By Christopher Scott Thompson

In the current revival of historical fencing and Western Martial Arts, the fighting methods of the Scottish Highlanders have attracted particular attention, despite the lack of detailed information for any Highland weapon other than the basket-hilted broadsword.

Some writers have argued that the later Highland broadsword systems were imposed on the Highland regiments by the British army, and that they have little or no relationship with the methods originally used by the Highland clans. Some have even argued that these systems are not Scottish at all, but a mix of English singlestick play and French smallsword fencing.

As J. Cristoph Amberger writes of the fencing master Harry Angelo, who published "The Guards and Lessons of the Highland Broadsword" in 1799:

It has to be pointed out that Harry Angelo's training was in the French tradition of the Art of Fencing, focusing strongly on the smallsword and foil, supplemented with a dose of English singlestick play.

Amberger quotes J.D. Aylward as saying:

The so-called Roworth broadsword manual claimed to "unite the Scotch and Austrian methods into one regular system." On Sword Forum International, Amberger wrote:

The manual in question is almost identical to Taylor’s "Art of Defence on Foot," and according to Amberger, both works were created within Angelo’s circle, describing the Highland broadsword system Angelo supposedly created based on English singlestick play.

However, Taylor’s "Art of Defence on Foot" includes a number of techniques drawn directly from "Anti-Pugilism" by the anonymous Highland Officer, who was apparently an officer of the Black Watch regiment by the name of Sinclair.

The "Art of Defence on Foot" contains a chart taken from Thomas Page’s Highland broadsword manual of 1746, and the section on Timing includes lines taken directly from Page’s manual. The sections on Bearing and Battering also include material taken from Page.

Page’s work was titled "The Use of the Broad Sword. In which is shown, The True Method of Fighting with that Weapon as it is now in Use among the Highlanders." Page later specifies: "The Highlanders Method of using the Sword. We come now to the Method us'd by the modern Highlanders, Fighting with the Sword which is founded upon the Rules and Lessons already given."

Furthermore, Page's system targets areas of the body known in Gaelic lore as the "12 doors of the soul." While other broadsword manuals simply instruct the swordsman to attack the head, face, arm, ribs, belly, chest, legs or wrist, Page also specifies cuts to the crown of the head, a "a push at the Navel," and a thrust between the ribs under the armpit. In a Gaelic medical manuscript known as the Judgements of Diancecht, these are described as the first, seventh and eighth doors of the soul respectively. The doors of the soul were said to be the most deadly wounds according to medieval Gaelic medical lore, and Highland folk tales and Irish sagas both contain numerous references to warriors attacking these targets.

Page also includes a complete system for fencing with the broadsword and target, and describes it as being the authentic Highland system. This method includes features associated with typical Rennaisance sword and target technique from mainland Europe, including the use of passing footwork and binding the opponent’s weapons with the target to allow the sword to attack unopposed.

Page was writing in 1746, when the last Highland rebellion had only just been defeated, and the "post-mortem glorification" to which Amberger refers was still decades away. The "Art of Defence on Foot" actually quotes a few paragraphs from Page’s manual, referring to Page as "an able writer on this science."

The author of "Art of Defence," (whether or not he was actually Taylor) seems to have made a study of other works on the Highland broadsword before writing his own text, rather than simply basing it on English backsword tradition as has been suggested.

In "Fencing Familiarized: Or a New Treatise on the Art of the Scotch Broadsword," (1805) Thomas Mathewson lists several sword masters with Gaelic names as his teachers, including Serjeant-major Grant of the 42^nd Foot (the Black Watch), Mr. Campbell of Glasgow, Mr. MacLean of Galloway, and Mr. MacGregor of Paisley. The last named may actually have been Archibald MacGregor, whose own "Lecture on the Art of Defence" is another of our sources.

Mathewson even paraphrases a Gaelic proverb in his manual. (The original proverb is "Am fear a thug buaidh air fhein, thug e buaidh air namhaid: He who conquers himself, conquers an enemy." Mathewson says that fencing teaches us "to conquer ourselves, that we may be able to conquer others.") Presumably he learned this proverb from his teachers in Scotland.

Some of Mathewson’s advice on loose play is taken almost verbatim from the Anti-Pugilism text, showing that this English fencing master had also sought out a work by a Highland soldier before writing his own manual.

Gaelic culture focused on oral tradition more than the written word, with the result that our only sources for Highland swordplay are mediated through another language and culture.

It is true that the Regimental Highland system is basically the same system that English broadsword and backsword fencers were using at the time. However, the earliest Scottish and English manuals all show the same general method, so there is no reason to consider this method English rather than Scottish- it would be more accurate to describe broadsword and backsword fencing as a British system that developed in tandem in both countries, with the Highlanders practicing an older form of the system with certain archaic features such as the attacks to the 12 doors. And there are certain features in the historic manuals that imply that the system did derive from earlier methods of fencing, including archaic weapon combinations such as the sword and target favored by the Highlanders.

For instance, the Scottish swordsman McBane shows a guard for sword and target that is identical to his guard for the backsword alone, except that when the sword is used alone the left hand is held up beside the head in place of the target.

McBane shows a very curious stance with the target turned inward, which is also found in a miniature from the medieval Irish Book of Kells, showing a man with spear and buckler.

As the Book of Kells was created approximately a thousand years earlier, this could be a remarkable example of continuity from ancient martial technique. But it is not the only example of such continuity in McBane’s work. The Murthly Slab, from Perthsire, is a Pictish stone carving of a fight between two strange creatures wielding swords, clubs and shields. In this carving, one fighter kneels down in order to avoid his opponent’s attack to the high lines and counter with a thrust from beneath. One of McBane’s plates shows the same concept applied to the smallsword. While an equivalent tactic is used in classical smallsword fencing, it is applied by dropping the left hand to the floor rather than by kneeling as in McBane’s work and the Pictish carving.

Although it is impossible to prove one way or the other, I propose that there was a fencing tradition common to both England and Scotland since ancient times. This evolved into the later broadsword systems under the influence of the smallsword, spadroon and other weapons, though the Highlanders retained an archaic sword and target style until after 1746. This older Highland style exerted a continuing influence on the Lowland Scottish and English broadsword and backsword methods, eventually producing a system of Regimental Highland broadsword that retained certain features of the older style until a fairly late date.

Even though some of the Highland broadsword manuals were written by English fencing masters for an English audience, the authors of these manuals seem to have done extensive research from previous Highland broadsword manuals before composing their own works, so that late British broadsword and singlestick play was increasingly influenced by methods used in the Highland regiments.

While Samuel Johnson found that the Highland gentry of his time were no longer taught how to use the broadsword (or any other weapon), the common people still trained in the art of the broadsword using singlesticks a generation later, according to James Logan in his "Scottish Gael" of 1833.

Mathewson mentions that the Edinburgh Highland Society was offering prizes for masters and scholars of the broadsword in 1805, and fencing exhibitions at Highland Games featured broadsword and backsword play well into the 19^th century.

So, whether the later broadsword systems are related to the older style of the clan warriors or not, they were certainly studied and used by generations of Highlanders.

A survey of Scottish systems of fence from the earliest times onward will help clarify the development of this school.

We know very little about the swordsmanship of ancient Scotland, but there are a few Pictish stone carvings that can provide us with clues.

The Aberlemno Battle Stone (7^th-8^th century AD) shows a Pictish battle formation, with a sword and buckler man in the front rank, supported by a spearman in the second rank with his weapon extended, and another spearman standing in readiness in the third rank.

The swordsman is holding his sword in a left-foot-forward stance, with the sword over his right shoulder and his buckler extended in front of him. This would later be known as an Open guard, and a version of it appears repeatedly in the Penicuik sketches of Highland warriors from the ’45.

The spearman in the second rank has a shield over his left arm, a tactic which is also shown in a painting of Highland warriors at the Battle of Culloden by David Morier.

A carving from Easter Ross shows two Pictish swordsmen either dueling or performing a combative dance. Their swords are held vertically with partially extended arms. The figure on the left holds his left hand beside his head.

Both of these details can be seen in later works on broadsword fencing. The broadsword is held vertically with an extended arm in the Medium guard shown in Angelo’s Guards and Lessons of the Highland broadsword of 1799, and McBane’s manual shows the free hand held loosely beside the head, although this method is also found in the smallsword fencing of the period.

Sueno’s Stone, a 9^th-century carving of a battle scene, shows a number of men armed with sword and buckler. The swordsmen appear in some panels to be covering their arms with their bucklers as in later medieval systems.

Some of the swordsmen hold their weapons vertically in an Open guard, and some hold them in what would later be known as a Medium guard, with the point aimed upwards at the opponent’s eyes.

