Sexy Sword Mystery Solved

Recently, at the pre-Thanksgiving Day Parade festivities, I felt that familiar tingle that fine steel was nearby. You know that sensation. It’s like Déjà vu, electricity, and the post-coitus afterglow all rolled into one then given a shot of adrenaline – you know, just for kicks.

Yeah, I felt that.

Walking around the reenactors’ tents, I folded back a flap and there she was:

I hefted her. She felt light. I took her through some motions. She felt strong. She just felt right. Beautiful. Durable. Stylish. I’m not one, really for rapiers, one-handers, main gauches, etc. But, to me, this brand was the Christina Hendricks of weaponry and I just had to know where she came from:

“Who made your basket hilt?”

“Don’t rightly know. If you like swords, try this company called Armor Class in Scotland.”
“Oh, no problem. It’s just a beautiful piece. (aka Hi. We haven’t met but I am a sword fanatic and want to steal your piece like Arthur stole Excalibur when he was a squire for Sir Cay).

I did some digging.

After talking to a lot of “Town Guard” –style parade-marching marching groups, the mystery of the sexy sword was final revealed by these cheerful fellows, the Salem Trayned Band:

“The sword about which you're asking is Darkwood Armory's English Baskethilt IV with a wire-wrapped grip (single wrap), built to living-history quality (an option you can request from Darkwood) and mounted on an old Museum Replicas broadsword blade. Regrettably, I'm not sure which one, but it may be from MRL's very old Early Basket-Hilt sword.

Darkwood reshaped and fullered the blade. We ordered the sword before Darkwood offered as complete a line-up of blades as they do today, so we opted to provide our own blade rather than waiting for them to either order a Del Tin blade or to develop a suitable one of their own.”

Well HOOO-RAY for customization, but this now means that I may never get that same EXACT model, as forges can be prickly about making copies of the same blade.

Ah, well. At least now I know her name and where she lives.

The rest, I think, is simply horse-tradin.’ 

Claymore vs. Claymore: Seeking Scottish Steel...And Truth

Have you ever had a type of sword you just NEEDED to own? Like you’re a “Conan The Barbarian” movie fan, and you had to have Conan’s Father’s Sword and the Atlantean just so you can enjoy “the life” all the more? 

Well I have, and I do. And it is a great Scottish Claymore. 

Aside from the raw power and beauty of these Highland monsters, I had practical reasons for my most recent acquisition. I had owned one previously, but I needed a new claymore to replace the one from...ahem...DSA...that had, let’s just say, problems with its construction. Problems that, honestly, wouldn’t let me swing  it safely. 

So, to find the iconic Gaelic brand I would be adding to my collection, I let my fingers do the walking across the keyboard, and I fired up Google for the online window shopping that I love best. 

I was aiming for a top-shelf Claymore at a bargain-basement price (if I could get it), and we all know where I went for that. I started in the first place, the best place everyone knows to start, Kult of Athena (KOA), and took a look at all the Caldonian Cattle Killers I felt I could afford:  

Ritter Steel:

Del Tin:

Kris Cutlery:

(Thrand’s) Medieval Shoppe:

Deepeeka:

After a lot of back and forth, and examining the many choices that suited my tastes and budget, and handling preferences and aesthetics, it became apparent that the Chinese-made Hanwei Scottish Claymore was the great sword for me. 

First Impressions Are Everything
Returning home from work, I could see the box was huge. I knew a beast slumbered just beneath that tape and cardboard, and, as I felt the energy radiating from my big brown rectangle, I couldn’t wait to strip her down and get a look at her goodies. 

Like that time my folks were gone for the weekend, I was not disappointed: 

The Specs:

Overall Length: 55 3/3''

Blade: 41" 

Weight: 5 lb 3 oz

Edge:  Sharp

P.O.B.: 5 3/8''

Thickness: 5.7 mm - 3.4 mm

Width: 45.9 mm

Grip Length: 10 1/2''

Pommel: Peened

After disrobing her from her plastic fetters, swinging this thing around for just a few minutes, and feeling the legit gravitational pull this sword had when you got her up to speed through the air, I knew she would be an absolute savage when sharpened; cutting through bottles and targets of all sizes with equal abandon. 

