[J Anstey]

Hello Sirs

By way of introduction I am a 39 year young Australian. My martial history is Japanese sword arts of which I teach and train in sword and staff. My sword collection consists of NIhonto, training Japanese swords, samurai era weapons and a couple of SE Asian swords.

Now. I would like to get some advice on a European style sword for my collection. Here are my thoughts. My surname Anstey is of Cornish origin and by Ancestry also from Ireland.

I am looking at a buget of around US$2500 - $3000 on a sword that reflects part of my ancestry.

Please excuse my newbieness in this field, but I suppose that quality is universal. I have been looking at the following people, Patrick Barta, Jody Samson, Peter Johnsson and others that I have found on this site. I am unsure who or what I can expect from my budget.

I would like a sharp one but seriously doubt that I would do any test cutting, I like the style of a Knights sword, rather than a rapier style, prolly single hand or hand and a half. Having said that I am open to Celtic suggestions of varous styles.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this humble request. I imagine that this is another one of the "how long is a piece of string" requests?

Cheers

Jason Anstey

[B. Stark]

To my knowledge I have never heard of aparticular sword type in connection with Cornwall, let alone a design style. While I must admit, my knowledge of Cornish history is rather limited as well. Keeping that in mind, my first question to you is what era do you find yourself most drawn to? Celtic Iron Age (Pre-Roman 1st century BC or earlier), Roman Britain, Post Roman Britian, Viking era,... as you can see there's alot more to it than just a particular providence culturaly. Same goes for Ireland, lots to choose from but that is narrowed down by region and era.

I would say with your background in JSA, the h-n-h configuration might mate itself to you quicker, then again there's alot of singlehand cutting as well in JSA(dependent on style I suppose). The easy answer...Irish swords. Readily identifiable from the rest of Europe for a couple of time periods(from the 1st cenruty AD up to the early Viking age, later for Irish ringhilts. As far as I know the rapier just never really caught on in Ireland. Most evidence points to a somewhat insular and archaic use of the cut and thrust variety. You have alot to consider my friend, do some searches here on the forum about Irish swords in particular....

[J Anstey]

Thanks Patrick,

I will definately do some more research.

I have seen the artists sketch of the Irish ring hilt on the Albion site and yes this does appeal. I would love to see some further pictorial references that might show what sort of detail and quality I could expect for my budget.

At this point I suppose there are 3 broad types that I am liking, 1. Irish Ring hilts. 2. Crusade, Knights hand and a half. 3. Early Celtic.

I don't anticipate that I will get involved in the martial art side (but ya never know) I am looking at broadening my interest and want a piece that I will be passed down to my family.

Any links or further advice would be fantastic.

Cheers

Jason

[Steve Grisetti]

[J Anstey]

Thanks for the pic and link Steve!

Cheers

Jason

[Craig Peters]

Jason,

Something to consider is that hand and a half swords existed after the Crusading eras. During the Crusades, you're looking at mostly single handed swords (like Albion's Reeve, Bayeux, Senlac, Norman, Templar, Hospitaller, etc.) with some great swords requiring two hands that would have been used on the late Crusades (like the Baron, for instance). Depending upon how you define a hand and a half sword, they really only come into existence in the 15th century.

[B. Stark]

Albion has two irish ringhilt inspired swords: The Galloglass and the Kern. Any of the makers you proposed would do you well if not exceptionally. Personally I would break it down thus wise: Peter Johnsson for first choice, Vince Evans(he's done an Irish sword before I beleive), then Patrik Barta. There are plenty of other custom smiths out there as well. Castle Keep does some exemplary work from what I have seen.

The same applies for the other eras in question, though I must inform you (Celtic)Iron Age "Irish swords" are small. Like 20" - 24" overall. More like glorified daggers really. Crusader era, it seems the Irish don't show a specifically "Irish" sword type but would used whatever was prevelant for that era but perhaps a little old fashioned when compared to the continent. There probably would not be many H-n-H style weapons until the late 15th century in Ireland, so if you really would like to be representative culturally this would be good to keep in mind. The price range you have available should cover the cost of a not too overly complex single-hander from any of those smiths(Barta probably being the cheapest option from what I have seen). So enjoy the hunt do extensive research on both the sword type, style and cultural aspects as well as the prospective smith you would like to commission with so when you do finally get that sword you will be pleasantly surprised as well as content with your sword.

PS no harm no foul but Patrick Henry was a Patriot of the Revolutionary War, my name is Brett.

[David McElrea]

Hi Jason,

If you are looking for Irish weapons, there are a few options available to you.

