A Very Good Peninsular War and Battle of Waterloo Use British Napoleonic Regulation, Ordnance, Front Line Rank Issue, 1796 Light Dragoon Trooper's Sabre by Wooley & Co. An Ordnance Supply Contractor from the 18th and early 19th Century

All steel, original issue matching scabbard, with steel P hilt and leather bound grip, maker engaved at the top near the throat. The blade is very good indeed, and nicely bright overall, and with the ordnance maker's Wooley stamp on the blade spine. Overall very nice condition for age, it has obviously seen combat service, but it has been cared for very well since it left service over 200 years ago

The mounted swordsmanship training of the British emphasised the cut, at the face for maiming or killing, or at the arms to disable. This left masses of mutilated or disabled troops; the French, in contrast, favoured the thrust, which gave cleaner kills. A cut with the 1796 LC sabre was, however, perfectly capable of killing outright, as was recorded by George Farmer of the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons, who was involved in a skirmish on the Guadiana River in 1811, during the Peninsular War:

"Just then a French officer stooping over the body of one of his countrymen, who dropped the instant on his horse's neck, delivered a thrust at poor Harry Wilson's body; and delivered it effectually. I firmly believe that Wilson died on the instant yet, though he felt the sword in its progress, he, with characteristic self-command, kept his eye on the enemy in his front; and, raising himself in his stirrups, let fall upon the Frenchman's head such a blow, that brass and skull parted before it, and the man's head was cloven asunder to the chin. It was the most tremendous blow I ever beheld struck; and both he who gave, and his opponent who received it, dropped dead together. The brass helmet was afterwards examined by order of a French officer, who, as well as myself, was astonished at the exploit; and the cut was found to be as clean as if the sword had gone through a turnip, not so much as a dint being left on either side of it"

The blade is remembered today as one of the best of its time and has been described as the finest cutting sword ever manufactured in quantity. Remarkably, this sword still has its original wooden scabbard liner.

For example of the type regiment that would have used this sword we give an example from the 10th Light Dragoons / Hussars

The regiment action at the Battle of Sahagún in December 1808 and the Battle of Benavente later in December 1808 during the Peninsular War. At Benavente the regiment captured General Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes, the French cavalry commander. The regiment then took part in the Battle of Corunna in January 1809 before returning to England.

In 1813, having landed once more in Spain, the regiment fought at the Battle of Morales in June 1813. During the battle the regiment destroyed the 16th French Dragoons between Toro and Zamora, taking around 260 prisoners. The regiment also fought at the Battle of Vitoria later in the month while still in Spain and then, having advanced into France, fought at the Battle of Orthez in February 1814 and the Battle of Toulouse in April 1814. As part of the 6th Cavalry Brigade, the regiment charged the French cavalry and infantry at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815.

The night of the 17th/18th June 1815 is well known for being extremely wet, so that the men had to mount up with wet clothes and march through boggy ground. The 6th Brigade was placed on the extreme left of the whole army. Vivian requested the 10th to supply a reconnaissance party which was ordered to locate the advance parties of the Prussians, This party, under Major Thomas Taylor, reached as far as Ohain, and met with a Prussian patrol and discovered that General Bülow was at St Lambert. Back at the battlefield, the French began their advance, and Hougoumont came under attack at 11.30am. Vandeleur’s brigade of Light Dragoons were on the right of Vivian’s regiments, and they, together with the 10th Hussars were positioned to confront the French troops. Meanwhile the heavy cavalry were sent in to charge against enemy cavalry and infantry. Ponsonby’s Union Brigade found themselves in difficulties when they were charged by Lancers and Chasseurs, so the 12th and 16th Light Dragoons of Vandeleur’s Brigade dashed through a column of French infantry to attack the left flank of the Lancers and forced them to withdraw.

The 10th and 18th Hussars who for several hours had withstood the French artillery barrage were ordered to move to the right along a hollow way but did not go into action at this stage. During the late afternoon, Vivian’s Brigade moved further to the right. As they took up a new position Colonel Quentin was wounded in the ankle, and his place taken by Lord Robert Manners.
The brigade were drawn up behind infantry units of Brunswick and Nassau which were wavering. The Nassau troops fell back so that they were almost touching the heads of the 10th’s horses. Due to strong encouragement and persuasion these German soldiers were discouraged from further retreat. Vivian then ordered the KGL forward to link up with the Hanoverians and other German allies. This gave heart to the faltering men of Nassau and a forward movement took place. The 10th followed in support but were unable to attack as cavalry should, so were vulnerable to enemy musketry. They sustained many injuries including three officers.The brigade cantered forward with the 10th Hussars leading. As they passed Vandeleur’s Light Dragoons and Maitland’s brigade of Guards, they were cheered on. Vivian saw masses of French troops on the left of La Belle Alliance and decided to concentrate the attack there. The 10th were ordered to incline to the right and the 18th and KGL to support them. The squadrons formed line and charged in echelon so that the right squadron under Major the Hon Frederick Howard, were first in action. The force of their charge pushed the French back and sent them off in all directions so that as the other squadrons came up they pursued fleeing troops. Vivian, having seen how the Scots Greys had charged too far, earlier in the day, called a halt and rally.
The Tenth, having been ordered to halt, came under attack from cuirassiers. Howard’s squadron bore the brunt of the attack but could not be supported by the other two squadrons as they failed to hear the order to halt and carried on with their pursuit under the command of Lt-Col Manners. Vivian caught up with Howard who, it seems, had beaten off the cuirassiers, and ordered the squadron to charge a square formed by the Grenadiers of the Guard. This was a forlorn hope as the French Grenadiers were seasoned troops and well able to fend off the attack with a wall of bayonets. It was supposed to be a coordinated attack together with a unit of infantry but the infantry commander declined to cooperate. According to Captain Taylor, Howard consulted with him about the proposed attack and Taylor advised against it. ‘Major Howard said that having been ordered to attack he thought it a ticklish thing not to do it, and gave the order accordingly.’ Major Howard was killed in this action, shot through the mouth and having his head beaten with a rifle butt. With two other officers wounded (Lieuts Arnold and Bacon), and another killed (George Gunning), the squadron was extricated by Cornet William Hamilton. There is no mention of whether Captain Taylor took part. Even though the attack failed, the enemy square was forced to fall back as part of a general retreat.

