Posted on 03/30/2005 1:06:55 PM PST by dead
LONDON - One of Scotland's national treasures, the 5-foot sword wielded by William Wallace, the rebel leader portrayed in the Academy Award-winning film "Braveheart," left its homeland for the first time in more than 700 years Wednesday.
The double-handed weapon that belonged to Wallace will be the centerpiece of an exhibition at New York's Grand Central Station during Tartan Day celebrations, which begin later this week.
Mick Brown a specialist remover prepares to pack William Wallace's sword at the Wallace Monument in Stirling, Scotland Wednesday March 30, 2005. The sword will leave Scotland Wednesday for the first time in more than 700 years, travelling to the United States as part of the country's Tartan Day celebrations being held in April. Members of Stirling Council met earlier this month to decide whether to allow the national treasure make the trip to New York, where it will form the centerpiece of an exhibition. (AP Photo/Andrew Milligan, PA)
This year marks the 700th anniversary of the execution of Wallace, who led the Scots in their battle to free themselves from English rule and whose story was brought to the screen by Mel Gibson in the 1995 film "Braveheart." The film won five Academy Awards.
"This is an historic moment. It is the first time in 700 years that a relic of this importance has left these shores," said Colin O'Brien, a Scottish official accompanying the sword to the United States.
The 6-pound weapon will be returned to its home at the National Wallace Monument in Stirling, Scotland, after the celebrations.
Wallace's sword was kept at Dumbarton Castle for 600 years. King James IV is said to have paid for it to be given a new hilt in 1505.
ping
Back in the early 90's noticed the sword below at a quality knife shop.
It was expensive....but damn...i had to have it!
A company from Spain named Marto produced it.
Charlemagne's Sword.
The Hilt is a wax casting from Charlemagnes sword in the Louvre.
At the time...it was unique..and rare.
Lots of copies out now.
The difference is in the detail of the hilt.
My hilt is bronze/copper ..with dark mat below raised surfaces.
Its a heavy peice.....a real eye catcher when company comes over.
Did ya lose that arm in a sword fight PE ?........:o)
I cringe at the scene where Longshanks seems fearful about the Scots coming south, after the sack of York. He fought & won a civil war (Baron's War) when he was in his 20's, during his father's reign. He had survived a murder attempt by an Assassin (Shi'ite Muslim sect) in 1272. The Assassin stabbed him with a poisoned dagger.
BUMP!
This just might be worth the ride up to NYC.
I want one!! (Not that I'd know what to do with it once I had it)
Great story....Thanks for sharing that . I'll go check out the Cohen book.
BTW albeit ya reference the princess bride is there one good movie "best" sword fight you'd recommend ? Albeit just a graduate of E-Tool 101 fighting I was impressed with the old highlander series .....how did that rate for accuracy ?
A family member was a Gunny with 3/3/3 Marines...Quangtri Prov Vietnam. 65-69.
He was at Khe Sahn...Con Thein...the Hill fights in the Ashua Valley complex[Hamburger Hill].
I think its important to pass on their legacy.
and ya....one of my Family members was in Woolseys Army which kicked the crap out of the Mahdi after Khartoum.
anyhoo...I'm sure their are many great achievements/experiences in your family tree...
You may have partaken in history yourself.
Its the stuff worthwhile to pass along : )
"albeit ya reference the princess bride is there one good movie "best" sword fight you'd recommend"
I'd recommend two: Stewart Granger and Mel Ferrer in "Scaramouche," and Stewart Granger and James Mason in "The Prisoner of Zenda" (Although Cohen disagrees with me on that one). Some people like Flynn and Rathbone in "Robin Hood," although Flynn wasn't really a fencer.
They are Hollywood fights, but the actors were actually fencers (except Flynn), and the movements are correct. You can describe the action just as if you were an official at a competition. "Attack from the right by beat disengage, parried in six, reposte by coupe, parried in four, counter-riposte one-two arrives, touch against the left."
If you watch Granger and Mason in slow-mo, you can see one place where if Mason hadn't given ground, Granger would actually have opened his stomach up. Can't do that with actors today; if you're not a fencer, it's just too dangerous.
One of the things I really get a kick out of in "Prisoner" is that at one point Granger uses an unconscious gesture with his blade that means, "What the H$ll do I do now?" I've seen it so many times in practice and in competitions, and just get a real bang out of seeing it in a movie scene. It shows you that the guy has really studied and practiced.
There are two scenes in "Scaramouche" that show how helpless a fencer with little training is against someone who has really worked at it, which is a welcome contrast to Hollyweird's "Karate Kid" crapola, where a rank beginner beats a master after 15 minutes of lessons.
Fencing is, IMO, the most rewarding of all sports, and that is perhaps because it is the most difficult of all sports. Take an athletic, coordinated college kid, give him three tennis lessons a week for six months, and he can play at the country club without embarrassing himself. Oh, he's not going to win Wimbledon, but he's pretty effective for an amateur.
To get to that point in fencing takes about three years. And you can continue to enjoy it into old age, unless something happens to you like osteoarthritis of the spine.
Know what a lot of world-class fencers do to take a break from training and rest? They play tennis. Compared to fencing, tennis is a dawdle.
"Albeit just a graduate of E-Tool 101 fighting"
Whazzat?
"I was impressed with the old highlander series .....how did that rate for accuracy?"
Disclaimers: All my fencing has been with light, one-handed swords. In fact, as the article notes, no one in the West has used a two-handed sword in real combat for centuries.
That said, I think any martial artist (and fencing is a martial art, even though most people don't think of it that way) could point out a number of problems with the way they fight in Highlander.
The closest comparison might be Kendo. Not the movies, although Japanese movie-makers take a lot more care than Hollyweird (if they didn't, the Japanese nazis would stick kitchen knives in them), but competitive bouts between serious students of Kendo.
Just as any serious student of karate will tell you that those spinning roundhouse movie kicks to the head would be suicide against a skilled practitioner, this movie crap showing people spinning around while fighting with swords is just nonsense.
Even a fist-fighter will tell you that you shouldn't draw back your right hand for a roundhouse and telegraph your punch, because your opponent will sting you with three left jabs and be gone before your fist ever travels around that wide arc. The same principle applies when you're trying to cut or stab someone with a sword.
Either a typo or it is Titanium. :)
Celtic Ping List!
Big swords? It must be Scottish!
It's a claymore. This means it is designed to bend while cutting. This allows it to swing faster and remain intact, even when it contacts with armor broad side of the blade first.
It's a very high-tech sword.
Ah, 'The Duellists'. Good movie. First real movie Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Hannibal) directed. Very much a "Masterpiece Theater" feel to it. Recurring, varied, well-staged duels over 30 years between a couple guys who are honor-bound to kill each other, not sure why they are, and keep managing to not quite succeed.
Best ever is the end of "Myamoto Musashi" (aka "Samurai 1-3"). Depicting the best samurai ever, shows Musashi defeating a long-determined katana-wielding opponent ... with just a stick. Entire movie is filled with quality swordplay.
Too many movie swordfights dwell on actors banging metal together, rather than actually depicting someone trying to get the job done ASAP. Properly done, swordfights are very short.
"Properly done, swordfights are very short."
It is said that most duels took mere seconds.
That is a nice sword.
Are the edges sharp?
Thanks for the tagline I was looking for.
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