Some of the panels may show the use of the buckler to close the line and allow for a simultaneous counterattack, but the stone is now so eroded that it is impossible to be certain.

The Murthly Slab, from Perthsire, shows a combat between a bird-headed man and a dog-headed man. The bird-man is shown in preparation for a straight cut down at the dog-man’s head from the open guard. The dog-man kneels down while thrusting upward at the bird-man’s body and covering against the head strike with his buckler.

The kneeling counter will remove the dog-man from the line of attack and allow him to come up under the bird-man’s defenses. This is a similar tactic to the passata sotto of classical Italian fencing, in which the opponent’s thrust to the high line is evaded by dropping down onto the floor, supported by the free hand, and the opponent is struck simultaneously with a thrust. McBane shows a very similar technique in his manual of 1728.

The swords used by the Picts seem to have been relatively short weapons with broad, double-edged blades and rounded tips.

The weapons of their foes, the Scots of Dalriada, were probably not very different, though Gaelic oral tradition mentions a type of ancient sword known as a claidheamh duileagach. As this means "leaf-shaped sword," the reference may be to the leaf-bladed weapons of the Irish Iron Age.

Although the length and design was to change considerably, later Highland swords were also broad-bladed with relatively round tips. This is true of both the Highland two-hander and the basket-hilted broadsword. The preference for this type of weapon seems to have survived in the Highlands through many centuries and even changes of culture and language.

In the eighth century, the Viking raids began, and Scottish swordsmanship was permanently changed by contact with the foreigners. The Vikings fought in chain mail, wore helmets, and used swords and long axes of better make than the native weapons.

The Irish lower classes readily adopted the Viking long-ax, but the greatest effect was felt in Scotland. The Isles and the western and northern Highlands were overrun by the foreigners. The Gaelic clans in these areas were under Viking rule. But there were not enough Vikings to supplant the native Gaelic population. Instead, Gaelic culture absorbed the Vikings, and the culture of the Gall-Gael was born. The Gall-Gael ("Viking-Gaels") were Highlanders of mixed Norse and Gaelic blood. They spoke Gaelic, but their genealogies included Norse names, and they fought in long chain-mail coats and conical helmets, like the Vikings. They carried long axes, the forebears of the sparth and Lochaber axe of later fame. These aristocratic warriors became some of the first Highland mercenaries. After the actual Vikings were gone from Scotland, the Gall-Gael clans began to export mercenaries to Ireland to fight for the Irish chiefs against their English enemies. These mercenaries were called galloglasses (Gall-Óglaigh, or "young foreign warrior" in Irish Gaelic), and they were formidable fighters. The galloglasses were largely responsible for the Gaelic renaissance in Ireland, which saw English rule confined to a small area around Dublin for some time. They remained a force in Irish politics until about 1600.

Highland swords were heavily influenced by the Viking period, too. They developed a lobated pommel, like the Viking swords, lost their ancient leaf-shape, and became rather longer. Around 1300, they also took on the now-familiar down-sloping quillons. Highland mercenaries serving in Europe during the later Middle Ages would have come in contact with the large two-handed swords which were becoming popular at that time. Two-handed swords were always a specialty weapon, used mostly by mercenaries, elite troops and large men to break up pike formations, or to guard leaders and battle-standards. In the Highlands, the two-handed sword was used mostly by galloglasses and bodyguards, in any situation where one man had to defend a position against multiple attackers.

No information has survived about the historical method of using the Highland two-hander, but the characteristics of the weapon itself can provide us with a general idea of how it might have been used. The claidheamh da laimh (its correct Gaelic name) tended to be around 56" long, with a relatively long hilt. The blade seems to have been designed more for cutting than thrusting, although both would have been possible. It is long enough to facilitate counterattacks, but the length of the hilt versus the blade suggests that maneuverability was the priority. The weapon does not seem to have been designed to combat plate armor, but it would have been very effective against lightly-armored or unarmored opponents.

Some Highland two-handers have clamshell guards to provide extra protection for the hand. Such a guard would prevent counterattacks to the hand, which are common in German and Italian longsword fencing.

From ancient times, martial arts were taught to a child by his foster-father. The system of fosterage was the standard Gaelic method for raising the sons of aristocrats. The foster-father was expected to be an accomplished martial artist:

McIsaac was known for his strength and bravery, and also for his expertness in military exercises…These manly and soldierly qualities recommended him to Campbell of Craignish as a suitable person to be entrusted with the fostering of his son Ranald.

At some point, however, a more formal system of martial training was introduced for young gentlemen. This was the Taigh Suntais, a school for the study of martial arts. (The equivalent of a salle d’armes.)

It was a custom in the Highlands of Scotland before the year 1745 that the gentry kept schools to give instruction to youths in sword exercise, and the laird of Ardsheil kept a school for the instruction of the youth of his own district. He stored the cudgels behind his house. There were cudgels for the lads, and there were cudgels for the laddies, and lads and laddies went every day to Ardsheil to receive instruction on the cudgel from the laird. After the laddies had received their day’s instruction each got a bannock and lumps of cheese. They were then sent to try who would soonest ascend a mountain and eat the bannock and cheese; and whoever was first got another bannock and lumps of cheese home with him.

Also- "The boys of the Highlanders were trained, from a very early age, to cudgel playing, that they might become expert at the broadsword exercise. Their whole time is said to have been so occupied, and besides training at home, there was a sort of gymnasium in Badenoch, to which the youth resorted."

So, the young gentlemen of the Highlands spent most of their time in the study of swordsmanship, which is only to be expected, as they were the warrior elite in a martial society. But, like the old Japanese martial arts schools, these "gymnasiums" did not limit themselves to training with weapons. "Military exercises" included swimming, archery, ball games, throwing a bar, dancing and wrestling as well as fencing.

In the 1500’s, the Highland sword underwent another major change. The sword was fitted with a basket-hilt, a type of cage which offered full protection for the swordsman’s hand. Some have suggested that the Highlanders adopted this type of hilt from the English army, but the English themselves called it an "Irish" (in other words, Gaelic) hilt. Others trace this hilt to the Schiavona, a basket-hilted sword carried by Eastern European mercenaries in Italy. Some Schiavona did find their way to Scotland, but the earliest Highland basket-hilted swords predate them. Highland mercenaries saw extensive service in the German areas, and a basket-hilted sword was used in Germany. But, although Highland sword-blades were usually German, the hilts were of native manufacture.

In the end, it seems just as likely that the basket-hilt was a Highland innovation.

Whatever the case may be, the basket-hilted broadsword and backsword became almost as popular among Lowland Scottish fencers as they were in the Highlands. Our earliest actual fencing manual dealing with these weapons was written by a Lowland Scots gentleman named Sir William Hope, in 1707.

The stage gladiators (men who fought on stage with sharp weapons in front of a paying audience) tended to rely on the hanging guard, and Hope admired the defensive advantages of this stance. His earlier works teach the French tradition of smallsword, with certain adaptations designed to reduce the risks in a fight with sharps, such as attacking only after binding the opponent’s weapon. Hope called this system "Scot’s Play," but it was essentially a more defensive interpretation of the French style.

With the New Method, Hope struck out in a new direction, creating his own style of swordplay based on his admiration for the backsword method of the stage gladiators:

For without all doubt, the art of the back-sword, is the fountain and source of all true defence; and that of the small, only a branch proceeding and separat from it

The New Method is an attempt to create a universal fencing system for all edged weapons based on the hanging guard alone. Hope intended this system primarily for smallsword fencers, but he offers alternate instructions for backsword and spadroon fencers as well.

Hope’s New Method is the only truly native form of Scottish smallsword fencing, but the French school (which Hope calls the Common Method) was also very widespread in the Lowlands, and probably known by a few of the more fashion-minded Highland aristocrats as well.

Hope’s hanging guard in seconde is taken by holding the sword hand as high as the head with the hand in seconde position, the upper body stooping forward somewhat to protect the lower torso, and the left hand held open in front of the body and to the left, with the palm facing right, in readiness to displace the opponent’s blade. The blade slopes diagonally across the body, with the point aimed at your opponent’s thigh unless circumstances require otherwise.

The forward crouch recommended by Hope is characteristic of the Highland swordsmen shown in the Penicuik sketches of Jacobite rebels in the ‘45. (In fact, his guard would be identical to the hanging guard shown in the Penicuik sketches, if the left hand held a targe and the left foot was kept forward.)

The advance, retreat, lunge and other elements of footwork are for the most part performed as in modern fencing. Hope advises to always begin by retreating five to six yards, then advancing on guard to prevent a surprise attack. Hope discourages the use of dequarting and volting.