Final Charge of the 10th
Meanwhile the two pursuing squadrons continued to a point southeast of Hougoumont, driving back cuirassiers. They then came upon the enemy infantry in retreat and recognised men of the Imperial Guard in their tall bearskins who covered the retreat by forming a defensive position. They fired on the squadrons, so Manners halted the men at a distance of 40 paces, formed the men into line and sounded the charge. The impact of the 10th against the French defence was too great and the veterans of the Imperial Guard were forced to give way. Vandeleur saw what was happening and brought his brigade to support the right flank of Vivien’s men. The infantry of Adam’s Brigade, on the left of the Tenth, made great progress and were soon led by Wellington himself to put the final nail in the French Army’s coffin. Napoleon quit the field and his army was in full retreat. Adams’s men were halted at La Belle Alliance, Vandeleur’s Brigade bivouacked at the woods of Cellois. But Vivien’s Brigade were led some distance further, to Hilaincourt.



The last photo in the gallery shows a photograph of one section of the collection in the museum of Waterloo, taken in around 1900, showing all the weapons of Waterloo en situ, including all the protagonists {British, French, Prussian and Belgian muskets, swords, pistols, armour uniforms, etc}. The museum was founded and owned by a veteran of the 7th Hussars that fought at Waterloo.  read more

Code: 26319

A Very Fine Pair of 1770's Gentleman' or Officers Holster Pistols. Fine Juglans Regia Walnut Stocks, All Brass Cast Furniture Mounts Beautifully Engraved. Bright Steel Barrels & Flintlocks Signed Waters & Ward

Waters and Ward was an 18th-century English gun-making partnership based on Snow Hill in Birmingham, {active around 1770} an important regional hub within the historic British gun-manufacturing trade in the 18th century.

These are truly a beautiful pair of fine status pistols from the late mid 18th century, from the era of great turmoil across the Atlantic in the Americas, and simply a joy to behold. The Metropolitan Museum in America have numerous similar wonderful examples in their collection, carried by the English and American officers in both armies in the War of American Independence, in the 1770’s to 80’s. The wars where George Washington was General, and commander of the American forces, the Continental Army, against his former natural loyalties in his service to the British crown as a colonial officer in the 1760's.

The American Revolution, historically, was one of the most formative for world history until the 20th century world wars.
A war, that by defeating the British forces, by mostly former British colonists and crown subjects, along with elements of European emigres, and, the considerable assistance by the Britain’s greatest rivals at the time, France, creating, arguably, the most powerful nation of earth, in the much later 20th and 21st centuries. And, the other consequences, spawned the French Revolution, thus assisting Britain to expand the British Empire, and creating the worlds greatest power for the next 140 years until the 20th century, when America took its place, but only thanks to Germany, another of France’s great rivals.
The King of France expended so much gold from the French treasury, in loans and assistance to American revolutionaries, that it bankrupted the King, and naturally, France. Entirely, in many respects, due to the fact America, simply refused to pay back any financial contribution King Louis had made, and thus, creating the groundwork for his revolution, that cost him, and the nobility of France, their heads.
Ironically it was the French Kings ability to expend his vast resources against his government wishes, that lost him his realm, and it was the English kings inability to stop the war, as he was firmly against the British governments policy of the war, as he was a constructional monarch, thus head of state in name, but with no effective power to control policy or his governments wishes, that helped to create the most popular royal family in the world.
Another great irony, was, all the blame by America was heaped upon the British King George IIIrd, {the so-called, king of tyranny} to enable the circumstances of the war, but, he was one of the few men of ‘power’ in Britain that supported their situation, of course, behind the scenes so to speak, but, could do nothing about it. He was in reality, one of the kindest of men to have every ruled {in name only} a great nation, known by his beloved subjects as ‘Farmer George’, due to his passion of working hand in hand with his estate labourers, who he regarded as friends, digging ditches and tending animals.
Thus the French Kings action cost him his families throne, and lives, and the British Kings lack of action, went on the create the worlds greatest empire of the 19th and early 20th century. A lesson on the advantages of constitutional monarchies no doubt.
The previous few paragraphs, if you kindly forgive our wandering narrative, show, very briefly, and concisely of course, and naturally we had to leave out a few other minor historical events {around sixty ‘lesser’ wars, but whose counting} that just how intriguing and fundamental history truly is to all future events.

Both actions are very good indeed, tight and crisp as can be, however one frizzen spring that tensions the frizzen {a steel} on one lock, was broken in combat  read more

Code: 26318

A Most Superb And Rare Early Koto Period Shikome-Tessen, with Fine Quality Concealed Blade Bearing a Stunning Hamon & Hada A Hidden High Ranking Samurai's, {Such as a Daimyo, or Kumigashira 組 頭} Samurai Tanto War Fan, Called a Shikome-Tessen

A fantastic, original, and very rare, late Muramachi hira-zukuri 16th century samurai concealed weapon war fan, a samurai tanto {dagger} disguised as a folded fan, called a shikome-tessen, that has a fabulous, traditional tanto blade concealed within with midare hamon.

The kumigashira 組 頭 mounted warriors held the highest rank below the daimyo lord, commanding all the hirashi, mounted samurai for their lord.

A narrow thrusting and cutting blade with a stunning hamon and hada. It was also a perfect dagger for an assassination, thus a disarmed samurai, visiting or negotiating with a daimyo lord of an opposing clan, would seem to be completely harmless and of little threat, but armed with an innocent looking shikome-tessen, he would be as dangerous and formidable as if he was armed with his daisho.

