New Sword from Museum Replicas

[MacRob]

Museum Replicas has recently brought out a new basket hilt sword based on one from Eglinton Castle. This is a replica of a mid-18th century sword from a group of swords referred to as "Pinch of Snuff" style swords. The name comes from a portrait of a 1750s Highland Regiment officer who is holding his sword under his arm while he takes a pinch of snuff. The basket of that sword resembles that of the sword being reproduced by MR. I got one rather quickly and it is well-made although the basket itself, as usual, is much too large and not as well-shaped as the original. However, it will look good on the table at the Highland Games or in the parade of tartans. A photo of a more authentically shaped basket is also included below.
Eglinton Sword II.jpeg Eglinton Sword.jpeg Eglinton Sword IV.jpeg

[creagdhubh]

Gorgeous sword! Thanks for sharing.

[Jim Simmons]

I agree that the basket may be a bit too large, but a beautiful sword nonetheless. Congratulations on the acquisition !!

[Dughlas mor]

That is a good looking sword, and the price looks pretty reasonable. Fit and finish look good, and the weight and dimensions look about right. What do you think of the quality of the blade?

[rtown]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing the photos.

[MacRob]

That is a good looking sword, and the price looks pretty reasonable. Fit and finish look good, and the weight and dimensions look about right. What do you think of the quality of the blade?

It is a backsword, of course. The quality of the blade appears to be on par with most MR blades I have had the chance to examine. There are ripples in the finish which is expected on a blade at this price point but no more than usual. The balance point is 4.5 inches from the guard, the blade is 1.75 inches wide at the hilt tapering down to .75 inches at the point. The sword is quite lively in the hand, being narrow and at 33 inches swings well. I just wish they would make the baskets smaller. They are way too large, even for a sword from the mid-18th c. when baskets tended to be a little larger than the pre-Culloden era swords. The difference in size is painfully obvious in the photo I included of the 1735 era sword compared to the POS hilt. Harvey Withers' book illustrates one of these swords with back and side views. The side view looks very much like the MR replica but when you look at the back view the width of the original is much narrower. Oh well, there are always custom makers out there.

[Dughlas mor]

Well, it looks like other than the size of the basket it is a very nice sword at a pretty good price. MR and Windlass seem to be putting out some consistently good products at good prices these days. Thanks for your informative response, and enjoy your new sword!

[Sir Didymous]

That almost makes me wish I reenacted that period. Just a note on the basket: MRL tends to make slight modifications to some of their designs based on the needs of the reenactment community. Many of the reenactment groups out there require the wearing of heavily padded gloves. That makes fitting the hand in a regularly sized basket a bit troublesome. I actually had a bit of a problem fitting my fighting gloves into the basket on my later period sword. Just a thought.

[MacRob]

That could be the case but I do not think they are making the swords with reenactors in mind.

[James Hood]

Some time back it was this good fortune (?) to purchase a French 1800 pattern Light Cavaly Sabre with "lite" documentary provenance of coming from a Belgian barn in the vicinity of Waterloo.

Comparing with the basket-hilt sword above, the Frenchie's "basket" is only composed of several steel bands from guard to pommel. It is this understanding, most cavalry wore heavy gloves with gauntlets after the time in history when arm-armour was "forsaken."

What the French sabre is though, some traits shared, some not, with the basket-hilt: not elegant, not outrageously well-balanced...

...but a fearsome weapon.