommon for the 1828 pattern claymores to be wide or is it more of a time period kind of thing( or maybe I haven't looked at enough swords and am wrong)?
Also, do we have any info on the King-Harman sword? He himself ostentatiously boasted over the non regulation sword he designed for himself and said that the Wilkinson company was very much impressed by it, with rumors being that the 1892 pattern blade was insipired by his sword. Yet, if I'm not mistaken, all we have are a photograph and a sketch to go by, and in both, the sword seems very unimpressive, with just a knucklebow for hand protection. Do you think that he had his sword rehilted with a real hilt and was bragging about that( although even then the sword just looks like a small sword-ish weapon rather than a new ingenious design)?
Regarding the 1853 pattern Royal Engineers' sword, it appears as if it was a lot more common for them to be steel hilted and gilded to fit regulation compared to the infantry officers' swords. Could this have been linked to the fact that the original scinde irregular cavalry swords had steel hilts or were they just more concerned with getting good swords? I heard that officers serving in India had a tendency of getting steel scinde pattern hilts, so do you think that it may have had something to do with Indian service? Btw, why did the British army go to such lengths to get a new hilt for infantry officers' swords in the 1890s when they could just give them the scinde pattern hilt or the honey suckle hilt( which I would imagine are just as just as protective, especially with a liner)?
On a final note, I heard that the 1895 and '97 pattern hilts are a bit lighter than the previous brass hilts. Is that true, considering they have a lot more coverage than the brass hilts, and how do the honey suckle/ladder hilt and the scinde pattern hilt compare to that? Cheers!
Did Alfred Hutton eventually end up in Australia? And build a factory in Canterbury, Sydney?
Very informative, I heard that all Cameronians had Bible in their knapsack, very Protestant loyal regiment, no politics.
A Campbell discussing loyalty. That's hilarious 😆. Seriously no offense but you know of the clan campbells reputation for changing to the winning side mid-battle right. Not making fun of your kin in seriousness, just your distant ancestors politics. I'm just a history nerd.
Have you published something about Hutton yet?
11:19 the "cameronians" refers to the 26th regiment of foot (later the 1st, Scottish rifles "cameronians"), the 79th Foot where the Cameron Highlanders, it is confusing having such similar names, for two Scottish Regiments.
also the Cameronians where a lowland regiment, and, to my knowledge, would never carry the Highland style sword (unlike other lowlanders, post-childers reforms, like the KOSB or the Royal Scots), the lowland regiments until 1881 where nearly identical to English regiments, and carried the same sword as the rest of the army. However upon the Cameronians being formed into the Scottish Rifles, carried rifle-pattern swords, based on photographs and illustrations I have seen.
Well, maybe because I'm only a theorist in the subject, and not a practitioner (for many reasons), I find Highlanders' Broadsword and British Backsword designs the best all-around designs ever. ;P Maybe as a Pole I should prefer a Polish Saber (and it is great as a specialized cutter), I prefer for some reason more generic features and hand protection of the above-mentioned swords. :)
That cross-hilt sword is also going to hang closer to the hip and protrude less when not in action than the basket hilt sword by an absolute mile. The basket hilt was brilliant in the particular context in which it emerged, but In trench warfare, or any other enclosed environment, that's going to be much less inconvenient than a basket hilt. Even during the heyday of basket-hilted swords, naval swords tended to have simpler hilts, as they'd have been carried in more restrictive environments. Nobody wants to be constantly snagging themselves on walls and doorways, especially not in combat situations. Coupled with the fact that infantry officers in the Great War were vanishingly likely to end up in a fencing match, then simpler hilts would be massively preferable to most from a practical standpoint.
Having a curve helps edge alignment? I've not heard that, can someone explain to me please
Balance. When you move the sword, you can feel when it is out of balance.
@@woodruffashbourne8372 ah I get you, cheers
It's a bit like a weather vane, when you swing a curved sword the tip naturally wants to trail directly behind the rest of the blade, pulling the whole thing into alignment.
