Swords of the Highlands

I confess, I love writing action scenes. Quite often these are 17th century battle or skirmish scenes or somehow involve weapons. I'm not a fan of gory violence, but I do enjoy exciting action, suspense and imagining a Highland hero showing off his battle skills. This first picture is one I took in the great hall of Edinburgh Castle and shows two types of swords I want to focus on here.

The most famous and well known Highland weapon is the claymore. There is some dispute and misconception about what a claymore is. Most people see it as a two-handed Highland sword. But now the experts say otherwise. Claymore comes from the Gaelic word claidheamh mor which means the great sword. AVB Norman in Culloden - The Swords and the Sorrows published by The National Trust of Scotland in 1996 says claidheamh mor, or the great sword, is “a term which should be used only for the basket-hilted broadsword. The correct term is now known to be claidheamh dà làimh” in reference to the two-handed Highland sword. The Glasgow Museums website confirms this information.

Pictures of extant swords of this type show them to be between 51 inches and 73 ¼ inches. Two-handed swords weren’t just Highland weapons. They were used all over Europe and are considered a Renaissance weapon. Though they were not excessively heavy, they were heavier than smaller swords and were usually wielded by the largest soldiers. They were often used to hack through pikes on the front lines to allow the rest of the soldiers through. Many of the blades of these Scottish weapons were German made. But it is the design of the two-handed Highland swords that distinguishes them from the others. The hilts were generally made in Scotland. In my story Devil in a Kilt, I describe one of these swords, specifically the Highland design of the hilt:

Something flashed in the dimness of the tent behind Ranald and her gaze darted to it. A huge two-handed Highland sword sat on a stand. A light must have glinted off the blade.
“Ah, I see the sword has caught your eye.”
“It’s beautiful.” And very large. Taller than her own five-feet-four.
Ranald moved away from the table and stood beside the sword. “You should see the detail.”
She sidled around the table and joined him in the middle of the open-sided tent. A few nicks and pits scarred the long dull steel blade. Spiral-carved, leather-wrapped wood formed the grip. The brass cross-hilt guard featured down-sloping arms with four tiny circles on the ends.
“Only a very strong warrior could successfully wield the claidheamh dà làimh in battle, and Gavin MacTavish was such a man,” Ranald said.
“It’s amazing. Is it authentic?”
Ranald’s mischievous blue eyes twinkled. “Of course. It’s nigh onto five-hundred years old. Would you like to hold it?”
Though she didn’t like weapons and the violence they stood for, she did love antiques. Her hands itched to touch the hilt of this sword. She set down her backpack, rubbed her palms together and stepped forward. Then back. “Oh, no, I couldn’t. I’m sure it’s very valuable, and I might drop it.”
“It’s a sword, Shauna. It’s seen many a rough day.” He winked, lifted the sword out of the stand and offered it, hilt first, to her. “I imagine you’ll regret it if you don’t hold this important piece of history for at least a few seconds.”
Shauna wiped her palms on her skirt. “All right. If you insist.”
A wily smile spread across Ranald’s face. “I daresay you will enjoy it.”

Nicole North - Devil in a Kilt, Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures

And of course this is the object that causes Shauna to time-travel.


How is this weapon used? Though the weapons in the video below are probably not Highland in design, this demonstration can give you some idea of how a two-handed sword is used. Obviously the whole body must be thrown into the action.

By around the 1620s, the time period I write about, the basket-hilted broadsword was considered characteristic of the Highlands. So, I write about this type of sword more often than the two-handed variety. Basket-hilted broadswords were shorter, around 37 – 39 inches in length. Both edges of the blade were generally sharpened.

Photos of swords from Glasgow Museums.

You can learn more about each sword there.

The narrow bars forming a cage protected the hand of the person using it. These were based on a design of the mid 1500s. The specific design of the cage varied and evolved over the course of the next century or so. Many of these improvements were for the purpose of further protecting the wrist. Not only were the basket-hilts functional, but also decorative. The Scottish regiments today still carry this type of sword. Another photo I took of basket-hilted broadswords in the great hall of Edinburgh Castle.