In older styles of swordplay, a pass is a step in which one foot passes the other, but Hope defines the pass as a running attack by the adversary’s right side while thrusting, or in other words a fleche. He says that the true pass is used only in "school-play," and is too risky to be used with sharps. He advises the use of a half-pass, where the running attack is terminated as soon as the sword reaches the opponent, before you have actually passed him.

Hope defines enclosing as the act of moving into close distance with the adversary, especially by a running step such as the half-pass. Commanding is defined as the act of seizing control of your adversary’s sword (especially by the fort near the hilt) in order to strike him safely or compel him to surrender. Hope strongly advises against attempting to command the adversary’s blade if he is physically stronger than you are.

Hope says that from the hanging guard only two parries are needed- Without and Below (covering the outside line) and Without and Above (covering the inside line). These parries were later known as the outside half-hanger and inside half-hanger respectively. Head cuts are to be parried Without and Above, in a position that a Common Method fencer would describe as a St George guard.

He emphasizes the importance of making a true cross with the opponent’s blade when parrying, and not relying on the hilt to protect your hand.

Circular parries (or, as Hope calls them, "contre-caveating parades") are used in opposition to the disengagement or feint, and to find the opposing blade. Hope speaks very highly of circular parries, and recommends them for any encounter with sharps or in poor lighting.

If the adversary opposes you with his point high and directly towards you or to your right, Hope advises you to modify your guard by raising the point and extending the arm, but if the opponent strikes, thrusts or alters his guard you are to return to a standard hanging guard. Otherwise the hanging guard can be used for all circumstances.

Hope advises the use of the beat parry for greater security. He also advises the swordsman to focus on the defensive more than the offensive- advice that is very typical of the Scottish fencing masters in general.

According to Hope, the best attacks against the hanging guard are the straight thrust, the single or double feint, the half-pass, and the enclosing and commanding of the opponent’s blade.

Hope advises the swordsman to thrust with the sword and arm on a level with the shoulder, as this thrust will tend to strike the less-easily-defended low lines.

Twenty-one years after Hope published his New Method based on the stage gladiators, one of the actual Scottish stage gladiators published a manual of his own. Donald McBane was a mercenary, gambling boss, pimp, duelist and prizefighter, so it is no surprise that his work is considerably less genteel than that of the gentlemanly Hope. McBane presents a rough and tumble version of the Common Method of backsword play and smallsword fencing, including several "dirty tricks" and repeated warnings not to trust your opponent, no matter how honorable he may appear.

McBane’s backsword instructions include five guards- Inside, Outside, Medium, Hanging and the St. George guard. The stance is similar to that used in modern fencing, except that the heels are not in-line with each other, but separated by a few inches. His backsword techniques are simple, few in number, and recognizably similar to those found in later works on the Highland broadsword.

McBane also includes some brief advice on archaic weapon combinations.

When you fight with sword and dagger, McBane advises that the sword be held in an outside guard and the dagger above your brow (essentially in a hanging guard) in order to defend your head. This is probably not a dirk, which has no crossguard to allow its use as a parrying dagger. It could be a basket-hilted dagger of the type used by contemporary prizefighters.

McBane says that you should often have your weapons crossed. This implies an X parry where the sword supports the dagger, and the dagger then clears the opposing blade off the line while the sword ripostes.

For sword and buckler, McBane advises you to hold your left hand "extended with your buckler, at such a rate as not to hinder your sight, taking care to cover your buckler with your sword, and as much on your outside guard."

If you cut at your opponent’s leg, McBane advises you to cover your head with your buckler in order to close the line against his counterattack.

McBane advises that the target is very dangerous to those who don’t know how to use it properly. If it is held the wrong way, it can create a dangerous blind spot. To avoid this, make sure to hold the target with the edge facing the enemy, not the flat. This advice is also found in the writings of the Renaissance master Giacomo DiGrassi.

McBane wrote primarily for the smallsword fencer, but much of his advice would also be useful for the broadsword or backsword fencer. Not all of these methods are found in the other Scottish texts for the broadsword or backsword.

McBane describes an attack known as the Boar’s Thrust, which is made by lowering the point suddenly and then thrusting upward with a lunge. This attack can be difficult to parry, as it is unclear where it is likely to land. McBane mentions that this technique was derided as a "Poke," and says that he would use it only against a person he had a mind to kill.

McBane depicts another technique, often incorrectly described as the Boar’s Thrust. In this technique, the opponent thrusts to the high lines, and the swordsman counters by keeling down and thrusting up into the opponent’s armpit.

McBane’s general advice is practical to the point of being ruthless:

If you are engaged with a ruffian or stranger, be watchful that he does not throw his hat, dust or something else at your face which may blind you, upon which he will take the opportunity…and if he misses, trust to his heels. I would not advise you at any time to do the last mentioned, but with a bravo or ruffian, I would throw anything in his face to blind him, and then take the advantage of it: such fellows as those, often carry dust in their pockets, or something on purpose for that end; but no gentleman ought to use such methods; unless with such people who often carry pocket pistols about ‘em, so to prevent the worst to oneself, I think ‘tis not amiss to get the better of them as soon as possible, by blinding them, or by any other means whatever, before they show a pistol, for fair play is what they ought not to have.

It should be mentioned that McBane’s hanging guard is taken with a bent arm and with the point covering the left knee, which seems to be a compromise between the true guardant ward of Silver and the later hanging guard of the Highland broadsword manuals.

McBane himself was born in the Highlands, in the region of Inverness. He refers to himself as having "Highland blood," and his first experience of combat was as a young soldier in the last full-scale battle between two Highland clans. There are some indications in his memoirs that Scots Gaelic was in fact his native language. Despite this, he grew up in a region where the clan system was weak and the influence of Lowland society was strong. He often refers to the Highlanders as if they were foreigners, and he spent his mature years in English and Lowland Scots society, fighting on the side of the government against the Jacobite rebels. The system of backsword play in his manual is clearly the method of the prizefighters and not the method of the clan warriors, with which he seems to have been largely unfamiliar. Nevertheless, his work contains a few unusual features (such as the kneeling thrust and the turned-over targe stance) which have striking parallels to ancient Celtic methods of combat, suggesting that Scottish swordplay may have retained some archaic techniques even outside of Highland society.

The Highlanders were known for their special love of the sword, and their skill in wielding it. James Logan quoted Johnstone as saying that the Highland Charge was "so terrible that the best troops in Europe would with difficulty sustain the first shock of it; and if the swords of the Highlanders once came in contact with them, their defeat was inevitable."

Highland armies routed trained government troops at Tippermuir (1644), Aberdeen (1644), Fyvie (1644), Inverlochy (1645), Alford (1645), and Kilsyth (1645) before they were defeated at Philiphaugh (1645) and Rhunahoarine (1647). Again, a Highland force destroyed an army of redcoats at Killiecrankie (1689), before it was defeated at Dunkeld (1689). Highland warriors fought government troops to a standstill at Sherrifmuir (1715), and once again routed government troops at Prestonpans and Inverurie in 1745. At this point, the Highlanders invaded England, but were forced to turn back. They defeated another government army at Falkirk in 1746, before they were defeated for the last time at Culloden (1746). (At some of these battles, the government forces also included some Highland soldiers.)

This is an impressive record of military victories, especially for a people whose front-rank warriors relied primarily on the sword and battle-axe when their enemies were using massed volleys of gunfire. The final defeat at Culloden is often presented as inevitable- the destruction of a mob of brave but foolhardy barbarians, armed with primitive weapons, who charged wildly at an army of modern soldiers. This is an anachronistic viewpoint.

When the Highlanders defeated government armies so many times- often inflicting terrible casualties in the process- their defeat can hardly be called inevitable, or their tactics foolhardy, despite the eventual outcome.

There is a myth that the famous "Highland Charge" was the Gaelic way of making war since the Iron Age, and that they held onto it into the eighteenth century only because they could not adapt to progress. This is not the truth. Before the 1640’s, small groups of elite warriors had fought clan battles by occupying or attacking fixed positions such as hilltops. The Highland Charge was a new tactic, a deliberate adaptation to the conditions of the time. Massed volleys of gunfire were increasingly dominating warfare. At the same time, the political chaos caused by the collapse of the Lordship of the Isles had made clan feuds constant and far more volatile. Chiefs could no longer rely on the warrior gentlemen of the clan alone. They began to use much larger forces of common clansmen to back up the gentlemen in battle. But these ghillies, as they were known, had neither the weapons nor the training to fight like the professional armies of their English and Lowland Scottish enemies. The clans could not attempt to use rifles or muskets in a systematic way. Instead, they relied on a weakness of those weapons. Guns at that time were slow to load, and soldiers weighed down with heavy equipment did not move very quickly. The typical infantry soldier had a bayonet for fighting in close, but this had to be attached to the gun, which also took time. Rather than exchanging volleys of gunfire, the Highlanders decided to rely on speed and psychological shock. They ran forward at high speed, preferably down hill, then fired their guns just before they reached the enemy, yelled their battle-cries, and charged in, swinging swords and Lochaber axes. Often, before the soldiers could either re-load or fix their bayonets, they found the Highlanders on top of them.

