Information about my Scottish dirk. -- myArmoury.com

Todd Salazar · Last edited by Todd Salazar on Thu 04 Dec, 2003 7:33 am; edited 2 times in total

Hello everybody,

I was wondering if anyone could tell me anything about the manufacturer of my silver Victorian Scottish dirk. First a little bit about myself. I currently live in Colorado. My grandmother was a Hay and I am a member of Clan Hay here in the U.S.A. My dirk is Victorian. It was created for a Lord Arthur Hay (the 9th Marquis of Tweeddale) who probably commissioned R & H B Kirkwood in Edinburgh to create it for him sometime between 1873 and 1876. I have some general information about the dirk below but I don't know much about the history of it or its maker. It is a very unusual and beautiful Scottish dress dirk that has great significance to me and my family. I would also like to draw everybody's attention to the handle. There appear to be falcon feathers carved into it. I thought this was very interesting because Clan Hay has a falcon in it's badge. Thanks for any information that any of you can provide to me. If you want, please feel free to let me know what you think of it.

Victorian Silver Mounted Scottish Dress Dirk
Makers : R& H B Kirkwood 66-68 Thistle Street Edinburgh
Inscribed on reverse : Lord Arthur Hay
Lord Arthur Hay : 9th Marquis of Tweeddale
Married - 1873 Julia Charlotte Sophia Stewart- Mackenzie daughter of Keith William Stewart-Mackenzie of Seaforth - Ross
Lord Arthur Hay died : 1876

Thanks,
Todd Happy

Joel Chesser · Posted: Wed 03 Dec, 2003 11:48 pm Post subject:

That dirk is absolutely breathtaking!
congrats!
Eek!

Todd Salazar · Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 7:37 am Post subject:

FYI,

The following picture proves how I know it belong to Lord Arthur Hay. Unfortunately, Lord Arthur Hay died with no children so the title Marquis of Tweeddale passed on to his brother.

Thanks,
Todd

Tom Carr · Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 10:18 am Post subject:

Sorry I cant help with the maker, but I have to say thats one of the finest Victorian era Dirks I have ever seen! Very fine work
by a master craftsman. My compliments!

David Wilson · Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 4:59 pm Post subject:

I would suggest contacting Pat Tougher, who is a collector and dealer in Scottish arms. He has a great deal of knowledge in the field, especially when it comes to value.

His contact information is listed on his website:
http://www.scottishsword.com/

Good luck!

Todd Salazar · Posted: Thu 04 Dec, 2003 7:21 pm Post subject:

Actually, I have already emailed Pat about my dirk and he responded with the following:

Todd,

Very nice dirk with an interesting history. The design that was used in the late 1700. Sorry to say I could not find any information on the maker. You may want to contact some of the major museums in Scotland since you already have your pictures available and ask them for information. Most of the museums have websites.

Best regards,
Pat Tougher

I have also sent some pictures of my dirk to Jay Forman, author of the book The Scottish Dirk. He responded in a letter to me with the following:

Dear Todd,

A pleasure receiving your letter with enclosed photographs. I have no reason to harbor doubts about your unusual and attractive dirk. Kirkwood did work in Edinburgh in the late Victorian era. Your theory about the falcon feathers makes sense. The unique features are of course the hilts. Scabbard and blade are fairly characteristic. Silver mounted? I presume so. Scottish silver is often not hall marked. Apart from Kirkwood being a busy Edinburgh dirk maker of the later Victorian era, I don't have more information about him. You might get more information about him from David Caldwell, curator at the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. Sorry not to be more helpful but like I said, its a very pretty and unusual dirk.

Best regards,
J.D. Forman

My problem is that about two months ago I sent a number of emails with pictures to the Royal Armouries and other museums in Scotland with no reply.

Thanks,
Todd Happy

Nathan Robinson · myArmoury Admin

Todd Salazar · Posted: Wed 03 Mar, 2004 9:24 pm Post subject:

Hello everybody,

I have found out some new and interesting information about my dirk and the man who owned it. Lord Arthur Hay, the Ninth Marquis of Tweeddale, was an ornithologist. For those of you who don't know what this means, it is a person who studies birds. This clearly explains the significance of the feathers carved into the handle of the dirk. I thought it was interesting how he incorporated his profession and what he loved into the dirk. I thought I would share this information with everybody. Incidentally, he also has a bird species, Irena Tweeddalii, named after him.

Thanks,
Todd
Happy

Thomas McDonald · myArmoury Alumni

Hi Todd

Nice piece ....

Would be cool if you'd list the dirks basic stats:

Overall length
Blade length
Blade width
Blade thickness
Grip length
Pommel diameter
Weight

Good luck in your quest, thank you, Mac

Todd Salazar · Posted: Fri 05 Mar, 2004 11:44 pm Post subject:

Hello again,

First some of the basic stats:

Length
Dirk=18 5/16 inches
Fork=6 4/16 inches
Small Knife=7 11/16 inches
Sheath=13 1/4 inches
Total Length=19 5/8 inches

Weight
Dirk=11 1/2 ounces
Fork=1 ounce
Small Knife=1 1/2 ounces
Sheath=4 1/2 ounces
Total Weight=18 1/2 ounces

Blade Length=12 1/4 inches

Blade Width=1 1/4 inches

Blade Thickness=1/4 inches

Grip Length=4 1/4 inches

Pommel diameter=1 9/16 inches

I am also attaching a picture of Lord Arthur Hay (the Ninth Marquis of Tweeddale), the inside cover of his book and the picture of the bird species, Irena Tweeddalii, that was named after Arthur.

Thanks,
Todd Big Grin

Thomas McDonald · myArmoury Alumni

Thanks very much for all the information, Todd !

Wonderful piece , Mac