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5 Jacobite Weapons

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The Myth of the Jacobite Clans
This chapter is in the book The Myth of the Jacobite Clans
5Jacobite WeaponsIn 1996, the BBC 1 programmeRebellion!portrayed CharlesEdward Stuart’s army on the march south carrying their swordsin grubby and hairy fists, while above them RAF jets roared.Knowingly absurd as it was, such an image represented only ahighly coloured version of the Myth of the Jacobite Clans, poundinghome as it did the old message: the Jacobite Army was a last flourishof social atavism in a world that had outgrown it. From Morier’s1740s painting ofAn Incident in the Rebellion of 1745to thepresent, the depiction of the Jacobite Army – visual or verbal –invites its audience to focus on this discourse, which in its turn isoften brought to the foreground of image or argument by means of asingle iconic visual trigger: the broadsword, with its 60–80cm bladeand basket hilt. The double-edged broadsword cuts both ways: itsymbolises bravery, and a willingness to engage the enemy at closequarters; it also symbolises futility in the face of modern firearms,which – with the exception of the odd pistol – are popularly depictedas the sole property of the British Army in 1745–6.Such swords, often with German blades attached to Scottish hilts,were indeed widely available and made in Scotland: for example, bythe Allan armourers of Stirling, whose weapons bore ‘the commonspurious inscription ANDREA FERRARA’ after the sixteenth-century Bellino swordsmith. Such a mark was common on ‘Germanblades intended for the Scottish market until the early 19th century’,and indeed ‘Andrea Ferrara’ long remained a synonym for ‘sword’ inparts of Scotland. The broadsword,claidheamh mor– and thebacksword,claideamh cuil, with only one cutting blade – are alsopart of the fabric of Gaelic heroic verse. The sword is the heroicweapon, the weapon wielded by those fit to lead, thefineof the clan.So in Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair’s ‘Oran do’n Phrionnsa/Song to the Prince’, Charles Edward arrives in Scotland as a force ofnature, carrying ‘a slim sword in his hand for battle’; in ‘TearlachMac Sheumais’, the very frail flesh of Scotland is forged into steel bythe renewing presence of the Prince, which will deliver – as in the
© 2022, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh

5Jacobite WeaponsIn 1996, the BBC 1 programmeRebellion!portrayed CharlesEdward Stuart’s army on the march south carrying their swordsin grubby and hairy fists, while above them RAF jets roared.Knowingly absurd as it was, such an image represented only ahighly coloured version of the Myth of the Jacobite Clans, poundinghome as it did the old message: the Jacobite Army was a last flourishof social atavism in a world that had outgrown it. From Morier’s1740s painting ofAn Incident in the Rebellion of 1745to thepresent, the depiction of the Jacobite Army – visual or verbal –invites its audience to focus on this discourse, which in its turn isoften brought to the foreground of image or argument by means of asingle iconic visual trigger: the broadsword, with its 60–80cm bladeand basket hilt. The double-edged broadsword cuts both ways: itsymbolises bravery, and a willingness to engage the enemy at closequarters; it also symbolises futility in the face of modern firearms,which – with the exception of the odd pistol – are popularly depictedas the sole property of the British Army in 1745–6.Such swords, often with German blades attached to Scottish hilts,were indeed widely available and made in Scotland: for example, bythe Allan armourers of Stirling, whose weapons bore ‘the commonspurious inscription ANDREA FERRARA’ after the sixteenth-century Bellino swordsmith. Such a mark was common on ‘Germanblades intended for the Scottish market until the early 19th century’,and indeed ‘Andrea Ferrara’ long remained a synonym for ‘sword’ inparts of Scotland. The broadsword,claidheamh mor– and thebacksword,claideamh cuil, with only one cutting blade – are alsopart of the fabric of Gaelic heroic verse. The sword is the heroicweapon, the weapon wielded by those fit to lead, thefineof the clan.So in Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair’s ‘Oran do’n Phrionnsa/Song to the Prince’, Charles Edward arrives in Scotland as a force ofnature, carrying ‘a slim sword in his hand for battle’; in ‘TearlachMac Sheumais’, the very frail flesh of Scotland is forged into steel bythe renewing presence of the Prince, which will deliver – as in the
© 2022, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Introduction: British Histories and Scottish Myths 1
  5. 1 What is a Highlander, What was a Jacobite? 31
  6. 2 The Myth of the Jacobite Clans 65
  7. 3 Jacobites in the Localities, 1745–60 110
  8. 4 Nationalists or Jacobites? 140
  9. 5 Jacobite Weapons 163
  10. Appendix The Jacobite Armies, 1688–1746 183
  11. Bibliography 195
  12. Index 225
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474471688-007

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Introduction: British Histories and Scottish Myths 1
  5. 1 What is a Highlander, What was a Jacobite? 31
  6. 2 The Myth of the Jacobite Clans 65
  7. 3 Jacobites in the Localities, 1745–60 110
  8. 4 Nationalists or Jacobites? 140
  9. 5 Jacobite Weapons 163
  10. Appendix The Jacobite Armies, 1688–1746 183
  11. Bibliography 195
  12. Index 225
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