[David Wilson]

Wow! They just keep coming up with more neat stuff! I like those Scottish swords, especially the Caithness (ancestral home of my Clan, wouldn't you know). Although, there is something familar about it.....
Great minds think alike, yes?

[Joe Maccarrone]

Thanks, Mac! I knew you'd ferret that one out..

Yep, it looks to be the downsloping cross... That pommel is a little tough to make out, but I'm voting for lobated, with a prominent central peak to it.

Now we need to badger the Albion folks until they make a hand & a half version with the 'Laird' hilt!

Unless, Mac, you want to sell me that Evans 'Greenlaw' sword on an installment plan...?

(Well, it was worth a try...)

[Mark Moore]

Oh , bless your souls, Albion! I just got my computer up and running after a move, and Albion was the first place I went. What a lovely suprise when I saw the Laird and Caithness! I have seen swords of the same style offered by others, but was always wary of their construction. I can see myself now at my next Ren-fest....Caithness hung low on my left hip, and that Next Gen Claymore (you promised!!) strapped across my back! I may have to put some orthopedics in my ghillies and take a few pleats outta my kilt if I plan on walking around all day with that much steel hanging off me! Rock on, Albion!

[Thomas McDonald]

A couple more ! Mac


Maclean of Duart ..................................... Maclean of Lochbuie

For many years, in ancient times, the tired bones of a number of royal families were buried at the Reilig Odhrain (St Oran's Shrine) just beside the monastery on Hy (Iona). It is a sign of the ancient sanctity associated with Hy that kings from so far and wide were brought here to be buried. The island is formed of the oldest rock of the earth's crust and was a hallowed place long before the coming of Colum Cille. This same timeless sanctity is echoed in the rune of foretelling preserved in the Carmina Gadelica collection of Gaelic lore:

Seachd bliadhna roimh 'n bhrath,
Thig muir thar Eirinn ri aon trath,
'S thar Ile ghuirm, ghlais,
Ach snamhaidh I Chaluim chleirich.

"Seven years before the Day of Doom,
The sea shall come over Erin in one watch,
And over blue-green Islay,
But float will Iona of Columba the cleric."

http://www.cushnieent.force9.co.uk/odhrain.html

[Patrick Kelly]

This will undoubtedly suprise Mac, but I like these three designs quite a bit.

[Geoff Wood]

Mr MacDonald
Thanks for the Hy information. As a victim of school Shakespeare some 37 years back, it is interesting to see additional context about Macbeth.
Geoff

[Thomas McDonald]

[Thomas McDonald]