Early Edo period secret bladed tanto, with carved wood and multi coloured urushi lacquered fittings, of black, with gold-over-black tortoishell pattern lacquer edge trim, in a beautiful, traditional Japanese folded samurai tessen war-fan form.

Samurai carried the tessen in their belt (obi) or bosom during the feudal era, particularly in formal settings or locations where carrying swords (katanas) was strictly prohibited.

It allowed nobles and warriors a legal means of self-defense that did not immediately trigger alarm.
Beyond combat, war fans were occasionally used by commanders on the battlefield to signal troop movements.

A photo in the gallery from Edo Japan of a seated high ranking samurai holding his tachi and war fan. Another samurai standing also with fan and daisho through his obi. Samurai sometimes disguised their blades as inoffensive items, such as cleverly made walking sticks or other common objects such as fans. Their ancestors, the classical warriors, overlooked nothing which could be used as a weapon.
The blade nakago sealed in place, so there was no telltale visible mekugi blade affixing peg.
A Japanese war fan is a fan designed for use in warfare. Several types of war fans were used by the samurai class of feudal Japan and each had a different look and purpose.

One particularly famous legend involving war fans concerns a direct confrontation between Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin at the fourth battle of Kawanakajima. Kenshin burst into Shingen's command tent on horseback, having broken through his entire army, and attacked; his sword was deflected by Shingen's war fan. It is not clear whether Shingen parried with a tessen, a dansen uchiwa, or some other form of fan. Nevertheless, it was quite rare for commanders to fight directly, and especially for a general to defend himself so effectively when taken so off-guard.

Minamoto no Yoshitsune is said to have defeated the great warrior monk Saito Musashibo Benkei with a tessen.

Araki Murashige is said to have used a tessen to save his life when the great warlord Oda Nobunaga sought to assassinate him. Araki was invited before Nobunaga, and was stripped of his swords at the entrance to the mansion, as was customary. When he performed the customary bowing at the threshold, Nobunaga intended to have the room's sliding doors slammed shut onto Araki's neck, killing him. However, Araki supposedly placed his tessen in the grooves in the floor, blocking the doors from closing. Types of Japanese war fans;
Gunsen were folding fans used by the average warriors to cool themselves off. They were made of wood, bronze, brass or a similar metal for the inner spokes, and often used thin iron or other metals for the outer spokes or cover, making them lightweight but strong. Warriors would hang their fans from a variety of places, most typically from the belt or the breastplate, though the latter often impeded the use of a sword or a bow.

Tessen could be folding fans with outer spokes made of heavy plates of iron which were designed to look like normal, harmless folding fans or solid clubs shaped to look like a closed fan. Samurai could take these to places where swords or other overt weapons were not allowed, and some swordsmanship schools included training in the use of the tessen as a weapon.
The tessen was also used for fending off knives and darts, as a throwing weapon, and as an aid in swimming.
Gunbai (Gumbai), Gunpai (Gumpai) or dansen uchiwa were large solid open fans that could be solid iron, metal with wooden core, or solid wood, which were carried by high-ranking officers. They were supposedly used to ward off arrows, as a sunshade, and to signal to troops.

Another most interesting fan tanto is in a museum collection in Boston Mass. USA

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston;
The deceptive 'Knife in Fan-Shaped Case'—or fan tanto, as it was typically known, with “tanto” meaning a short blade that may either be single- or double-edged in Japanese culture—was found in the desk during an inventory of the galleries shortly after Isabella Stewart Gardner’s death in 1924. The inventory provides little additional information. The hilt (or handle) of the knife is disguised as the base of the fan’s sticks and rivet; the sticks and leaves of the fan in folded position form the knife’s scabbard.
Japanese, Knife in a Fan-Shaped Case, 19th century. Lacquered wood with metal blade
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. Isabella kept this in her desk in the Macknight Room

An appearance of a samurai fan concealed tanto in Victorian culture can be found in the 1879 French novel 'Le Crime de l’Opera' by Fortuné de Boisgobey.

The story features a scene in which a blackmailer is assassinated in an opera box by one of three masked ladies with a “Japanese fan-dagger, or poniard so made as to be concealed under the form of a fan.”

Two pictures in the gallery, one of a woodblock print of a samurai holding a tessen between his teeth in a pre-combat pose, and a Victorian photograph of a Meiji samurai seated with his tessen war-fan.

This Shikome-Gessan is 11.5 inches long overall. approx 7 inch blade.

https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabellas-folding-fan-deception

Woodblock print from The Lanes Armoury library Collection
by Utagawa Kunisada幅日本版画

Utagawa Kunisada (also known as Toyokuni III) was a leading 19th-century ukiyo-e master famed for his dynamic kabuki actor prints (yakusha-e) and warrior scenes.  read more

Code: 26315

A Super & Historical Brown Bess Flintlock Ordnance Contract Musket. Made In The Napoleonic Wars By E & W Bond. The Regulation India Pattern Brown Bess of The Cheshire Regt. Circa 1800’s. Peninsular Wars and Waterloo Period

However, incredibly interesting historically, for in its last service days, it was part of the armoury issued to the SS Pleaid. The Expeditionary Sailing Schooner & Steam Ship of the River Niger. Engraved With the Name of The 1st Propeller Driven Exploring Steamship

Bond of London were a prominent family of London gunmakers and ordnance contractors who supplied flintlock muskets, carbines, and other military firearms during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The notable gunmakers E. & W. Bond, we’re operating during the Regency era and the Napoleonic Wars.
They produced standard military pattern arms, such as Brown Bess muskets and heavy dragoon carbines, fulfilling contracts for the British Board of Ordnance.
Surviving muskets bearing the "Bond" makers name are today considered rare and valuable collectibles from the height of the flintlock era

The Schooner and expedition was under the command of Dr. William Balfour Baikie, R.N. a famed explorer and renown anti-slaver.

