JG Elmslie wrote: |
The Highalnders were, are, and pretty much have always been the ethnic and cultural minority in scots history. By the time of wallace, the Lords of the Isles were in decline in terms of political influence, and gaelic cultural dominance waned in equal measure. |
Perhaps you need to clarify what you meant by this point. 'Lords of the Isles' is a title generally associated with the chiefs of the MacDonalds, who reached the peak of their political and geographic influence in the 15th century, long after Wallace. And one of my great-great grandfathers had a lowland name but was born near Oban and spoke Gaelic, whereas his wife from further South in Knapdale could only speak Gaelic for her entire life, so I'm not sure things were so cut-and-dry.
Back to the subject...the Wallace, who I'm overly proud to say was kin to the lowland side of my family through his mother, had already turned into the stuff of legend and propaganda hundreds of years ago. I've noticed that Scots from different regions have quite extreme and set opinions of him, running both positive and negative, which I assume relates both to local tradition and modern politics. It's hard to imagine how one could sort through all those 100s of years of optical distortion to get back to the truth of the man and details like his weapons.
Nevertheless, its fun to try. Personally I imagine him making great sweeping cuts from horseback with a 4 foot+ XIII...and regardless of what reason might say, I just can't help but imagine it having the down-sloping quillons of a 15th century gallowglass sword or 'two hand Claymore' (like the Albion Chieftain). His legend epitomizes Scotland, so he needs a legendary Scottish sword.