Yes you also can gain similar characteristics by widening the tip of the blade with a yelman if you're unwilling to sacrifice thrust alignment characteristics of a straight blade.
The cross hilted sword would also be far easier to wear. That could well be the primary reason to choose it in an era when officers very rarely used their swords.
Ease of wear and ability to draw quickly are somewhat marginalized when aiming for maximum hand protection. I'm usually confident with a simple knucklebow guard as far as hand protection goes.
I was under the impression that the cross hilt was worn for "walking out" dress rather than field wear or formal dress.
Were these blades also married to naval officer sword hilts like the Pattern 1827?
That super interesting that they had a gunetic looking sword that late in history.
Matt, in every one of your vids I keep thinking to myself that you missed your true calling in life as a type-cast British officer in Hollywood. You were made for the part(s)! You could also help out with props and choreography :) Seriously Matt, you could probably rent out your less-than-stellar gear to shoots in Europe. You have been a guide and have some speaking experience. It might help business for EAA. I bet some rich director/producer types have loads of money to throw at a sword or two. 5 seconds of screen time could really help out the biz.
Wow. You really like him . . . A LOT!!
You ever think that hollyweird isn't a shit hole everyone thinks is apex of success lol not everyone fantasize about getting on a casting couch 🛋️ like you 😅😬
Can you review the T-1000's blade arms?
Saw that sword in your paw and Highland Laddie started playing in my head. What a bunch of nutters the Scots are, glad they are friendly.
Related question, on Scottish swords, have you come across any genuine Gallowglass swords in your travels, I would like a serious Historian to do some proper research on this class of Warrior, and separate out the fact from the fiction, given they were a sought after resource and important but now largely forgotten Scottish export, that were valued across late Medieval Europe.
I really like that Infantry saber. I love sabers but they are so dang long and slow to use off of a horse. At least the ones I have. That shorter blade is nice.
Afternoon y’all , have a question I’ve come across a Scottish basket hilt sword made in Spain from the 1970s , amd thoughts on swords from Spain in the 70s ???
i wonder if a titanum basket sword hilt would be the best of both world light fast protected
Plaid highland trousers are called 'trews'. As far as I know there was one Scottish Broadsword, (and only one), used in combat during WW2, by an interesting fellow named 'Black' Jack Churchill. I very much object to these swords being called Claymores. The 'Claymore' is an entirely different Highland sword.
it's what the people that carried them used to call them, and doesn't claymore just mean sword in gaelic?
@@fabiovarra3698 means big sword.
The military obsession with all things modular extended to sword. Who knew?
Hi Matt, have you done a video on how to service sharpen a saber?
Is there a downside to sharpening the back edge of a sword? And if officers still carry sword, are they trained to use them in combat?
I was only taught ceremonial drill with a sword. The fact that I knew how to use one as a weapon was nothing to do with the military :-)
Sharpening the back makes the sword less rigid, slightly less good at giving point. A compromise can be to sharpen just the far end of the back.
@@DonMeaker 6" is all you need for the back cut. Enough for a draw or push too.
Saber gilts on Highland broadsword blades ?
What paganism !! 😱 😀
Here's a related question about the term 'claymore' - I knew that 'claymore' could mean the two handed Scottish greatsword, but also the straight blades used with the basket-hilted swords. But how was it that the term came to apply to both of them, when they are quite different blades and swords?
Someone mentioned in another comment that the Gaelic root of "claymore" just means "big sword," so it could equally mean a two-hander or, in the case of the broadsword, one that was bigger than the sabers, smallswords, and whatnot of the day.
@@danspragens4935 clah a more. Yeah means big sword.
this channel is so damn educational its so cool. and i hated school haha
were curve blades ever found on Highland Officer Swords?
Also with the bar guard… then you are back to the usefulness of having a double edge!