The musket is in super condition made by Bond of London. Complete with its standard, regulation, bayonet {pitted overall} Regulation Brown Bess barrel .750 inch bore, and of 39 inches long, stamped with Board of Ordnance view and proof markings of circa 1790. Typical all brass mounts and fittings, trigger guard side plate fore-end and butt plate, with both steel sling swivels present, and a fine walnut stock. the ships name, 'Pleiad' engraved to the butt tang with the ship's gun's gun-rack numbering, '4'. The regulation trigger guard has a large number engraved, likely 22 to indicate service use of the Cheshire Regt, {the 22nd Foot}

Edward Bond was at 45 Cornhill, London, from 1800 to 1830, during this time he was joined by William, they moved to Lombard St. in around 1830
The vessel, named the Pleiad, was an extremely interesting and historical sailing ship. It was built by John Laird, and she was a sailing schooner, and, an auxiliary steam ship, with a unique 'lifting' propeller, and is said to have been the first exploring vessel to have been fitted with an additional propeller. Her length was 105 feet and her beam 24 feet. She had a 40-horse-power engine.

The Pleiad was schooner rigged, and the lifting propeller prevented the screw from retarding her speed under sail. This was before coaling stations were established on the route, and the vessel was intended to carry her coal from England under sail and to reserve it for use on the Niger.

William Baikie M.D. (1825-1864) was born in Orkney and studied medicine at Edinburgh University. He joined the Royal Navy in 1848 and soon attracted the notice of Sir Roderick Murchison who secured Baikie the post of surgeon and naturalist to the Niger Expedition in 1854. One of Baikie’s most important observations was on the use of quinine to prevent malaria as no one on the expedition contracted the disease. During the expedition, the senior officer, Consul John Beecroft, died and Baikie took command. Ascending the Benue about 250 miles beyond the point reached by former explorers, he returned and reached the mouth of the Niger, after a voyage of 118 days, without the loss of a single man. The expedition was partly funded by Laird of Birkenhead -- the 266-ton screw yacht Pleiad was designed by William Laird Jr and built by John Laird of Birkenhead to meet whatever unknown challenges cropped up, and was well armed with a single 12pdr gun, four swivel guns, a number of Minie guns together with pistols, shotguns and trade muskets. Baikie also used it for his second expedition of 1857 but it was wrecked in rapids. Baikie determined to carry out the purposes of the Expedition. He first considered establishing a British Consular Agency at Kabba but faced opposition from the local king of the region of Niger -- probably because Baikie was an anti-slaver firmly against the slave trade, which still provided a generous income for some tribal leaders and especially the local king. Instead, he chose Lokoja as the base of his future operations, it being the site of the model farm established by the Niger Expedition of 1841, and abandoned on the death of most of the white settlers. After Baikie's death, the British government abolished the consulate (1866), but the trading post remained influential. The district where Baikie had worked so successfully was finally secured for the UK through private enterprise some 20 years later and Lokoja became the capital of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate. Baikie wrote up the 1854 Expedition in his Narrative of an exploring voyage up the rivers Kwóra and Binue (commonly known as the Niger and Tsádda) in 1854.

Thanks to Laird’s forethought on all points she did well. Knowing the climate by experience, he insisted on keeping the number of Europeans to the minimum. The Pleiad left under the command of Dr. William Balfour Baikie, R.N., who dosed the ship’s company with quinine night and morning. When she reached Fernando Po, Dr. Baikie learned that Beecroft had died. Baikie decided to go up the river. He had engine trouble and the Pleiad ran aground several times, but he reached the confluence of the Niger and the Benue. Baikie ascended the Benue farther than any white man before him. Unfortunately the river began to fall. Baikie left the little vessel and went on farther by canoe until he was sure that Barth was not in the district. Then he returned to the Pleiad.

He traded her cargo, and she sailed back to England without the loss of a man by disease or accident, a new and wonderful event in the story of the Niger. He established that the river which Barth had reached was the one which flowed into the Niger.

The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, have two matched examples of pistols from the set of the arms in the ship's arms locker, also named for the Pleiad, and similarly made by Bond of London, Object IDs AAA2432 & AAA2432.2. Another brace of pistol from the gun locker of the Pleiad and named as such sold at auction for just shy of £4,000.

To demonstrate the historical interest and status of the ship's voyage of exploration, an original copy of the book written by Dr. William Balfour Baikie, R.N., detailing his voyage aboard the Pleiad, published in 1856, can fetch upwards of £1,000. See a photo of his book in the gallery. For information and education purposes only, book not available

Narrative of an exploring voyage up the rivers Kwóra and Binue (commonly known as the Niger and Tsádda) in 1854.
Baikie, William Balfour
Published by London : Murray, 1856

The gun and action are very good for age, with an incredibly tight and crisp action, with just age and wear commensurate for its period and use both at sea and river. Small sliver of wood lacking forward of the lockplate, on the inside, beneath the barrel. The bayonet pitted overall.  read more

Code: 24859

An 18th Century 1770's Royal Naval or Scottish Highlander's Officer's Dirk. Steel and Staghorn Hilt With 'S' Quillons Rare Original Leather & Steel Mounted Scabbard, With Scottish Bullet & Dart Pattern Embossed Leather & Scottish Staghorn Hilt

18th century, original sword and dirk leather scabbards, especially the decorated embossed Scottish type, rarely ever survive.

This form of 'Bullet and Dart' decorative embossing, on 18th century leather scabbards, was very much the mark of Scottish basket hilted swords {aka claymores}, and Highlanders dirks, during the 18th century, but, almost all have subsequently rotted away, or, have been lost due to lack of care and maintenance over the past 300 years, since their time of use.