The cutting review from KOA gave some credence to that assumption:

But alas, at the writing of this, I haven’t had it sharpened and tested just YET. Peter Hamlin and Precision Sharpening (less than a mile down the road) JUST closed down, so I’ll have to send it out to Wes Beem and the Lonely Wolf Forge to get it done right. 

Soon. So soon...  

Is It Really A Claymore Though?

Now, some of you may be sitting there - all in an historical huff - thinking aloud:

“Um actually, sir, if you are not referring to the single-handed Scottish Basket-hilt Broadsword, you are NOT correct in calling it a ‘claymore,’ just saying.”

In times past, I may have agreed with you on to the total lack of ambiguity, or even the historically-incorrect nature, of the term when talking about this two-handed sword. 

But that was before Henry Yallop. 

“Who, in the name of Hamish’s fiery pubes is Henry Yallop?,” you retort.

Let me illuminate. 

Henry Yallop is none other than the Keeper of Armour and Edged Weapons at the Royal Armouries in Leeds in the U.K.

He states: 

“We at the Royal Armouries, like many museums still have [the] claymore on the catalogue for two-handed swords, and use “basket-hilt” for all swords of that type, whether German, English, Scottish etc. This is mainly for convenience, much like ‘mortuary hilt’ is used, and was born of the time - but clarity is important so that is in part why it prevails. (+1 for the Two-Handed Greatsword)

However in the strictly scholarly sense this was long ago reviewed. 

In his 1996 entries for “Culloden The Sword and the Sorrows” catalogue the late, great A.V.B Norman states that the two-handed Highland sword was in Gaelic “claidheamh dà làimh (clare-de-lay)(Note: Albion Agrees).” (+1 for the Single-Handed Broadsword)

In this [article] he draws on two [other] articles of another former great of the field: Claude Blair. Norman reserves “claidheamh mòr” for Scottish basket-hilts with two-edged blades, those with single (or ‘back sword’) blades being “claidheamh cùil,” and the rare cases of those with curved blades he terms “claidheamh-crom.” (+1 for the Single-Handed Broadsword)

But perhaps the most pragmatic approach is summarised by Dr David Caldwell (retired Principle Curator of National Museum Scotland, and current President of the Scottish Society of Antiquaries) in his 2005 article: 

“Claymores: The Two-handed Sword of the Scottish Highlanders.” 

“The term claymore itself has been the subject of much confusion. Fortunately, [it has been] sorted out in two articles by Blair [above]. Basically, the word ‘claymore’ is an English rendering of the Gaelic “claidheamh mòr,” meaning great sword.

When the word first made its appearance in the English language in the late 17th century, it undoubtedly meant “a basket-hilted sword,” the typical weapon of the Highlanders of that time. (+1 for the Single-Handed Broadsword) 

16th and 17th century Scottish Lowland sources, on the other hand, described Highlanders as having “twa-handit swerdis.” (+1 for the Two-Handed Greatsword)

There are no recorded usages for the term “claidheamh mòr” in Gaelic prior to the early 19th century, at which time it meant ‘broadsword’, presumably a single-handed weapon. (+1 for the Single-Handed Broadsword) 

*****IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW. PAY ATTENTION*****

Collectors and scholars, however, have long understood that “claymore” is a particular type of two-handed sword - the subject of this article - and have tended to avoid using the term for basket-hilted swords. We [the civilized sword community] will therefore continue to refer to these two-handed swords as “claymores.” (pages 47-48) (+1,000,000 for the Two-Handed Greatsword)

This last sentence, outlining David’s practice, is the one we follow at Royal Armouries, for the reasons he states.” (+1,000,000 for the Two-Handed Greatsword)

So Call it A Claymore:

There you have it!

Though there has been much mystery, confusion, linguistic inclination, and geographical preference enshrouding these legendary Highland weapons (depending on which Scotsman or researcher you ask and at what time), it is clear that the scholars of TODAY - the Royal Armouries at Leeds, the National Museum of Scotland, and the Scottish Society of Antiquaries - have met, conferred, and come to a most important, common, and modern accord.

The nomenclature we have always wanted to give our beloved two-handed steel behemoths has been formally bestowed on the truly great swords we have all always known and loved, once and for all.

It is, therefore, officially, I think, safe once again to call this:

The one, the only, the CLAYMORE!