How is this weapon used? Please click to watch the video.

***

Nicole North

What's So Great About 17th Century Scotland?

People sometimes wonder why I set my romance stories in the early 1600s. Is this my favorite time period? Would I like to travel back to that time?

It isn't an often-done period when it comes to historical romance. Everyone is so used to stories set in medieval times or Regency or Victorian. I just had to be different, didn't I? Yeah, I do like to be unique. But there is a specific reason I chose this time period and it has to do with kilts.

My historically set stories are Scottish and I wanted my heroes to wear the great kilt or belted plaid aka feilidh-mhor (great wrap) or a breacan-feile (tartan wrap). My research told me those were not worn until at least 1575 or perhaps slightly later. So if I accurately wanted my hero in a great kilt I couldn't put him in medieval times (although I love medieval stories.) No, I couldn't pull a Braveheart and ignore historical accuracy completely.

Here is a picture of Liam Neeson as Rob Roy. The costuming is apparently more accurate than Braveheart. For one thing, the story is set much later, in the early 1700s when great kilts were actually worn.

I have visited the wonderful Tartan Museum in Franklin, NC as part of my research. http://www.scottishtartans.org/kilt.html or http://albanach.org/kilt.html are among the best websites for researching kilts and other Highland dress. I want to quote something from the website:

"The truth of the matter is that only one document has yet been found that dates from before 1600 and without a doubt describes a belted plaid, the earliest form of the kilt. It is an Irish source, written in Gaelic. In the Life of Red Hugh O’Donnell written by Lughaidh O’Clery, we read of a group of hired mercenaries from the Scottish Hebrides, employed by O’Donnell in 1594."

"These were recognized among the Irish by the difference of their arms and clothing, their habits and language, for their exterior dress was mottled cloaks to the calf of the leg with ties and fastenings. Their girdles were over the loins outside the cloaks." ~Matthew. A. C. Newsome Scottish Tartan Museum

The girdles in this case would refer to belts and the mottled cloaks would be the plaid. A few more examples of early kilts. The red one is Lord George Murray about 1746. The second one shows two ways to wear a kilt, with the top portion used as a cape for warmth, or with the top portion secured at the shoulder. The third pic is Lord Mungo Murray, around 1680.

The below picture would be considered a small kilt, which came much later. Notice the top portion of the plaid is missing.

For the purposes of my stories, I also needed the Highland clan system to still be firmly in place, so they had to be set before 1746 and the battle of Culloden. And because of the plots of a couple of my novels, I needed a time period of relative peace between England and Scotland. So that's why I chose the reign of King James I & IV. He was king of Scotland first, then at Queen Elizabeth's death, he became king of England too.

Once I decided this time period would fit the needs of my stories, I delved into it to learn all I could about King James and his time period. But I couldn't focus on him and England completely because my stories predominantly take place in Scotland.

Some of my stories (like Devil in a Kilt) are time-travels. Would I like to time-travel back to 1621 Scotland? Hmm. That's a tough one. In one way I would like to... if I knew I could get back to modern day! I do like my modern conveniences, health and safety. There is nothing particularly romantic or appealing about the reality of the time. There were plague epidemics going on at various times, not to mention revolts, rebellions, riots, and clan feuds. One could be tortured or hanged for something minor. Hygiene at the time was abysmal, whether personal or in the streets. When I was in Edinburgh, I took a tour of Mary King's Close and the tour guide was not shy about presenting the gruesome facts of the 1600s. And since we were right there on that narrow, steep, dark (now underground) alley, it was all very easy to visualize. The furthest thing from a romantic fantasy.

I do escape into my stories and mentally travel back to 17th century Scotland, but I must put my own romantic spin on them. I'm not writing a history textbook; I'm providing fun entertainment and that means a hot man in a great kilt who bathes regularly. :)

Nicole North

http://www.nicolenorth.com/

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