Members may find my latest posting on Falling Angels, Lost Highways blogspot of interest.
This one is unique, and is one of the best swords it has been my privilege to handle.
I apologise for the poor quality of certain of the photo's maybe one day I'll get the chance of another go.
Enjoy,
Brian Moffatt.

I googled for a link so others won't have to: http://fallingangelslosthighways.blogspot.com/

Many thanks to you both for the images and the link. I love the border reiver period, the arms and the armor. I had nor seen these examples before and it was much appreciated.

It's a very interesting sword. I've never seen this type before too. Thanks for sharing. :D

There is a nice little display on the Reivers at Tullie House museum in Carlisle and a few of the old Museum of Border Arms & Armour pieces are there: A notable few that are shown in the Osprey title 'The Border Reivers' such as the Morion on p.11 and the two steel bonnets on p16-17, all well displayed. There's also a superb 'dag' and this rapier which has an interesting fullered blade dated to the 15th century which I suspect was a Type XVIa or XVIIIa long sword blade that was ground right back to be re-born as a rapier with a complex hilt at a later date. Tom fool, I forgot my camera that day and regrettably didn't take notes but the running wolf mark was of the correct form for the earlier period, an example of a good old blade being recycled (or at worst a Victorian improver). Thankfully my ticket is valid for 12 months and I will be passing again so will make a better job of it next time, this being a photo of a postcard of the hilt that I picked up in the museum shop.

And I agree with GG & Nathan, Border history is fascinating. Currently half way through George MacDonald Fraser's 'The Steel Bonnets' which, though old and perhaps superceded by more recent works, makes for an excellent read: Balances the romantic image with the harsh brutality of the Border horsemen.

Edit/P.S. I see now "Brian's museum"... Brian, I feel humble and regret not making it down when the museum was open. Next spare half an hour I'm going to have a good look through the blog, first few seconds skim and it looks like it'll be a 'favourite'!

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Good evening Folks,
Nice to see all of the interest!
Just in pssing......whatever Tullie House in Carlisle have on display with regard to the Reivers..... It did not come from the group of us associated with the Museum of Border Arms and Armour. Curious really..... I had one of their chaps in just the other day, making another tentative enquiry about the collections that used to be here. I happens quite regularly in fact.
Keep an eye on the blog. I'll try and find photo's of some other unusual pieces. My other interest of course, is the folklore and mythology associated with the old Borders. Once one gets involved in that subject one comes to realise that it is totally inseparable from the reivers themselves, and that aspect is virtually unwritten about. The old "May Festivities" had a huge influence on Border culture, and that still goes on today. Hence Hawick's "Common Riding," which is something very different from what the good people of that town believe it to be.
I'm now 92,000 words into volume two of my "March Quartet," all four of which will be on the Reivers, the first, "Falling Angels, Lost Highways, is still available in hardback, signed and numbered, or on Kindle.
I must apologise for the lateness of volume 2. "The Watchers of Enoch," which should have been out for Christmas, but I lost my father recently (aged 93) and my mother (aged 93) is in poor health also, so.... the writing kind of ran into a stone wall about 2 months ago. I'll get back to it after Christmas.
If you need to know about the Borders...... read "Falling Angels," Eddie and Shorty say it much more eloquently than I ever could. But that book gets me into trouble. It treads on too many powerful toes. But it is in the best reiver tradition, and whatever anyone tells you, I'm not the model for Eddie Graham!
All the Best,
And seasons Greetings,
From all at "The Celtic Goldsmiths"
Brian Moffatt.

Brian, this is interesting. The helmets, if I remember correctly, were labelled as belonging to Glasgow Museums and looked like the helmets found in the Osprey title. The plot thickens... Either way, not a bad place to stop for a coffee when passing, only wish they had more items of the period on display. Best wishes of the season and hope you get back on the horse soon.

Hello Jonathan,
With regard to the helmet on page 11. of Osprey. A dealer called Fenton sold a number of strongly similar examples back in the 1920's, and some of those found their way into the Royal Armouries, and Glasgow. They are like "hen's teeth" but at least that hen had some teeth!
The "spanish morions" are a pretty standard type, and exist in many collections. Glasgow museums were never associated with the Museum of Border Arms and Armour, although I did have a good working relationship with them.
A lot of the problems with "reiving museums" are indirectly my fault! Around thirty years ago, I submitted a report to councils on both sides of the Border stressing the need for a Musuem covering the arms and armour of the reiver, It was well received, and the result was ........ Tullie House......... the Middle March Museum....... and Drumlanrig's Tower in Hawick!
All well and good? Not so.....because none of them did their homework properly. They built their museums, and never considered just how scarce the arms and armour of the period actually was! So in effect they had very little to display
By then of course, our little private group had the Museum of Border Arms and Armour up and running. And that was the start of our problems. Everyone wanted our collections. Which were all privately owned.
And so the official museums crashed. Middle March has very little. Drumlanrig's Tower is now the "Textile Tower," and Tullie House has a very sparse display indeed.
Around 1998, we were obliged to close, when "someone" on the official side talked the Secretary of State for Scotland into withdrawing my firearms cover, which was held on a private certificate. (Section 5. Prohibited weapons).
I never found out who it was...... The result was that if I picked up a loaded shot from the 16th century, then, theoretically I was handling a prohibited weapon, and was liable to end up in jail! And frankly that was the final straw.
And ever since then Iv'e had regular approaches from the both councils, and Visit Scotland about the possibility of putting together the old collections again in a public building.
Skullduggery.......
And that's state of the art on the Reivers!
It's also why I now write books, and work on the blog. Because, this stuff ought to be seen and written about. and it's not going to happen on an official level, at least not properly because some of it is still "politically hot."
And..... if Mr Salmond and Co. win their vote next year...... I fear that Lowland Scots culture and folklore will be very far down on their agenda. Iv'e been in correspondence with our SNP "Tourism Minister" over the last several months,trying to get decent signposing for the more important sites in the Borders. ( both sides) and have had very terse replies indeed.
George Fraser's "Steel Bonnets" is still far and away the best book on the Borders. He was a great chap, and raised the profile of the Reivers in a way no-one had done before, or frankly since. This area ought to have given him a knighthood for what he did for this area. But no-one even said "thanks" properly.
But even he failed to mention Francis Stewart 5th Earl of Bothwell other than in passing, And our Francis changed the future of more than just the Borders. He changed the history of Britain, and what he did is still with us. (See my "The Devil and King James")
All the Best,
Brian Moffatt

Thanks for the update Mr. Moffatt.