Decorative display of weapons — how do you do it?

[EagleJCS]

Shaun,
With that sort of arrangement, I'd lay the tartan over a sheet of 1/2" plywood, stapling/tacking it in back, then bolt your sword and targe hangers to the plywood. You can then hang the plywood from the wall, anchoring it to a stud in the wall. (This will minimize the number of wall anchors you'd need to drill into the wall).

If hanging over the mantel, I might actually run some picture-hanging wire over a ceiling joist or two as close to the wall as I could get and about center over the mantel and hang the plywood from that. Paint the wire the same color as the wall if your fireplace is like mine & has plaster/wallboard covering the brick.