[Joel Whitmore]

These are two photos of an interesting sword that engraved on the tomb of William St. Clair which now resides in Rosslyn chapel. Rosslyn Chapel built. Born in 1404 and died in 1482. he was the third and last St. Clair Prince of Orkney. I suppose that everyone knows about the stong masonic ties teh St. Clair family had so I will not dwell on that. According to one source, the Grand Master of the Temple was married to Katherine St. Clair in the 12th century ( an assertion I haev doubts about) and two of the successive Grand Masters in the 13th and 14th centuries were supposedly from the St. Clair family. Indeed there is what appears to be a marker or open funerary that is clearly inscribed with a templar symbol on it. This tomb is reputed to be for an earlier William (not the on who had the church built) who supposedly died while escorting RObert the Bruce's heart to the Holy Land in 1330. I am not sure of the origin of this or of it's validity. However what is interesting is the shape of the srord. Altough you cannot tell from my poor pictures (one of my few regrets on my tip there), there are what appear to be spatulate or quatrafoil andings on the crossguard. The cross itself resembles those on 15th and 16th century claymores. Here are the pics so you make a judgement. If anyone has any more information about this sword, please feel free to chime in.

[Joel Whitmore]

I have attempted, rather crudely, to outline the sword. There is some distortion because of the angle at witch I took the photo.

[Russ Ellis]

Templars were supposed to be celibate and chaste one would suppose a Grand Master would have to follow that rule pretty strictly although it's possible that he was married before he was a Grand Master?

[Joel Whitmore]

[Thomas McDonald]

Hi Joel

Interesting stuff !

Here's a casting of the slab (supposedly taken from the original ) from the site Lowlander.com


Cast from the original tomb slab
of William De St. Clair, located in Rosslyn Chapel,
Roslin, Scotland, circa 1446 A.D. Sir William was
part of a group of Scots, who in 1330 set off on a
quest to deliver the heart of King Robert the Bruce
to Jerusalem for burial. He and others were killed
by the Moors in Spain. The heart was returned to
Scotland and buried in Melrose Abbey. The markings
on the stone show a templar cross, a templar sword, a
rosiated cross inside a large grail whose base
suggests the temple steps of Jerusalem. Wired for hanging.
Dimensions: 40x11x1.5



Mac

[Joel Whitmore]

I am not sure when the trefoil or quadrafoil ends to the crosses came into fashion. In person, the cross looks much like those on the large two-hand claymores we are all so familiar with. Also, this tomb is not the same William St. Clair who died in 1446. Apparently there was an earlier WIlliam who went on crusade and had the job of carrying the Bruce's heart to the Holy Land. What type blade woudl you say the sword has? Also, another interesting point is that the sword is nearly life -size for one of the 14th century. I would estimade the carving to be about 38" in overall length with a blade length of around 30". I actually put my hand near the handle and it would seem to be a tight but neat fit. If anyone should want to go to ROsslyn Chapel I highly suggest you do. There are no people to usher you away from things or to tell you not to take photographs. You have nearly totally free reign while taking in the sights (ar at least we did). It's an awesome, spellbinding place to visit.

[Thomas McDonald]

Hi Joel

Blade type 'eh , hmm ......

Oakeshott listed these Scot single types as "Unclassified 8" , in his Records of the Medieval Sword !

But that baby has a Viking-ish Type X look to it , albeit with lenticular section ( least that is what I'm seeing :-)

Anyone hazard a guess ;-) Mac


* Pic : David Caldwell, "Scottish Weapons & Fortifications 1100-1800"

[Brian M]

Looking at your pictures the guard looks like a simple style-6. Looking at the cast copy I almost believe I can see a trefoil on at least one side. I guess the pommel is a G or H, and the blade would be an X, or perhaps a XII?

Brian M

[Russ Ellis]

There were many Templars that were widowers etc. although I don't think that there were any that were templars and married at the same time. I have no idea how that bears on this particular guy.

If I had to type the sword I would say it is a XII.G.6

[Joel Whitmore]