When they struck the line of soldiers, the Higlanders knocked the enemy rifles aside with their targes, and dirked the men in the front rank while cutting at the rear ranks with their swords. But it rarely came to this. Over and over again, government soldiers simply turned and ran when the Highland Charge began. Loaded down by their equipment, they were cut down from behind as they ran.

At Culloden, however, the British army did not panic. They held firm, weakened the Highland force with artillery fire and grapeshot, then met the charge with new bayonet tactics which were designed specifically to combat Highlanders. The order to charge was not given until it was too late, and most of the Highland warriors were killed by artillery or volley fire before they even reached the front line.

During this last uprising of the Highland clans in 1745-1746, an anonymous artist in the Penicuik area drew a number of illustrations of Highland warriors posing with sword and targe.

While this work is not a fencing manual and wasn’t intended to illustrate technique, it is a window into how the Highlanders actually used their weapons.

In these illustrations, the sword is held in the strong hand and the targe is held in the weak hand.

The lead foot faces straight forward and the other foot is angled at about 45 degrees.

The feet are spaced about 1 ½ foot-lengths apart, and the rear foot is about the same distance to the right or left of the lead foot, depending on which foot is leading.

The body is angled slightly to the side, but not profiled as in Hope or McBane.

The legs are bent rather deeply, and more weight is put on the lead leg than on the rear leg, causing a slight forward crouch.

One of the sketches shows that the Highlanders were still using the passing step rather than the lunge at this date. From this position, the swordsman can advance, retreat, step in, pass forwards and backwards, shift, leap, and traverse.

The guards shown in the Penicuik sketches seem to favor the aggressive use of the targe to close the line and control the opponent’s weapons, allowing the sword to attack or counterattack freely. This is not a style in which the shield is merely used to passively block the opponent’s attacks.

The footwork appears to be a survival of medieval fencing practice, relying on the passing step rather than the lunge.

The positions in which the sword is held bear some resemblance to Lowland use of the broadsword and backsword in this period, but they are also the same guards found in medieval European swordsmanship generally. The Highland style could be described as a late survival of medieval fencing practice, which is not surprising given the conservative nature of Gaelic society.

After the disaster at Culloden, the old martial schools of the Highlands disappeared, with no aristocratic clients to maintain them. However, the old skills were not entirely forgotten. Now that the independent power of the clans was broken, the British government brought Highland warriors as soldiers into the regular army. Mercenary service was an ancient Highland tradition, so perhaps fighting for their former enemies was seen as a natural development by the Highlanders themselves. In 1768, the infantry in general stopped using the sword, but the Highland Regiments were allowed to keep the basket-hilted broadswords for which they were famous.

Some English cavalry regiments also adopted the weapon around this time. The Highland broadsword system became popular in the New World. In North Carolina, Loyalist Highlanders used broadswords against the American rebels. In 1778, the British government had a regiment raised in Nova Scotia, called the Highland Emigrants Regiment. They carried the basket-hilted broadsword in their successful defense of Quebec against the invading Americans.

In Scotland, fencing teachers taught the Highland broadsword both to soldiers and others, and English fencing masters also took an interest in the Scottish weapon. This process began almost immediately after the downfall of the clan system, with the publication of Thomas Page’s "Use of the Broadsword" in 1746.

This obscure text (which was recently made available by the Linacre School of Defence) is perhaps the most interesting of all surviving manuals on the Highland broadsword. It contains such unusual features as a system of circular footwork including both lunges and passes, a collection of secret strikes previously taught only to select students, and most interestingly of all a complete system for the use of the sword and targe.

While this does not seem to have been the only method in use by the Highlanders, it does match the clues found in McBane and MacGregor’s texts, while preserving certain features that can only have come from a much older style of swordplay, such as closing the line with the targe and counterattacking simultaneously with the sword. As such, Page’s system is an invaluable link between the native method of the Highlanders and the method shown by later masters like Angelo and Mathewson. With the discovery of this text, it is no longer necessary to speculate about what Highland sword and targe play might have looked like. We finally have a primary source.

Page’s system of footwork appears at a superficial glance to be identical to that found in the other broadsword manuals, including the use of the advance, retreat, lunge and so forth. However, he also describes a method of circular footwork for use in slipping attacks and counterattacking. This method is not at all the same as the footwork found in most other broadsword manuals from the time period, and seems to be a survival of older styles. This method, which Page calls Traversing or Equilibrio, is described by means of a circular diagram which was later reproduced in Taylor’s manuals.

A number of Page’s techniques, including his sword and targe method, can be performed only with the use of this circular traversing footwork.

Page’s guards at single sword are largely the same as in the earlier backsword manuals and the later broadsword manuals, except for the fact that his stance is different because of the Equilibrio footwork. He mentions the inside, outside, hanging and St George’s guards, omitting the medium guard for some reason. He also mentions that two other guards have been borrowed from smallsword play and added to the broadsword exercise, but he does not name these guards.

Page holds the left hand behind the body on the inside guard, much as it would be done in classical foil fencing. On the other guards, the left hand is held in front of the body just below the navel. In a post on Sword Forum International, Paul Wagner described the use of the left hand as being essential to proper balance in Page’s system:

"So the left-hand position varies depending on your stance / Guard, or as Page says: ‘...whilst his Right Hand is varying the Center of Gravity every Moment by continually Throwing from Side to Side and guarding every Part successively; the Left is its Counter Balance, and by moving Diametrically Opposite, preserve the Center of Gravity in the Center of Magnitude, and both still perpendicular over the standing Foot’ Not only does using the left hand in this way keep you back-weighted while traversing, it's a tremendous power-generating mechanism too, so don't think of it as merely a counter-balance - it's an active member of every change of position."

In the St George’s guard, the right foot is slipped back parallel to the left foot, which is the method shown in the Anti-Pugilism text fifty years later.

The other broadsword masters instruct the swordsman to aim his weapon at the opponent’s eye, but Page aims it at the opponent’s temple- the left temple in the inside guard, and the right temple in the outside guard.

Old Irish medical lore included a curious list of the so-called Twelve Doors of the Soul, preserved in a text called the Bretha dein checht or Judgements of Dian Cecht, translated by D.A. Binchy. These were the twelve places on a human body where injuries were most likely to be fatal according to medieval Irish healers.

Christopher Vermeers of the Cateran Society suggested that this knowledge might have been widespread among Gaelic warriors, as it would have been useful to them to know where best to aim their attacks. Such combative anatomies are found in other martial arts around the world, including Japanese kenjutsu.

Further research confirmed that this list is entirely accurate medically, and that Gaelic lore contains a number of references to warriors attacking these particular targets or trying to protect these targets from being attacked. We do not know whether or not Scots Gaelic warriors categorized such knowledge into the Twelve Doors as the Bretha dein checht does, but they do seem to have been aware that injuries to these areas were especially dangerous.

In the Bretha dein checht, the temple is the third door of the soul. Page’s inside and outside guards threaten the opponent’s third door, unlike the other broadsword manuals. (Page himself does not seem to have been aware of any such system, but his teachers or sources may still have been influenced by it.)

One of the unique features of Page’s manual is the inclusion of "finesses," or techniques previously taught only in secret to select pupils by the few masters who knew them. These are, of course, merely variations on the standard method, but their inclusion in a printed manual is unusual.

Page describes only one engaging guard with the sword and targe, which is an outside guard with the targe held forward a little further than the sword, and presumably edge-on as advised by McBane. This is the same guard described by both McBane and MacGregor.

Despite the reservations which have been expressed by some, this manual does appear to represent a genuine Highland tradition of sword and targe combat.

Some years after the publication of Page’s manual, an officer of the Black Watch came out with a broadsword text known as Anti-Pugilism. Paul Wagner has identified the anonymous Highland Officer of this manual with a soldier named Captain Sinclair, who later published a book on Cudgeling with a nearly identical text.

While the Anti-Pugilism text is a manual of broadsword fencing, the illustrations all show the singlestick rather than the broadsword. The Highland Officer intended his work to be useful both to broadsword fencers and to those who wished to learn the art of the stick for self-defense. The singlestick was a traditional training weapon for the broadsword, and in most respects the stick and the sword are used with the same method.

The Highland Officer makes extensive use of the free hand to support the sword arm or close the line against the opponent’s attack. In a few cases, this seems to match the use of the targe, and may possibly derive from it.