The condition of this dirk and its scabbard is truly exceptional as certainly as good or better than anything in the Scottish United Services Museum in Edinburgh. The Scottish United Services Museum is now known as the National War Museum, located inside Edinburgh Castle Or within the Royal Collection and the Tower of London Collection. This form of decor for the scabbard strongly indicates its owner was of Scottish descent, especially as its hilt is formed around a Scottish Highland stag's antler.

18th Century: Early Georgian-era dirks typically featured a straight, single or double-edged steel blade, an S-shaped guard, and a grip made of various organic materials such as stag-horn ivory or bone. This dirk has a strong blade with a long single cutting edge and a clip back sharpened short cutting edge to the back edge butting up to a back edge narrow fuller, and with a lot of its original bright steel polish.

The traditional Scottish dirk is a probable development from the 16th century but like all medieval societies, the Highlander needed a knife for everyday use. The dirk became symbolic of a Highland man’s honour and oaths were sworn on the steel which was believed to be holy. The following highlights the importance of the dirk in Highland culture

The dirk occupies a unique niche in Highland culture and history. Many Highland Scots were too cash-poor to buy a sword, following the Disarming Acts enacted to erode Highland martial insurrections but virtually every male carried a dirk—and carried it everywhere! If in Japan the katana was the soul of the Samurai, in Scotland the dirk was the heart of the Highlander. In many warrior cultures oaths were sworn on one's sword. Among the Gael, however, binding oaths with the force of a geas (involving dire supernatural penalties for breaking such an oath) were sworn on one's dirk. The English, aware of this, used the custom against the Highlanders after Culloden:
When Highland dress was prohibited in 1747 those Gael who could not read or sign an oath were required to swear a verbal oath, "in the Irish (Scots Gaelic) tongue and upon the holy iron of their dirks", not to possess any gun, sword, or pistol, or to use tartan: "... and if I do so may I be cursed in my undertakings, family and property, may I be killed in battle as a coward, and lie without burial in a strange land, far from the graves of my forefathers and kindred; may all this come across me if I break my oath."

During the period of proscription, only service in a British regiment permitted Highlanders to bear their traditional arms and dress. The 78th Fraser Highlanders, raised in 1757, wore full highland dress uniform; their equipment was described by Major-General James Stewart as including a "musket and broadsword, to which many soldiers added the dirk at their own expense."

When worn, the dirk normally hangs by a leather strap known as a "frog" from a dirk belt, attached by the 'frog' button on the scabbard throat mount, which is a wide leather belt having a large, usually ornate buckle, that is worn around the waist with a kilt.

The Royal Naval dirk around 1770 was a compact, practical sidearm primarily carried by midshipmen and young officers during the Age of Sail for close-quarters combat and boarding actions.

Dirks, originally intended for midshipmen in the Royal Navy, in the 18th century, are described in the book 'Bellerophon' by Edward Fraser p.239.

Fraser says, 'Many Captains wore their old midshipman's dirks in battle as being useful in boarding, for parrying cuts or thrusts'.

Overall almost 16 inches long, blade 10.25 inches long  read more

Code: 26313

A Superb “American” Cased Pair of 1850 Derringers, Gambler’s Waistcoat or Boot Pistols By Wilson, of Superb Quality. A Very Neat Little Pair Of Large Calibre Small Pistols The Type of Earliest ‘Derringer’ Pistols Ideal For Concealment. Damascus Barrels.

Used by the lady and gentlemen gamblers of the frontier towns, especially all the famous lady gamblers were known to have owned and used the very same form of such personal protectors.

One such cased set including her pistol belonged to the famous 'Poker' Alice Duffield {nee Ivers}.
The story of 'Poker' Alice's pistol and gambling set;

The pistol Jesse James assassin Bob Ford gave to Poker Alice, inscribed “To Alice Duffield / From Bob Ford,” with her original traveling gambling set, won from her in a faro game in her final days

Born Alice Ivers, an English-born American gambler, brothel owner, and rancher (1851-1930) who became known for playing poker and faro in the Wild West. Historical Wild West artifacts from the personal collection of Alice Ivers, more famously known as Poker Alice, a legendary cigar-smoking, gun-toting gambler and brothel owner in the American West, which includes her Hopkins & Allen pistol, a present from her then-employer, Jesse James assassin Robert Ford, and her original traveling gambling set, a gift from her second husband, Warren G. Tubbs, both of which were won from Alice in a game of faro by John Logan, a postal inspector from Sturgis, South Dakota, who frequented Alice’s gambling parlour as a youth.
Our cased Derringers;

Signed by gunmaker Wilson, London, {John Wilson of 16 Kings Road, St Pancras, London} Micro checkering bag shaped carved walnut grips, sliding safety box lock actions of grained watered steel, octagonal, turn off, Damascus breech loading barrels, {with some old blueing remaining} approx .45 calibre. Silver cartouches inlaid at the grips, fold-down concealed triggers that appear when the action is cocked, and the steel frame of watered steel, is intricately and finely hand engraved. Made by a fine English maker, Wilson of London, especially for export for the emerging American Wild West frontier gambling market.
Traditional American style casing with pistol shaped snug-fit recesses in a fine red velvet within its walnut case. The lid has a polished horn shield shape cartouche, superbly hand carved with a ‘pair of aces’ playing cards.

Photographed with its collection of gambler's Bowie knives {folding, sheathed and rate scissor type } . Now all just sold as a set to a private knife collector.

The heyday of gambling in the west lasted from 1850-1910. Gambling was the number one form of entertainment in the west, and nearly everyone living there engaged in it at one time or another. Cowboys, miners, lumberjacks, businessmen, and lawmen all played games of chance for pleasure and profit. Whenever a new settlement or camp started, one of the first buildings or tents erected would be a gambling hall. As the settlement grew, these halls would become larger and more elaborate in proportion. Gaming halls were typically the largest and most ornately decorated buildings in any town and often housed a bar, stage for entertainment, and hotel rooms for guests. These establishments were a driving force behind the local economy, and many towns measured their prosperity by the number of gambling halls and professional gamblers they had. Towns that were friendly to gaming were typically known to sports as “wide-awake” or “wide-open” for their acceptance of gambling.