At this moment (much to the chagrin of many of us) no one reproducing Iron Age Irish swords. Irish Swords of the La Tene are gladius length at most (so far as the archaeological record shows), so most of the Celtic swords you see being reproduced are far too long to be at home in Ireland-- although they may do nicely for a Cornovii warrior (i.e. from Cornwall), I suppose.

Later Irish swords are something else completely. During the Viking Age the Irish seem to have adopted the use of the "Viking sword", although there seems to be some overlap between the earlier short bladed forms and the longer Viking style at the beginning of the period (as seen in the Lagore Crannog finds, IIRC) so there is another option.

In the Middle Ages, prior to the development of the Irish ring hilted swords, there is a fair amount of leeway. One could go for a fairly standard medieval sword or one could go for something like Albion's Laird (this type has been found in Ireland)-- throughout the Medieval period the weapons of Ireland and Scotland are more or less the same. Having said that, I'm not sure how well the Albion Caithness would fit in. I would love to know if there have been any finds of this type in Ireland (or any representations on grave slabs or the like). Anyone?

Later on, of course, you have the ring-hilts, and Claymores (meaning the two-hander). These are all "Irish", although only the ring-hilts are uniquely Irish. Albion and Arms & Armour do great repros of both, although Albion's single-handed ring-hilt has yet to materialize.

Also-- and this is outside of the areas you have listed as being of interest-- you could look at a Ewart Park style bronze sword. While these were not exclusively Irish, they were produced on mass in, and exported from, Ireland. See Neil Burridge's site if this interests you: http://www.bronze-age-craft.com/swords_for_sale.htm

Given the amount of money you are willing to spend, you may like to have a custom sword made, of course. I don't know what the going rates are, though...

I hope this helps...

David

[David McElrea]

Just thinking, in re: the Bronze Age, a wooden waster carved in the shape of a Hallstatt C Mindelheim sword (including grooving along the blade) has also been found in Ireland. One more option if you wanted to go back that far.

Below is an image of this type from Neil Burridge's page.

[Chad Arnow]

[Ciaran Daly]

Jake Powning, listed in the Links of this site, does custom work focused on iron age Norse and Celtic culture. His pieces would seem to me to be eminently suitable for heirlooms.

[David McElrea]

Jake's work is absolutely beautiful... but it is worth keeping in mind that, for the most part, he offers modern interpretations of historical styles rather than historical reproductions. Also, he doesn't seem to be doing commission work anymore. See here:

http://www.powning.com/jake/commish/swords9.shtml

In particular this sentence: "This was my last commision, now I will be consentrating exclusively on spec work to sell on my website, so I have a bunch of traditional viking and germanic stuff coming up, with lots of composit pattern welding and carving and casting."

Please note, I am not disparaging Jake's work in any way-- he is one of the most gifted men in his field and I would love to own one of his pieces myself. If you want a purely historical heirloom, though, you will need to choose carefully.

[Jean-Carle Hudon]

Master Ainsley,
cornishmen are of the same linguistic grouping as welsh and their breton descendants and there is ample evidence of ongoing commerce between these three regions from the migration period through to the end of welsh independance with the edwardian conquests, so I would say that any weapon suiting welsh or breton should also suit cornishmen. The irish connection does exist when the norman marcher lords go into Ireland for purposes of conquest, bringing their mixed heritage with them, and many welsh retainers, so I suppose one could extrapolate an irish connection if so inclined, for example if you really did want to get the ring hilt. Breton retainers accompanied William the Conqueror, so there is an ample choice of weapons from that period to choose from as there is no basis to believe that the breton knights were equipped differently from their norman neighbours. Throughout the following years there will be constant commerce and skirmiching between the welsh and their anlo-norman neighbours in the March, again there is no reason to believe that they would use radically different weapons... welsh lords went out on crusades like their anglo-norman counterparts, Edward longshanks' brother was titled duke of Cornwall, so again any weapon from the XIII th century might be up your alley.... if looking at the arthurian connection, Tintagel is the gateway to Cornwall, then migration period pieces come to mind, with the Roman cavalry spatha thrown in for good measure.
Have fun with your research, Cornwall is underinvestigated as there is much more documentation on the Gaels (irish and scottish) then on the Britons ( welsh, cornish and breton).

[B. Stark]

[J Anstey]

Thanks Gentlemen!

Great information, this gives me a good base to start some relavent research.

Cheers

Jason

PS. errm, sorry Brett - about the Patrick Henry quote, although I am sure you had a chuckle of it/

[Craig Peters]

[Chad Arnow]