His method also includes a number of techniques that rely on sentiment du fer, or sensitivity to the feeling of the opponent’s blade against yours when engaged. A skilled fencer can use this sensitivity to predict and control his opponent’s actions.

The Highland Officer lists five standard guards- the Inside, Outside, Medium, Hanging and St. George’s Guard.

He advises the use of the inside guard whenever you join swords with your opponent, and the outside guard whenever you are recovering from the lunge.

All of the guards except for the St George Guard are performed with the heels in-line, the right foot pointing straight forward and the left foot pointing to the left, exactly like a modern on-guard stance.

On the inside and outside guards, he advises you to "Raise the left arm as high as the forehead, forming a half circle; the hand open."

The Highland Officer’s Medium Guard is "between the inside and the outside; the thumb nail upward, so that the flat of the swords meet, both being on that guard."

It is used "when you oppose yourself in a posture of defense, before your antagonist, not knowing on what guard he means to join you. If he joins you on the outside, take care to oppose the outside; and vice versa, if he engages on the inside, oppose the inside."

The hanging guard of the Highland Officer, "Is formed by raising the hand as high as the head, keeping the wrist firm; the thumb pointing to the ground; the arm bent, so as to form an angle, through which you must always see your adversary. Keep your point sloping so as to cover the left knee. Place the left hand under the sword arm; the palm flat and close to the body, in order to parry your adversary's thrust, should he attempt it on the recover. If he attempts a cut at your arm, or head, you have only to straighten the arm."

As Paul Wagner again points out in "Highland Broadsword," this is the only printed description of George Silver’s true guardant ward outside of Silver’s own "Brief Instructions," which were written in 1605 but not published until 1898.

The Highland Officer says that the St George’s Guard "Is seldom used but in order to prevent being broke in upon by common cudgel players, or for show." It is also performed differently from the St George’s Guard shown by some of the other Highland broadsword manuals. The right foot is brought back "obliquely until it be parallel with the left, and about the same distance as when upon the former guards; the body fronting your adversary, sinking well upon both knees; the left hand placed upon the thigh to support the body firm and upright--draw the right elbow a little back, so that you just cover the left shoulder."

If attacked on this guard, you are instructed to "parry his stroke as from the hanging guard; and, in the action of parrying, pass the left foot behind the right, and swiftly deliver your thrust."

The Highland Officer also describes a sixth guard, the Spadroon Guard, which is the same as Angelo’s Half Circle Guard, except that you "bring the left hand to steady the sword arm, which is to be a little bent." The Highland Officer says that in this position you are "secure from either cut or thrust of your adversary," and you are to use this guard "when you are pressed hard, and have little room to act in," usually from the inside guard. If the adversary attacks your head while you are in this guard, the Highland Officer advises a single-time counterattack, by raising the hilt as high as your face, in a line with your eyes, with your left hand covering the left side of your forehead, lunging with a thrust to the body so that your hilt and blade provide opposition against his attack. Your left hand is in position to put his blade aside.

The Highland Officer describes an extremely complicated salute with the broadsword. Its purpose seems to be to practice the guards and cuts while demonstrating grace and etiquette in the salle.

According to James Logan in his "Scottish Gael" of 1833:

The management of the broadsword, or single stick, which it closely resembles, as now taught, may be comprehended in thirty-one lessons. The old Highland exercise was not less remarkable for simplicity and elegance, than utility... The salute of the Celtic swordsman was peculiarly graceful. The importance of this exercise was evinced by enabling undisciplined troops to make head against numerous armies, and even defeat skilful veterans.

As "Anti-Pugilism" contains thirty-two lessons (thirty-one if the advice on loose play is excepted) and an elaborate salute, and Logan’s words include a paraphrase of a line from its preface, it can be concluded that the Highland Officer’s text was the source for Logan’s comments.

In "Highland Broadsword," Paul Wagner says that the Highland Officer’s work was an influence on the later Highland broadsword method of the Angelo fencing dynasty, which was then used as the basis for the 19^th century British military systems of cutlass play and cavalry saber.

An examination of the works associated with the Angelo family shows that they clearly studied both Thomas Page’s Highland broadsword manual and Anti-Pugilism. Therefore it would appear that the later systems of British broadsword fencing were in fact based on Scottish sources and not the other way around as has been suggested (even though earlier English backsword systems belonged to the same tradition).

Only a year after the publication of Anti-Pugilism, another Scottish fencing master published a work of his own.

Archibald MacGregor was a fencing master with a philosophical turn of mind and a fondness for biblical references and historical speculation. While he never published a full treatise on fencing, he did deliver a lecture on the broadsword, smallsword, spadroon, quarterstaff, buckler and targe, which was published in 1791. He also invented his own system of fencing with the rifle and bayonet.

MacGregor mentions the medium, inside, outside, St. George, and hanging guards. His medium guard is the low medium of McBane and the Highland Officer. With all the guards, MacGregor prefers to hold the left arm behind the head in a half-circle like a classical foil fencer.

MacGregor seems to have studied the works of McBane and Hope, as several lines in his lectures are paraphrased from their works, and he actually mentions McBane as "the noted D. Bain, a renowned hero, who always came off victorious."

Like Hope, he was aware that the hanging guard could be used as a universal defense, to the exclusion of the other guards.

As MacGregor’s work was not a complete treatise, very few specific techniques are mentioned. MacGregor describes two feints and a counterattack in close distance.

Despite the lack of technical instruction, MacGregor dispenses a great deal of practical advice. He considers the broadsword to be the mother of all defense with weapons, though he prefers the spadroon for his own use because it combines the advantages of the broadsword with those of the smallsword.

He advises a shorter man to fight from the riposte and to close distance against his taller opponent in order to gain the advantage, and he advises a weaker man to parry close to the hilt and near to his own body against a stronger opponent in order to gain leverage over his weapon. He instructs the duelist to keep the sun behind him or to his right, and to attack the sword arm in order to spare his opponent’s life.

MacGregor is unusually concerned with the philosophical, moral and spiritual issues of combat, advocating an ethical approach in which the opponent’s life is spared unless the swordsman has absolutely no other choice, and describing the benefits of broadsword fencing to both the swordsman’s health and his soul.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of MacGregor’s treatise is to be found in his comments on the older weapons and combinations. He describes the buckler and the method of parrying with it and countering with the sword; he confirms that the targe was used as an offensive as well as a defensive weapon; he describes the single-time counterattacks of the sword and dagger; and also a system of quarterstaff guards based on the guards of the broadsword.

He also describes his own system of bayonet fencing, which seems to have relied primarily on two hanging guards with the point turned down, but also included the inside and outside guards, and he includes a peculiar set of instructions on self-defense against dogs. (MacGregor concludes that the best method is to strike the dog in the legs with a stick.)

In 1799, Henry Angelo (son of the great smallsword fencer Domenico Angelo) published a poster called "The Guards and Lessons of the Highland Broadsword," illustrated by Rowlandson. This poster illustrated eight Guards, and described ten Lessons, or Set Play sequences.

The previous year, he had published "Hungarian and Highland Broadsword," which was intended as a guide for English cavalrymen who had adopted the Highland broadsword for their own use. This includes complete illustrations for the ten Lessons, which are here called "Divisions." This work also shows an exercise known as the Manual, which includes every cut and parry found in Angelo’s system.

Angelo’s works contain very little text, relying primarily on illustrations. There is no use of the thrust at all, which makes some sense for cavalrymen (some of whom felt that the thrust was too dangerous from horseback as the blade could become stuck in the opponent’s body when the horse rode by) but otherwise makes this a somewhat artificial system. Perhaps Angelo was influenced by the singlestick practice, in which the thrust is not usually allowed because it is too dangerous with a rigid stick.

There is also no use of actions on the blade, or of any footwork other than the lunge and shift, so that this cannot be considered a complete system on its own. However, in combination with the teaching of the other broadsword masters, Angelo’s Ten Lessons are a useful training tool, and other manuals were also published soon afterwards that cast more light on Angelo’s method.

One interesting aspect of Angelo’s method is that the shift is used with nearly every parry. The other broadsword masters advocate the shift in order to avoid an attack to the leg or to strengthen one of the other guards by increasing the distance. Angelo takes this approach to its logical conclusion, by using the shift as his primary defense and the parry or counterattack (depending on circumstances) to supplement it.

As the range of the lunge is determined by the rear foot rather than the lead foot, this constant shifting doesn’t affect the swordsman’s ability to attack his opponent. It does, however, make him very difficult to attack safely. Defensively, Angelo’s method is perhaps the strongest of all the Highland broadsword systems.

Angelo illustrates eight guards: outside, inside, St George, hanging, inside half-hanger, outside half-hanger, medium and half-circle.

His outside, inside, hanging and medium guards are all used as engaging guards, while the outside, inside and hanging guards can also be used to parry, and the remaining guards are used only to parry.