Men were not the only ones who played at games of chance, women placed their bets, and the sight of petticoats at the table was regular. Many women played, dealt, or ran their own houses; this choice of profession offered them the opportunity to attain monetary independence and social stature. One of the most famous was Eleanore Dumont, known more crudely in her later years as “Madame Mustache.” Miss Dumont ran several different houses in Nevada, Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota. Another, Alice Ives, started gambling after the death of her husband. Known more popularly as Poker Alice, she was a readily recognized figure in the west for her nearly 40-year-long career. Kitty LeRoy made use of her sex appeal and flamboyant personality as well as excellent gambling ability to become a force of nature in Deadwood. She had multiple husbands and did not hesitate to get rid of men once she was tired of them. Perhaps they were lucky because Kitty also had a reputation for shooting men.

Cattle towns in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, became gambling centers. Thanks to the railroad and cattle industries, a great number of people worked in and around these towns and had plenty of money to wager. Abilene, Dodge City, Wichita, Omaha, and Kansas City all had an atmosphere that was convivial to gaming. Not surprisingly, such an atmosphere also invited trouble, and such towns also developed reputations as lawless and dangerous places.
Most western citizens considered gambling a respectable profession, and those who chose to make a living doing it were respected members of society. “Gambling was not only the principal and best-paying industry of the town at the time, but it was also reckoned among its most respectable,” wrote Bat Masterson in 1907.

With the lack of any form of police or marshal protection within the Wild West frontier, personal protection was not only a desire, but absolutely essential. This form of superb concealed cased pistols for protection, against the murderous folk out to steal and plunder their hard earned gold.
Gambling, and indeed living, in the American frontier towns in the nineteenth century was just as dangerous then as wearing a valuable gold watch is in London today. Where, expecting assistance from a non-existing police protection force, was as vain an expectation then, as it is today.

As usual most of the American historical gamblers accessories, both pistols and knives, were mostly made in England and exported to America for the burgeoning Wild West market. All of this collection, apart from the Colt no3 Derringer were British made and returned to England many decades ago. The pair of small waistcoat pocket size Derringers are cased in the American style.

The significance of the ‘Pair of Aces’ to 19th century gamblers, is the start of an excellent gamblers hand, but a version of it is still as infamous today.

The pair of black aces, but combined with a pair of black eights, was known as the Wild Bill Hickok’s ‘Dead Man’s Hand’, and dates back to the Old West saloons two decades or so after this pair were made.

Born in Illinois in 1837, Hickok was a lawman, gambler, gunslinger, folklore hero, and actor. He spent much of his life shooting it out with criminals and arresting outlaws. Buthe also spent a large amount of his time subsidising his income with poker winnings.

Later in life, Hickok moved to Deadwood, located in the Black Hills of the Dakota territory. The region wasn’t a state yet, and the lawman was suffering from glaucoma and other ailments. He planned on settling in the mining town to play poker and earn his living.

On Aug. 2, 1876, Hickok was in a Five Card Stud game at Nuttal and Mann’s Saloon. Card rooms at that were what one might expect from the Old West. There was probably plenty of cigar smoke in the air and plenty of whiskey being drunk. As the cards made their way around the table and chips tossed into the pot, a gambler named Jack McCall slipped into the saloon. McCall made his way to the bar and moved behind Bill where he couldn’t be seen. McCall raised his pistol, steadied his aim out of sight of the game.

He fired right in the back of Bill’s head.

The lawman was killed instantly at only age 39. He was allegedly holding two black Aces and two black 8s – an excellent poker hand in this antiquated form of the game. While Hickok usually sat with his back to the wall to keep an eye on others in the room. But only a seat with his back to the room had been available.

Whether Hickok held that hand has been debated for years, but the tale remains as does the hand’s name.

One pistol has a superb tight and crisply operating action, one has a broken mainspring, but the two separated spring parts, of the original spring, are still within the grip, potentially ideal for repair, for the new owner to decide, or left , as is , as part of their service history. The previous collector owner clearly decided, as there would never be a reason for their future use as pistols, then they could be simply left as they are.  read more

Code: 26312

A Very Special Collection of Original Homer's Odyssean Period Weapons of Antiquity From the Siege Of Troy Era and Odysseus's Odyssey A 3200 Year Old Spear and Three Swords & A Gladius Hispaniensis From The Time Of Alexander and Early Rome

A special collection to celebrate the latest incredible film, Christopher Nolan's, The Odyssey. Starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, Samantha Morton and Zendaya. It is always incredibly important that early history, of the earliest eras of Greek history, as related in Homer's great poetry, be once more brought to the world's consciousness, and what better way than a billion dollar film.

The poems described the era when the earliest Greek civilization's were destroyed, and to not reappear for hundreds of years, until the period of the Greek City states, ancient Greek writing, and the alphabet that appeared in the 800's B.C., All this following the Greek 'Dark Ages', that was sparked by the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, and thus the consequences, according to Homer, of the fall of Troy.

It may be a somewhat fair approximation of The Odyssey, but all things considered, it was a superb film

The primary weapon of the Homeric period (depicted in the Iliad and the Odyssey) was the heavy throwing and thrusting spear, complemented by swords, daggers, and occasional ranged or specialized impact weapons.
Homeric combat blends late Bronze Age (Mycenaean) memories with the early Iron Age of Homer's own era, featuring a mix of bronze and iron equipment.

The spear or lance was the quintessential hero's weapon. Warriors typically carried two large spears, which were used both for long-range throwing and close-quarters thrusting.

The sword (xiphos / phasganon) was a secondary sidearm used when a spear broke or during close-quarters melee was the sword. These were relatively short, double-edged blades cast from bronze .The dagger (echeos / phasganon): was kept tucked next to the sword scabbard as a last-resort backup weapon for desperate hand-to-hand struggles.

