Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 2).djvu/344



Early XVIth century

In a private collection, Perth

Early XVIth century. The grip modern, the scabbard XVIIth century. In a private collection, Scotland

it had become practically the regulation cavalry hilt—it found ready favour with the Scots; and from about that period it has remained ever associated with the equipment of the Highlander. Indeed, as every one knows, it is to-*day the military regulation sword-hilt of nearly all Scottish regiments. Only those, however, who seek to-day to collect arms of Scottish origin can appreciate the extreme rarity of the true Claidheamh-mor, or Scottish two-hander. We have no hesitation in describing the Scottish two-handed sword of Sir Noël Paton's collection, now to be seen in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, as the finest with which we are acquainted. (Fig 681). It is a grand weapon; indeed, had not one of the quillons been broken, it might well be considered the most perfect specimen of all the Claidheamh-mor weapons extant. This sword is numbered 343 in the Private Catalogue of Armour and Weapons of Sir Noël Paton, printed in Edinburgh, 1879.