The shift accompanies every parry, except in the feinting sequence found in Lessons 2 and 3.

The left hand is held at the hip as in modern saber fencing, rather than being held beside the face or in front of the body as in the writings of earlier masters.

Angelo’s medium guard is totally vertical, and thus very different from the medium guard shown in McBane or Mathewson. His hanging guard is shown with a fully extended arm in "Guards and Lessons of the Highland Broadsword", but is shown with a bent arm in "Hungarian and Highland Broadsword", in a position seemingly based on the hanging guard of the Anti-Pugilism text.

In 1798, a student of the Angelo fencing family and member of the Westminster Volunteers printed a work called "The Art of Defence on Foot with the Broad Sword and Sabre, uniting the Scotch and Austrian Methods into one Regular System." The printer was a man named Roworth, but although he is often cited as the author of this work there is no proof that he actually was.

In 1804, a nearly identical work was published, also titled "The Art of Defence on Foot with the Broad Sword and Sabre." This work is generally attributed to John Taylor, who was the broadsword master to the Westminster Volunteers. The work contains the Ten Lessons of John Taylor, which are almost identical to the Ten Lessons of Henry Angelo, but otherwise there is nothing in the book to support the theory that Taylor was actually the author. Nevertheless, the author of the book shall be referred to here as "Taylor" for the sake of convenience.

Taylor has been described as "a sturdy English master of the broadsword... who did little more than transmit the lessons as he had learned them, in a style differing not much from that in vogue in the days of Good Queen Beth."

However, this statement is inaccurate, at least as applied to the so-called Taylor broadsword manual. Whoever the author this work actually was, he made a careful study of existing Highland broadsword manuals, rather than simply describing the traditional English system. He quotes or paraphrases Page’s manual of 1746 in several places, without ever naming him, even going so far as to include Page’s footwork chart.

He describes the spadroon guard of the Anti-Pugilism text under the name of the half-circle guard, while noting that it is also called the spadroon guard and sometimes taken with the left hand supporting the sword arm, exactly as in Anti-Pugilism.

If the author based his method on a broadsword system that already existed, he clearly went out of his way to seek out sources on the Highland broadsword specifically. However, the Taylor/Roworth manuals cannot truly be described as Highland broadsword manuals, because they also include a new method of performing the cuts, which cannot actually be performed with a basket-hilted broadsword at all.

Other than this new system of cutting, the method described in these manuals is essentially a more complete description of the Highland broadsword method of the Angelo posters, and both Taylor and Roworth had connections to the Angelos. Thus, we can assume that the Angelo’s Highland broadsword method was the basis of this system. However, neither book is described as being a manual on the Highland method. The Roworth version claims to "(unite) the Scotch and Austrian Methods into one Regular System," in other words to combine the techniques of the heavier Highland broadsword with those of the cavalry saber of Eastern Europe. The Taylor version doesn’t mention a "Scotch Method" at all, but does depict kilted Highlanders in some of its illustrations. It seems likely that both manuals were intended to describe a new system for use with the light cavalry saber, based partly on the method of the Highland broadsword but also containing methods not appropriate for that weapon. As such, the statement that Taylor was merely "(transmitting) the lessons as he had learned them" does not seem to be correct.

Much of the material in these manuals can be found in either Thomas Page’s "Use of the Broadsword," "Anti-Pugilism," or the Angelo broadsword works.

According to Paul Wagner in "Highland Broadsword," the method of the Angelo school was a combination of Le Marchant’s light cavalry saber method of 1796, the English backsword tradition, and techniques derived from earlier Highland broadsword manuals such as Anti-Pugilism.

However, upon examining Taylor’s manual, it would appear that the elements drawn from Highland broadsword manuals make up the bulk of the text. The so-called Taylor and Roworth manuals appear to be an effort by the Angelo school to design a saber method based largely on the Highland broadsword. As the work was reprinted in New York in 1824, this system must have been a popular one.

In 1817, the broadsword method of the Angelo school was described again in "A Treatise on the Usefulness of Fencing" by Henry Angelo. In this work, he reveals that his son was assigned the task of designing a cutlass exercise for the Royal Navy, and that this also was based on the Highland broadsword exercise. Thus, the method of the Highland broadsword spread through the efforts of the Angelo fencing dynasty, to influence military swordsmanship in both Britain and America in the 19^th century.

The Angelo fencing dynasty even established a branch in Scotland itself, with John Xavier Angelo’s Royal Academy of Exercises in Edinburgh.

The trend was now well-established of English fencing masters writing treatises on the Highland weapon, and this was continued with Thomas Mathewson’s Fencing Familiarized of 1805. Mathewson, like Angelo, was writing for English soldiers who had adopted the Highland broadsword. However, unlike Angelo, he was trained in Scotland by several swordsmen with Highland names, including a Serjeant-major Grant of the Black Watch, and civilian fencing masters such as Campbell, M’Lane and M’Gregor. The latter was quite possibly the Archibald MacGregor who wrote the Lecture on the Art of Defence in 1791. As such, Mathewson was familiar with both the style of swordsmanship practiced in the Highland regiments at that time, and with the method taught by civilian swordsmen in Scotland.

He does away with the half-hangers, half-circle and St George guards, acknowledging only the Outside, Inside, Medium and Hanging guards. While this simplifies the terminology of the art, it doesn’t actually change the method itself, because the half-hangers and the St George guard are simply parries from the hanging guard in the first place. Mathewson’s intention was to simplify the art in order to make it easier to learn.

Like the Highland Officer, Mathewson teaches the scholar to practice his cuts by flourishing the blade in a figure-eight motion. This is a moulinet from the wrist, designed to increase the cutting power of the strike. While not as powerful as a moulinet from the elbow, this cut would still be devastating with a sharp blade.

Mathewson does not rely on the shift as much as Angelo, but he does advise its frequent use and says that it is superior to parrying with the sword. He also makes considerable use of the traverse to change the angle of attack and take the advantage over the opponent.

Mathewson begins by teaching the art of cutting, or as he puts it, "throwing the edge," by practicing two figure-eight cutting patterns- cuts one and two are known as the "figure of eight downwards," and cuts three and four are called "the figure of eight upwards."

Mathewson’s method is the simplest of any of the broadsword masters, using only four guards- Inside, Outside, Medium and Hanging. The parries from the hanging guard (which the other masters call the Half-Hangers and the St George) are not named, but simply included in the hanging guard.

Mathewson’s inside guard is taken with the heels in-line (as in a modern fencing on-guard stance), and with the left hand held behind the head as it is in modern fencing. Mathewson says this guard "is the most used by fencers when meeting or advancing on each other, to begin the combat, and is much the handsomest attitude of a fencer."

His outside guard is taken with the heel off-line three inches, and the left hand on the hip as in modern saber fencing.

His medium guard is not truly a guard at all, but a thrust in carte (fourth hand position) on a lunge, with the left arm thrown back as a counter-balance, exactly as it is done in modern fencing.

His hanging guard is taken with the heel three inches off the line, and the left hand on the hip as in modern saber fencing. Mathewson says, "This guard is the best against a strong or unexperienced adversary, or for blows for the head, even by good fencers, you are likewise ready for parrying a thrust, as well as guarding a blow, and in a position for guarding or returning either cut or thrust."

Mathewson teaches the guards through the means of three exercises- "Of the Four Guards, Left Foot Standing," "Of the Four Guards, Traversing to the Left and Right," and "Of the Four Guards, Advancing and Retreating."

In the Four Guards, Left Foot Standing Exercise, the scholar begins on slope swords, then takes an inside guard, then an outside guard, then lunges to form a medium guard, then recovers to a hanging guard, finishing on an inside guard.

In the Traversing Exercise, the scholar begins with an inside guard, traverses to the left with his left foot to an outside guard, then with his right foot to the left to an inside guard, then with his left foot to the left to a hanging guard, then lunges to a medium guard, then traverses to the right with his right foot to take an outside guard, then with his left foot to the right to take an inside guard, then with his right foot to the right to take a hanging guard, and finishes by performing a reverse lunge with the left foot, coming to a medium guard.

Mathewson describes an advance and retreat identical to those found in modern fencing, though he advises against relying too heavily on the retreat as it is damaging to the swordsman’s morale.

In the same section, he also recommends the use of wooden wasters, as these will "assist the scholar in holding his sword, and in receiving and giving blows with the edge."

It was not uncommon for bayonet fencers to bout against swordsmen, and generally the bayonet fencer was held to have the advantage. Mathewson, however, believed the broadsword to be superior, and he includes a technique for defeating the "spear, pike, or gun and bayonet."

