Wallace Sword
The Wallace Sword is an antique claymore purported to have belonged to William Wallace (1270 – 1305), a knight and Scottish patriot who led a resistance to the English occupation of Scotland during the Wars of Scottish Independence. It is said to have been used by William Wallace at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 and the Battle of Falkirk (1298), however the weapon is of much later provenance.
The blade of the sword measures 4 feet 4 inches in length (132cm) and including the handle 5 feet 6 inches (168cm)[1]. The breadth of the blade varies from 2.25 inches at the guard to 0.75 inches before the point. The sword weighs 6 lb (2.7 kg).[citation needed]
History
It has been alleged that after William Wallace's execution in 1305, Sir John de Menteith, governor of Dumbarton Castle received the sword in August of that year, thought there are no records to that affect. Two hundred years later, in 1505, accounts survive which state that at the command of King James IV of Scotland, the sum of 26 shillings was paid to an armourer for the "binding of Wallas' sword with cords of silk" and providing it with "ane new hilt and plomet" and also with a "new scabbard and a new belt". This repair would have been necessary because Wallace's original scabbard, hilt and belt were said to have been made from the dried skin of Hugh Cressingham, one of the English commanders at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, thoiugh this is almost certainly a rather later invention.
No other written records of the sword are found for a further three centuries until 1875 when a letter from the War Office informs that the sword, in 1825 was sent to the Tower of London to be repaired where it was submitted to a Dr Samuel Meyrick by the Duke of Wellington for examination.
Dr Meyrick was an authority on ancient swords but he estimated the age of the sword by examining the mountings only, which as we know were replaced early in the 16th century. Thus he concluded that the sword could not date from earlier than the 15th century. However he did not take account of the blade which must have been of some importance for James IV to have it bound in silk and give it a new scabbard, hilt and belt and it was also described then as the "Wallas sword".
Today the purported Wallace sword can be viewed at the Wallace Monument near Stirling in Scotland. The sword was recovered from Dunbarton by Charles Rogers, author of The Book of Wallace. Rogers, on 15 October 1888 renewed a correspondence with the Secretary of State for War, with the result that the Major-General commanding forces in North Britain was authorised to deliver the weapon to his care for preservation in the Wallace Monument.
Historical accuracy
There is legitimate reason to question the claim that this sword belonged to William Wallace, indeed it is pretty certain that it did not. The sword is more consistent in proportion and appearance with a zweihander. A zweihander is primarily a 16th century weapon; though the Wallace Sword does not share the blade geometry of typical zweihanders. The sword does not fit the Oakeshott typology of medieval longswords. The blade does not possess a fuller — a near universal feature of blades with this type of cross-section (lenticular)[2] except in processional swords of the Renaissance. The blade length is a full foot longer than longswords typical for the period.
References
- ^ "ALBA - The Sword of Sir William Wallace". Highlander Web Magazine. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
- ^ http://swordforum.com/fall99/sword-of-william-wallace.html Sword Forum essay
- The Book of Wallace by Rev Charles Rogers, D.D, L.L.D
- Scotlands Brave by Darren Loudoun.