If you watch anything, watch @27:10
I noticed it was approximately 27 min mark as well.
Not trousers - trews.
WHAT?!?! The Cameron Highlanders and the Cameronians were different regiments! The Cameronians were a Lowlands rifle regiment.
is there a smaller hilt for this type of sword, or just this one?
Interesting video but remember the Cameron Highlanders and Cameronians were two entirely different regiments!
Indeed, and I don't think the Cameronians would ever have been considered a Highland regiment.
I would hate to carry a Broadsword on a road march
I think the move to cross hilt was associated with the adoption of the Sam Browne
Any thoughts about the similarities to the schiavona?
It looks like what the victorians would have thought a medieval sword would have looked like.
so they basically reinvented the shearing sword with the field hilt.
I believe that you once mentioned that the first official casualty of WWI was by a sword
Not exactly - the first British kill of WW1 was done with a sword. There were other people killed before that, but not by the British.
@@scholagladiatoria Thanks for the clarification. Still an amazing fact... and I would say... very British :-)
I wear a kilt too when i am exploring my feminine side, makes me feel so Scottish.
Hi Matt, I like that period of sword/saber and want to buy one eventually; however, I am ambidextrous and like to change which hand I fence with when I'm at my hema club. Which sword would you recommend that is a good cut and thrust blade?
In previous videos he has shown examples of symmetrical saber hilts that will work with either hand.
@@peartart thanks, personally I'm leaning towards a prussian hussar saber but I wondered about other opinions.
Mad jack churchill?
And yes Matt, some of us are old enough to have seen "Reclaiming the blade"
Please be advised that the Cameronians (26th Foot aka "Scottish Rifles) were always a LOWLAND Regiment, while the Cameron Highlanders (79th Foot aka Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) were always a HIGHLAND Regiment. They are not interchangeable, even if one is an Englishman.
Tartan trousers are trews.
yeah, but i don´t know if everyone call them by the right proper name.
@@maximilianolimamoreira5002 if you are likely to ever wear them, you know what to call them. I only see them on Highland officers or judges at pipe band or bagpipe competitions.
@@kiltymacbagpipe yeah, but tartan trews are not that easy to find in my country,so,that´s problematic at best.
Governor of the colony of New South Wales (Lt Col) Lachlan Macquarie brought his 1st Battalion of the 73rd Regiment of Foot with him upon his appointment and they were a Trewes battalion. (Sister regiment of the Black Watch I think.)
You can get High quality trews made custom for you, but it’ll definitely cost you a good deal.
i always liked basket hilts, people think im odd ¬.¬
is it a good idea to combine a kukri blade with a highland basket hilt?
Not really because the whole point of the kukri is to bring the mass as far forward as possible to increase cutting power, if you combined that with a basket hilt you would end up with a very heavy knife that didn't cut particularly well. A more real world version of what your suggesting would be a D-guard Bowie Knife, because they have most of the cutting power of a kukri while also having a bit of hand protection.
So why doesn't yours have leather?
Tartan trousers are known as TREWS. You should know that Matt. Oh , I forgot your English.
He’s just a meager Sassenach. Cut him some slack. No pun intended.
Who makes the best modern reproduction of the highland broadsword?
Go to a custom maker like Castle Keep.
@@scholagladiatoria many thanks! I will definitely look into them. Not as many competent swordsmith's on this side of the pond as in europe even these days. Was quite hard to source a suitable hanger for hunting wild hogs, even though custom forged knives for the purpose are somewhat of a regional speacialty. I'll most likely keep using my hanwei model for sabreage at weddings and wakes. But you'd trust a blade from the company you mentioned for, how should I put this...social purposes? Or, more politically correct, trust one to finish a large boar at bay? Love your work, by the way, been a fan for years.
This looks like the best one handed sword ever made with a crossguard.
I would think a knuckle bow would have been better than a straight bar guard! 🤔
Cursed concept: basket-hilted Kukri