The swordsman adopts an inside guard as he advances on the bayonet fencer. When they are close enough to engage weapons, he changes to a low hanging guard on the outside, crossing the bayonet and maintaining contact. The bayonet fencer lunges, and the swordsman responds by changing to an inside guard without breaking the engagement, in order to drive the gun out of the line of attack. The swordsman finishes with a thrust to the chest.

Mathewson advises the swordsman to use the left hand to parry or grip the gun if the bayonet fencer does not attack as described above. If the bayonet fencer attempts to disengage in order to thrust within the arms, the counter of tierce (a low hanging guard) will bring him back into the same position as described above.

Mathewson says that the parry with the hanging guard against the gun is safe, but that the return is not as deceptive as the method described here. He also says that the gun is too heavy to allow for effective feints, and that the bayonet fencer will not be as steady on his lunge as the swordsman.

In 1704, the Scots Guards established a Highland Company, which was stationed at Inverness until 1712. Independent companies of pro-government Highlanders who guarded against cattle raiders were organized officially into the Black Watch in 1740. And throughout the Jacobite uprisings, some Highlanders served in local militias on the side of the government. But it was not until after the rebel clans had been defeated that the story of the Highland Regiments really began.

In 1757, Great Britain became involved in a war with France which became the Seven Years’ War, or the French and Indian War as it was known in the American colonies. Simon Fraser, a former Jacobite rebel, was encouraged to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the government by raising a regiment for the British army. He called his clansmen out, much as his ancestors had done, and in a few weeks he had raised 600 men. With the help of his neighbors he eventually recruited 1,460 men into the new 78^th Frasers’ Highlanders Regiment, and he took them to America as their colonel and Chief. The 78^th scaled the Heights of Abraham to help take Quebec from the French and conquer Canada for the United Kingdom. The British commander, General Wolfe, died in the arms of a Highlander during the battle.

In the Army, tartan could be worn and swords carried, both of which were otherwise illegal from Culloden until 1784. This attracted many men to the Highland Regiments. In the course of the war, nine Highland Regiments were raised, although many were disbanded at the wars’ end. In 1775, the British government again asked Simon Fraser to raise a regiment, this time to help subdue the rebellious Americans. Several Highland Regiments saw service in the American War of Independence, including a Highland Emigrants’ Regiment from Nova Scotia who successfully defended Quebec from American invaders. All of these soldiers carried the classic Highland basket-hilted broadsword for hand-to-hand combat, although the musket was definitely their primary weapon.

Many Highland Regiments were founded- the Seaforth Highlanders in 1778, the Cameron Highlanders in 1793, the Gordon Highlanders in 1794, the Argyll Highlanders in 1794, the Sutherland Highlanders in 1800. At first, these regiments were recruited by clan chiefs or chieftains from among their own clansmen.

However, the bad faith of the government in keeping its promises to the soldiers led to a number of mutinies, and some hangings. Also, the Clearances both embittered the Highlanders and removed many of them overseas. It became harder to recruit men in the ancient way, so cash bounties and other bonuses were introduced. Eventually, this eroded the clan basis of the Highland Regiments, as young men looked around from one recruiter to the next to see who would offer the best inducements.

The Highlanders gained a reputation for unusual bravery and fortitude, especially during the Napoleonic Wars, when Great Britain was often under the threat of a French invasion. Highland soldiers were especially known for their use of the broadsword, at a time when the infantry in general had stopped carrying swords.

The first generation of Highland soldiers after Culloden relied on the traditional combination of broadsword and targe, which they probably employed much the same as their ancestors had done. They excelled in the guerilla warfare of the American frontier, where their relationship with hostile Indians seems to have been one of mutual respect even in the midst of war. Gaelic poetry from the French and Indian war boasts that the "Forest People" will not be able to resist the broadswords and targes of the Highland warriors, but the Highlanders came to identify with the Indians as fellow warriors and victims of colonialism, and a Gaelic song about the New World that was originally named "They’re Indians Sure Enough" eventually became "We’re Indians Sure Enough" in the oral tradition.

As for the Indians, they were said to have viewed the Highlanders as "brothers," and "of the same extraction as themselves."

One Indian leader, referring to the Highlanders’ entry into the war, said, "the English, formerly women, are now men."

The Highland soldiers quickly adapted to the fierce conditions of frontier warfare, adopting the custom of scalping and occasionally even headhunting as their Celtic ancestors had done.

The Indians responded by changing their tactics to avoid close combat, where the Highlanders could bring their broadswords into play. Nevertheless, when the Highlanders were able to force hand to hand fighting, the broadsword proved very effective against the tomahawk and club. At the battle of Bushy Run, Highland soldiers destroyed a force of Delaware and Shawnee with the broadsword and bayonet, leading the Delawares, Hurons and Five Nations to end the war shortly afterwards.

European armies were equally respectful of the fury of a Highland broadsword and bayonet charge. Highland regiments won many battles against the French, Dutch, Russians and others, often inflicting terrible casualties in close combat while suffering few of their own. It was said that "an enemy who stood for many hours the fire of musketry, invariably gave way when an advance was made sword in hand."

This can be partially attributed to the natural fear of sharp steel in European soldiers accustomed only to firing on their enemies from a distance. However, Highlanders proved equally successful against armies of rebels in India, inflicting 5,000 casualties at Sholinghur in 1781 while losing only "a handful."

By this time, the Highland soldiers no longer used the old methods of the broadsword and targe, but the new system described in Anti-Pugilism and the other Highland broadsword manuals, apparently based to a large degree on the method of the stage gladiators. Only the officers carried the sword into battle, while the common soldiers used the musket and bayonet, but the Highlanders still preferred the charge. At Tel-el-Kebir in 1882, a broadsword and bayonet charge by the Highlanders defeated 20,000 entrenched Egyptians. This is especially remarkable at such a late date, when the sword played little role on the battlefield outside of the Highland regiments and the occasional cavalry charge.

Of course, the charge is a shock tactic and is effective primarily for psychological reasons. Brave and disciplined professional soldiers have been known to simply panic and run at the sight of an enemy bearing down on them with sharp broadswords and bayonets, intending not to exchange fire with them but to stab them and cut them down. No doubt the battlefield victories of the Highlanders were largely due to this factor. However, some have suggested that the Highland broadsword method of this time period was degenerate and martially ineffective, and this is in no way borne out by the evidence.

In single combat with the warriors of many nations, Highlanders proved at least as formidable as they were en masse. At the battle of Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny, Willie MacBean killed 11 Indian soldiers with his broadsword, yelling to his comrades to stay back so that he could continue to engage them on his own. Aylmer Cameron killed three Indian rebels in single combat in 1858, Highland broadsword against Indian tulwar.

The evidence shows that the broadsword method of the Highland regiments was one of the most versatile systems ever created, proving triumphant both on the battlefield and in single combat, against both tribal warriors and classically-trained European fencers. While the outcome of a single combat is determined primarily by the skill of the swordsman and not the superiority of his system, it is clear that the Highland broadsword method was no second-rate style of swordplay, but a match for any other system in the world.

Now that we have examined the history of broadsword and backsword play in Scotland, we’ll compare the Scottish texts to the English texts in order to better understand both the similarities and differences between them.

The foundation of English historical fencing is found in George Silver’s "Brief Instructions," which were written in 1605. Silver described an integrated system of combat with a variety of weapons, including a weapon he called the short sword. This sword was not at all short by later standards, featuring a blade anywhere between a yard and an inch and a yard and four inches long.

This short sword was usually double-edged, and therefore more accurately described as a broadsword than a backsword. Furthermore, his system is based on a very different theory from that of later backsword and broadsword texts. Nevertheless, certain details of his system do match what we find in the Scottish sources, beginning a century later. Silver’s general rules include three principles for defeating an opponent’s attack. The first is to strike him the instant he comes in distance, before he can strike you. The second is to "ward, & Aftr to strike him or thrust from yt," or in other words to parry and then riposte. The third is to "slippe alyttle back & to strike or thrust after hym."

The second and third principles are both found repeatedly in the Scottish manuals:

The only sure method, at sword play is to fence from the riposte. This is a French word, and signifies a sudden returning of an answer: but a man must first hear the question propounded, before he can return an answer to it. So, in fencing, a person must first parry, and then return his thrust, otherwise it cannot in any sense of the word be called fencing from the riposte. This is by far the safest way of fencing.

In place of dropping his point, he should throw it straight out to his adversary’s breast, slipping the right foot at the same time. By this manœuvre he will catch his adversary on the point, and stop him from ever reaching his mark.

