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Tom Carr
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Glen A Cleeton
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Ray Harrington
Location: Lodi CA Joined: 24 Nov 2012
Posts: 14
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 Posted: Sat 30 Aug, 2014 11:36 pm Post subject: |
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This doesn't look that bad at all, to me it looks like the one of the best MRL basket hilt swords they ever offered.
I might get this when KOA gets them in stock.
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Sun 31 Aug, 2014 3:57 am Post subject: |
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| Ray Harrington wrote: | This doesn't look that bad at all, to me it looks like the one of the best MRL basket hilt swords they ever offered.
I might get this when KOA gets them in stock. |
I agree that it has a more authentic look but I suspect the basket itself is huge! The photo seems to show it being much larger than an original. May just have to get one for examination. The blade certainly resembles the original.
Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Mon 01 Sep, 2014 7:40 am Post subject: |
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Well...I have ordered one or at least I hope to receive one. The sales rep was uncertain if they had them in stock although whatever she consulted indicated that they did. When it comes I will file a report.
Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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Lewis A.
Location: United States Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 75
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| Posted: Mon 01 Sep, 2014 9:12 am Post subject: Eglinton basket hilt |
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I was excited to see Museum Replicas offering this sword when I just happened to be browsing their website last week and ordered one myself last Friday. When my order confirmation was sent to my email it said that it was on backorder, so not sure when I will be getting one. I plan to call them tomorrow and find out for sure whether they are in stock yet or not.
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Mon 01 Sep, 2014 10:50 am Post subject: Re: Eglinton basket hilt |
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| Lewis A. wrote: | | I was excited to see Museum Replicas offering this sword when I just happened to be browsing their website last week and ordered one myself last Friday. When my order confirmation was sent to my email it said that it was on backorder, so not sure when I will be getting one. I plan to call them tomorrow and find out for sure whether they are in stock yet or not. |
The sales rep I spoke to was confused in that she at first said it was in stock but when she put in my order it came up out of stock. She went ahead with it any way so, based on my experience combined with yours, there is a pretty good chance that we are not going to get our swords any time soon. According to my order confirmation it is being shipped but tomorrow, when things are a little calmer, I may get an e-mail saying it is out of stock. I am ordering from the wholesale side but that should not make any difference.
In looking at the link to Fagan Arms in another post, as well as the picture of a similar sword in Harvey Withers' book on Scottish swords and also in John Wallace's book on swords and dirks, it appears that the basket on the MR reproduction is going to be very much larger than the originals. I know this has been discussed on the forum numerous times but I do wish that manufacturers would take a leaf out of the book used by custom makers and downsize the baskets some if not to original proportions. In my years of displaying and selling custom and production swords, I have only run across a few people with hands so large that they would not fit into a conventionally - sized basket.
Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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Lewis A.
Location: United States Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 75
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| Posted: Mon 01 Sep, 2014 11:34 am Post subject: Re: Eglinton basket hilt |
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| Lin Robinson wrote: | | In looking at the link to Fagan Arms in another post, as well as the picture of a similar sword in Harvey Withers' book on Scottish swords and also in John Wallace's book on swords and dirks, it appears that the basket on the MR reproduction is going to be very much larger than the originals. I know this has been discussed on the forum numerous times but I do wish that manufacturers would take a leaf out of the book used by custom makers and downsize the baskets some if not to original proportions. In my years of displaying and selling custom and production swords, I have only run across a few people with hands so large that they would not fit into a conventionally - sized basket. |
I agree, being of 18th century proportions myself in terms of height and hand size (not waist-size, unfortunately), most of the modern mass-produced basket hilts have baskets that appear to have been made for a Goliath. I have a couple of early Paul Chen basket hilts, his "Stirling" Alan reproduction and a government issue backsword that he reproduced in the 1990's, and they both have huge baskets, as does my early Windlass brass "Culloden" broadsword; so apparently it isn't just in India that the over-estimate the size of American and Western European mitts.
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Mon 01 Sep, 2014 12:37 pm Post subject: Re: Eglinton basket hilt |
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I have the Stirling hilt also and have had one of the Cullodens. I still have one of the Cullodens with a steel hilt. The Stirling hilt is certainly impressive but it looks like Goliath's sword in the hand! Still, I hang onto it because they are not being made any more. Hope to have good news on the Eglinton in the morning. I have met the Earl of Eglinton and his son is married to a Robinson girl from Tennessee. I suspect, therefore that we are related. Some of my ancestors must have drifted far enough west to make the connection!
Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Tue 02 Sep, 2014 2:17 pm Post subject: |
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I just received an e-mail from MR telling me the Eglinton Basket Hilt has been shipped. I should have it no later than Thursday but headed to a Celtic Music Festival in TN on Friday so may not be able to report on it until next week.
Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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Roger Hooper
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| Posted: Tue 02 Sep, 2014 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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You're lucky. Apparently, there weren't very many in stock. Others who ordered were told that it was now on back-order.
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Wed 03 Sep, 2014 2:54 am Post subject: |
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| Roger Hooper wrote: | | You're lucky. Apparently, there weren't very many in stock. Others who ordered were told that it was now on back-order. |
Well, I seem to be a Johnny-come-lately in ordering it but it is on the way. I do have a wholesale account with them but it all comes out of the same stock so I do not think that should make any difference.
Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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Mark Moore
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| Posted: Wed 03 Sep, 2014 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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I'm dang sure gettin' one. That would look great hangin' off me kilt !......  ........  ........McM
''Life is like a box of chocolates...'' --- F. Gump
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Thu 04 Sep, 2014 3:26 am Post subject: |
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| Mark Moore wrote: | | I'm dang sure gettin' one. That would look great hangin' off me kilt !...... ........ ........McM |
According to UPS tracking, the one I ordered should arrive this afternoon. I will try to give a quick impression when it does, and follow up later with a more detailed report.
Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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Ruel A. Macaraeg
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Lewis A.
Location: United States Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 75
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| Posted: Thu 04 Sep, 2014 9:59 am Post subject: |
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I just got off the phone with a young lady that called me yesterday to let me know that due to some sort of mix-up in the way Museum Replicas keeps track of their inventory and handles their orders, that the Eglinton basket hilts are indeed in stock and available for purchase.
I re-ordered one, but had to put in another call because the Museum Replicas computer system apparently has some sort of issue and was still showing the sword as being back-ordered. I was assured however that they are in stock (while supplies last), and that my order was in que to get shipped. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the staff there can hopefully manage to get it shipped out without any further annoying delays and misinformation due to incompetence.
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Lewis A.
Location: United States Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 75
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| Posted: Thu 04 Sep, 2014 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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Judging from the photos on Museum Replicas' site, I think Windlass' version of the "Pinch of Snuff" sword is closer to the originals of this style than the one offered by Wolflund which has an oddly long quillon - an element that is often lacking altogether in many historical examples:
Wolflund version:
Windlass version:
Here are some photos of other originals made in this distinctive style:
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Thu 04 Sep, 2014 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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The one I ordered arrived about 6 PM. Have it out of the box and am impressed. The basket, while it is bigger than I would like, is well-shaped and looks pretty good. I will check out the vital statistics and post a few photos when I get a minute. We are not going to the previously-mentioned Celtic music festival because the weather forecast there is lousy and I don't like rainwater all over my swords.
Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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David Wilson
Location: In a van down by the river Joined: 23 Aug 2003
Posts: 803
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| Posted: Thu 04 Sep, 2014 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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Nice! I wonder, since I've never handled an original Eglinton/POS hilt, how large they were? In my experience, the later regimental hilts tend to run larger than the typical Glasgow/Stirling and eariler Scottish hilts (at least, those I've handled)....
David K. Wilson, Jr.
Laird of Glencoe
Now available on Amazon: Franklin Posner's "Suburban Vampire: A Tale of the Human Condition -- With Vampires" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072N7Y591
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Lin Robinson
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| Posted: Fri 05 Sep, 2014 6:03 am Post subject: |
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Here are some photos of the new sword. Sorry about the gray hair on the basket in one of them. I guess it is mine.
The sword looks good. As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, baskets on later swords tended to be larger than earlier swords - even so this one is a bit too large - but the difference is certainly not as noticeable as with some other production swords, for example the brass hilt Culloden offered by MR.
Stats...
I don't have an adequate scale but will go along with the weight per MR which I think is about 3.5 pounds. The blade is 33 inches long with a fuller running its full length and a shorter fuller on the back of the blade which is 20.5 inches long. The balance point is about 4.5 inches from the hilt. The blade is 1.375 inches wide at the hilt, tapering to .75 inches at the tip. The back of the basket opens to 4.5 inches for grasping the sword. As you can see in the comparison photos, the difference in size is very apparent when put side by side with a 1735 era sword. The overall workmanship is very nice and the sword is solid. The grip appears to be ray skin, wire wrapped and very well put together. The sword feels very good in the hand.
I think for the price this is a good buy and should be popular. As one who has received MR catalogs since catalog #1 (which I still have by the way), I have seen a couple of other nice basket hilts appear then quickly disappear from the catalog over time. If you want one of these I would suggest getting it now before they decide to discontinue it.
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Lin Robinson
"The best thing in life is to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." Conan the Barbarian, 1982
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