The Odyssey is an epic poem in 24 books traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer. The poem is the story of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who wanders for 10 years (although the action of the poem covers only the final six weeks) trying to get home after the Trojan War. On his return, he is recognized only by his faithful dog and a nurse. With the help of his son, Telemachus, Odysseus destroys the insistent suitors of his faithful wife, Penelope, and several of her maids who had fraternized with the suitors and reestablishes himself in his kingdom.

Epics such as the Iliad and the Odyssey emerged from an oral tradition in which poets, or bards, performed epic narratives before audiences, with fixed written texts appearing much later. The written texts employed various literary devices such as formulaic epithets and repetition which helped performers memorize the poem and adapt during their recitation. For centuries, Homeric epics formed part of the educational foundation of the Greek world throughout the classical age and helped shape a broader Panhellenic cultural identity.

The Odyssey does not follow a linear chronology. The reader begins in the middle of the tale, learning about previous events only through Odysseus’s retelling. The first four books set the scene in Ithaca. Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, and their young son, Telemachus, are powerless before her arrogant suitors as they despair of Odysseus’s return from the siege of Troy. Telemachus is searching for news of his father, who has not been heard from since he left for war nearly 20 years earlier. He journeys secretly to the Peloponnese and seeks out two men who fought with Odysseus in the war at Troy, Nestor and Menelaus, and discovers that his father is indeed still alive.  read more

Code: 26309

A Superb Excavated ‘Grand Tour’ Fine Bronze Age Spear Head, Trojan War Period 3200+ Years Old. From the Legendary Age of Odysseus, Hector, Agamemnon, Paris, Helen of Troy and Achilles

Dominant central rib, graduating long triangular blade and engraved socket. A lance or spear head traded with the Eastern Mediterranean Scythians, Persians and Greeks during the 2nd to Ist millennium B.C. up to 3200 years ago. Copper alloy circa 1200 B.C. A beautiful Bronze Age battle spear, probably the most used and popular weapon of all the ancient wars of antiquity. Items such as this were oft acquired as antique collectibles from antiquity, in the 18th and early 19th century, by British noblemen and women touring famous battle sites and their regions in Europe, especially Northern France, Italy and the Middle East on their Grand Tour.
Originally placed on display in the family 'cabinet of curiosities', within their country house upon their return home. A popular pastime in the 18th and 19th century, comprised of English ladies and gentlemen traveling for many months, or even years, througout classical Europe, and Middle East, acquiring antiquities and antiques for their private collections.
One such family’s descendants have been allowing us to purchase such wonderful pieces from their family collection for around the past 30 years.

We are very privileged to be the UK’s premier original military antiques gallery and website, and to be able to consistently, continually, and regularly, offer the finest original collectors items in our shop for over 100 years

This is a most handsome ancient bronze weapon from the era of the so called Trojan Wars. The ancient Greeks believed the Trojan War was a historical event that had taken place in the 13th or 12th century BC, and believed that Troy was located in modern day Turkey near the Dardanelles. In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey . "The Iliad" relates a part of the last year of the siege of Troy, while the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the Achaean leaders. Other parts of the war were told in a cycle of epic poems, which has only survived in fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets such as Virgil and Ovid.

The war originated from a quarrel between the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite, after Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, gave them a golden apple, sometimes known as the Apple of Discord, marked "for the fairest". Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris, who judged that Aphrodite, as the "fairest", should receive the apple. In exchange, Aphrodite made Helen, the most beautiful of all women and wife of Menelaus, fall in love with Paris, who took her to Troy. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and the brother of Helen's husband Menelaus, led an expedition of Achaean troops to Troy and besieged the city for ten years due to Paris' insult. After the deaths of many heroes, including the Achaeans Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell to the ruse of the Trojan Horse. The Achaeans slaughtered the Trojans (except for some of the women and children whom they kept or sold as slaves) and desecrated the temples, thus earning the gods' wrath. Few of the Achaeans returned safely to their homes and many founded colonies in distant shores. The Romans later traced their origin to Aeneas, one of the Trojans, who was said to have led the surviving Trojans to modern day Italy. Made in copper bronze in the Western Asiatic region. Western Asiatic bronzes refer to items dating from roughly 1500-500 BC that have been excavated since the late 1920?s in the Harsin, Khorramabad and Alishtar valleys of the Zagros Mountains especially at the site of Tepe Sialk. Scholars believe they were created by either the Cimmerians or by such related Indo-European peoples as the early Medes and Persians. Weapons from this region were highly sought after by warriors of many cultures because of their quality, balance and durability. Graduating blade with socket. Rich deep age patination with superb natural encrustations This piece is 14 1/2 inches long overall. As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity.  read more

Code: 23019

A Simply Wonderful Original Trojan War Period Full Length Bronze Sword Blade, 21 Inches Long. Circa 1200 B.C.Archean Greeks, the Mycenean Greeks, The Trojans & The Hitites. From The Warring Times Of Menalaus King of Sparta & King Agamemnon

2nd millennium BC. A simply fabulous historical ancient bronze sword with stunning natural aged patination of richest dark emerald green. Long, tapering, raised median ridged blade with graduating parallel, multiple, low ridges, alongside the central rib, only a very short, cylindrical, partial tang remains. Originally it would have been fitted with a likely organic hilt of possibly ivory or carved horn or hardwood. A sword that would have been eagerly traded with the Archean Greeks, the Mycenean Greeks, the Trojan peoples and The Hitites.

In the gallery we show museum exhibited Attic pottery of the time with ancient Minoans fighting the Minotaur, and illustrations where the ancient Trojan and Mycenaean warriors, all are using the exact form of sharply graduating sword, all having that most identifiable central median rib, as this beautiful sword.

