Sword: The Scottish Claymore

[Milesian]

The claymore (Claidheamh Mòr) is one of the most recognizable swords in history.This famous two handed battle sword was used by Scottish clansmen for hundreds of years. The Claymore as it was called, was feared because of its strength and size. It was the primary weapon used during the constant warfare that became the way of life for the Scottish clans. The name reffers to either of two types of Scottish sword; an older two-handed design used as an anti-cavalry weapon, and less correctly to a more modern blade, famous as the "basket-hilted" claymore. A uniquely Scottish hand-and-a-half style of sword, first appearing at the beginning of the sixteenth century, it is almost certainly a development of the Scots-Irish single hand style of sword. Shorter and lighter, in general, than the continental Two-Hander, the average Claymore ran about 50 inches (127 cms) in over all length, with maximum sizes reaching upto 72 inches (183 cms). Fairly uniform in style, the sword was set with a wheel pommel often capped by a crescent shaped nut and a guard with straight, down sloping arms ending in quatrefoils and languets running down the centre of the blade from the guard.