The trade of Bronze Age weaponry followed trade routes that started in the the Assyrian Empire, East of Babylon, right through to the Mediterranean region, and all of empires and kingdoms in between. Also, all manner of Bronze Age utilitarian wares, personal adornments, and tools came from this famed bronze smithing region and their trading merchants.

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad (Books II – XXIII) describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid.

The ancient Greeks believed that Troy was located near the Dardanelles and that the Trojan War was a historical event of the 13th or 12th century BC, but by the mid-19th century AD, both the war and the city were widely seen as non-historical. In 1868, however, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann met Frank Calvert, who convinced Schliemann that Troy was a real city at what is now Hisarlik in Turkey. On the basis of excavations conducted by Schliemann and others, this claim is now accepted by most scholars.

Whether there is any historical reality behind the Trojan War remains an open question. Many scholars believe that there is a historical core to the tale, though this may simply mean that the Homeric stories are a fusion of various tales of sieges and expeditions by Mycenaean Greeks during the Bronze Age. Those who believe that the stories of the Trojan War are derived from a specific historical conflict usually date it to the 12th or 11th century BC, often preferring the dates given by Eratosthenes, 1194–1184 BC, which roughly correspond to archaeological evidence of a catastrophic burning of Troy VII, and the Late Bronze Age collapse. Legend has it that the war originated from a quarrel between the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, after Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, gave them a golden apple, sometimes known as the Apple of Discord, marked "for the fairest". Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris of Troy, who judged that Aphrodite, as the "fairest", should receive the apple. In exchange, Aphrodite made Helen, the most beautiful of all women and wife of Menelaus of Sparta, fall in love with Paris, who quit Sparta with her and returned to Troy. Menelaus's brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, led an expedition of Achaean troops to Troy and besieged the city for ten years because of Paris' insult. After the deaths of many heroes, including the Achaeans Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell to the ruse of the Trojan Horse. The Achaeans slaughtered the Trojans (except for some of the women and children whom they kept or sold as slaves) and desecrated the temples, thus earning the gods' wrath. Few of the Achaeans returned safely to their homes and many founded colonies in distant shores. The Romans later traced their origin to Aeneas, Aphrodite's son and one of the Trojans, who was said to have led the surviving Trojans to modern-day Italy.

Most of our antiquities and artefacts are from 200 year past souvenir accumulations from British ‘Grand Tours’. Beautiful Items and antiquities were oft acquired in the 18th and early 19th century by British noblemen and women touring battle sites in Northern France and Italy, in fact most of Europe and the Middle East, on their so-called ‘Grand Tour’. They were often placed on display upon their return home, within the family’s ‘cabinet of curiosities’, within their country house. Some significant British stately homes had entire galleries displaying the treasures and artefacts gathered and purchased on such tours, and some tours lasted many years, and the accumulated souvenirs numbered in their hundreds or even thousands

As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity.  read more

Code: 26056

A Superb Royal Naval, Brass Cannon Barrel Blunderbuss With Finest 'Juglans Regia' Walnut Stock Spring Bayonet, Elaborately Engraved All Brass Furniture, by Daykin of Nottingham

Manufactured circa 1780, this is a jolly rare and stunningly beautiful example of a brass, cannon barrelled blunderbuss, from the mid Georgian period, with a sprung loaded, quick-release snap-bayonet. Overall in superb condition for age.

A hugely popular gun used aboard naval ships by their captains in the era of King George IIIrd during the American Revolution and including the Napoleonic Wars, from the days of Admiral Nelson's Victory at Trafalgar. The rarest of the types used had a spring loaded bayonet that was incredibly effective for use after the blunderbuss had discharged its load against any 'boarders', and to effect the 'coup de gras' {the stroke of grace} to those that are still determinedly putting up a fight against the British ship's captain.

The three-stage round barrel has a flared muzzle and turned moldings. The sprung bayonet is fitted beneath, and the ramrod is housed to left side. The right side of the breech is struck with Tower private proof marks and the maker’s mark. The engraved action is signed "Daykin" and the barrel engraved " Daykin Nottingham" the blunderbuss has finest and elaborately engraved brass fittings, including the trigger guard. with a beautiful acorn finial.
The figured walnut buttstock it mounted with an engraved brass buttplate. The ramrod is in traditional naval service steel

The Blunderbuss (born of the Dutch word "Donderbus", appropriately meaning "Thunder Pipe" or "Thunder Gun") came to prominence in the early part of the 18th Century (1701-1800) and was more akin to the modern day shotgun than a "long gun" musket or heavy pistol of the time. As such, she excelled in close-in fighting, be it within the confines of naval warfare or walled nature of the urban environment, such as for protection of a Royal Mail coach, where her spread of shot could inflict maximum damage to targets at close ranges. Its manageable size, coupled with its spread shot, ensured some level of accuracy for even the novice user and its appearance was rather intimidating to those unfortunate enough to be staring down the business end, and the flashing bayonet nicely finished off those that survived the first salvo of shot! As with modern firearms, the Blunderbuss also made for an excellent security-minded weapon and soon found popularity amongst all matter of operators - military, civilian and, of course, criminal parties - by the middle of the 1700s. Even George Washington championed the Blunderbuss for Continental Army "Dragoon" units of the burgeoning American military as opposed to the carbine this being nothing more than a full-featured long gun of lesser overall length, proving suitable for horse-mounted handling. In fact, the short-form version of the Blunderbuss came to be known as the "Dragon", giving rise to the term "Dragoon" for such gun-wielding cavalrymen. Dragoons went on to form specialized units of mounted infantrymen within their respective armies during the end of the 17th Century and into the middle of the 18th Century - in a way, becoming an evolutionary step of the fabled mounted knight of the Middle Ages. Their use of Dragons soon gave way to the widely-accepted carbine musket. The Blunderbuss was also known as the "Blunderbess"

As with all our antique guns no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables

The stock is superb with some edge bruising etc. around the lock.  read more

Code: 26303