Silver describes four grounds of true defense: judgement, distance, time and place. He also lists four governors: judgement and measure are the first two, and the third and fourth governors are linked, in that whenever you go forward to attack you must be ready to instantly fly back. He defines judgement as the ability to know when your adversary can reach you and when he cannot, and when you can do the same to him, and to know what his options are at any given moment based on his stance and position. He defines measure as the ability to control the space in which your weapon and the opponent’s weapon must move. (To Silver, distance and measure are not synonymous.)

Silver describes four general fights, most of which are guard positions. In Open fight, the sword hand and hilt are held aloft above your head, with the point either upright or backward. This stance is not found at all in the later broadsword manuals, but it is the most common guard with sword and targe for the Highland warriors depicted in the Penicuik sketches. Guardant fight is divided into perfect and imperfect. Perfect true guardant is a hanging guard with the hand pronated and held higher than the head, with the point aimed toward the left knee and the blade inclined slightly to the left. This is similar to McBane’s later instructions for the hanging guard:

(T)urn to a Hanging Guard, the pummel of your sword upward, the point down, covering your left knee

And as Paul Wagner has pointed out, it is identical to the hanging guard of the Highland Officer’s Anti-Pugilism text, the only other British source to describe this precise guard:

The Hanging Guard Is formed by raising the hand as high as the head, keeping the wrist firm; the thumb pointing to the ground; the arm bent, so as to form an angle, through which you must always see your adversary. Keep your point sloping so as to cover the left knee. Place the left hand under the sword arm; the palm flat and close to the body, in order to parry your adversary's thrust, should he attempt it on the recover.

Imperfect true guardant fight is more similar to the standard hanging guard, which Silver disapproves of because the extended point allows the opponent to strike your blade aside. This extended hanging guard is depicted in most of the English and Scottish backsword and broadsword manuals.

Bastard guardant fight is a hanging guard held at the height of the breast or lower, with the point aimed at your left foot. This is identical to the inside half-hanger of the later Highland broadsword manuals.

Close fight is when the swords are crossed at the half sword, either in guardant ward with the points down or in the forehand ward with the points up. The forehand ward seems to have been the same as the medium guard of the backsword manuals, with the point up and the hand in suppination, aiming the weapon at the opponent’s face or throat. . Variable fight is any other type of fight, including Italian rapier techniques such as the imbrocata and mountata.

Silver describes a counterattack against the attack to the leg:

If he strike or thrust at your leg or lower part out of any fight, he shall not be able to reach the same unless you stand large paced with bending knee, or unless he comes in with his foot or feet, the which if he shall so do, then you may strike or thrust at his arm or upper part for then he puts them into the place gaining you the place whereby you make strike home upon him & he cannot reach you

A similar counterattack can be found in Anti-Pugilism:

Your adversary making a cut at the outside of the leg, reserve the wrist; the nails downward, and meet him, your edge will then most probably catch the outside of his arm

Silver describes another sequence that can also be found in a slightly different form in Anti-Pugilism:

If you are both so crossed at the bastard guardant ward, & if he then presses in, then take the grip of him as is shown in the chapter of the grip.

The similar technique in Anti-Pugilism is described as follows:

Of the Thrust from the Hanging Guard : If your adversary makes the thrust, either put it by with the left hand, which is ready for that purpose, when on that guard, and cut immediately right down the forehead; or parry with your weapon, and bring your left foot forward behind his knee, seizing his wrist, and keep it down to your thigh: place your pooint to his breast, this is the safest method of disarming, as it exposes the least, and is certain.

Silver’s grips are also similar to the disarms taught in Anti-Pugilism:

Silver: If you are both crossed in the close fight upon the bastard guardant ward low, you may put your left hand on the outside of his sword at the back of his hand, near or at the hilt of his sword arm & take him on the inside of the arm with your hand, above his elbow is best, & draw him towards you strongly, wresting his knuckles downward & his elbow upwards so may endanger to break his arm, or cast him down, or to wrest his sword out of his hand, & go free yourself.

The Highland Officer: Upon attempting the cut above mentioned, if your adversary lunges forward at the same time with you, he means to disarm you in the following manner: having parried the thrust as above described, he quickly seizes the wrist of your sword arm, under his, and pulls you forward with force; the least struggle on your part after he has possession of your wrist; must be fatal, as his sword is at liberty

Silver made his cuts on the pass, whereas the later broadsword and backsword manuals all feature the lunge. The lunge is a faster technique, but the pass covers more distance and makes for a far more powerful cut. For this reason, Silver’s cuts are powerful downright blows, while the cuts of the broadsword and backsword manuals are either light chops from the wrist or circular motions. Silver uses guards that are later found in the backsword and broadsword tradition, but he also uses older guards that are not.

Silver’s system is based around his grounds, governors, and a method for determining whether any given offensive or defensive action has the advantage in a given situation based on "true times" and "false times." To a certain extent, this method is common sense and understood by any skilled fencer in any style; but it was not described clearly as a system in later manuals.

The use of a version of the open ward in the Penicuik sketches, and of Silver’s true guardant ward in the Anti-Pugilism text, suggest that early Highland swordsmanship belonged to the same broad tradition as early English swordsmanship, and that elements of this older method were retained in Scottish swordplay even when they had been forgotten in England.

The English fencing master Joseph Swetnam published his Schoole of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence in 1617, only about twelve years after Silver wrote his Brief Instructions, yet the transition from Silver’s military style to a civilian fencing system can already be clearly seen.

Swetnam esteemed the rapier above the backsword, though he taught both weapons. He describes "seven principal rules whereon true defence is grounded":

"1. A good Guard

2. True observing of distance.

3. To know the place.

4. To take time.

5. To keepe space.

6. Patience.

7. Often practice."

Swetnam describes a "dazeling thrust at single Rapier or Backe-Sword":

Proffer or faine a thrust at the fairest part of your enemies bodie which lieth most unguarded, and then more quicker then I can speake it, thrust it in on the other side, and so changing three or foure times, and then choppe it home sodainely, and you shall find his bodie unguarded

This use of multiple feints would not have been advised by the Scottish swordmasters. Hope describes single feints and double feints for the backsword or smallsword, but goes no further than double feints because of the danger of a time hit. Yet Swetnam here advocates a triple or quadruple feint such as we might see in modern foil fencing.

Swetnam describes a grip and throw similar to what may be found in Mathewson:

(Y)ou make seisure on the hilt of your enemies Rapier or Sword, or on his hand-wrist with your left hand, and then having made your seizure of his weapon, you may then use what execution you will, I mean either blow or thrust, or trip up his heeles.

However, Mathewson’s version is a response to the opponent’s point-in-line, and is thus a counterattack rather than an attack such as Swetnam describes.

Swetnam seems to advocate the use of the shift or slip with every parry, as Angelo was later to do:

(Y)our enemie hath but onelie the left side of your head, and your legges open, and they are easie to be defended; the legge, by plucking him up, the which you must doe upon everie blow, which your enemie chargeth you withall

Swetnam’s Unicorne or fore-hand guard is the medium guard with an extended arm later described by Mathewson:

Before the Sword hilt so high as your face, keeping him out at the armes end, without bowing if your elbow ioynt, and alwaies keepe your point directly upon your enemies face, and your knuckles of your Sword hand upward

MacGregor, however, thought little of holding this guard with the arm always extended:

Many advise, always to keep a straight arm when engaged at back sword, which is a very bad advice indeed. The reason they assign for it is this; that if a man keeps his arm crooked, he is liable to be often hit in the elbow, on account of its being bent. But in this they err greatly; for, if a person always keeps his arm straight, it will soon become nervous, even although he had not a sword in his hand.

Swetnam describes the tactic of slipping and countering against attacks to any line, which was later to be described by Page and Taylor:

(I)f you are warie in watching when hee makes his first blow, sodainely plucke in the point of your sword to you, and so by the slippe his first stroake hee will over carrie him, so that if you turne an over-hand blow to his head, you may hit him before hee can recover his sword to strike his second blow, or defend himslefe lying in this long guard, you may slippe every blow that is strooke.

Swetnam describes an attack to the head for the purpose of exposing the opponent’s leg, a tactic that later reappears in the Lessons of Angelo and in Mathewson’s "Fencing Familiarized."

Swetnam’s backsword method relies very heavily on feints and tricks, and this is his primary difference from the later Highland backsword and broadsword teachers, who taught the use of the feint only sparingly.

In 1711, Zachary Wylde published his work, "The English Master of Defence," describing smallsword, broadsword and quarterstaff fencing. It’s obvious immediately that his broadsword method is closely related to the Scottish method of the same period:

The Guards in Number are Five, commonly called, dignified, or distinguished by the Names of the Outside, Inside, Medium, George, or Hanging: Otherwise called the Dexter, or right Guard, Sinister or left Guard, Center Unicorn or Medium, Diameter or George, Pendent or the Hanging Guard.

Like Swetnam’s Unicorne, Wylde’s medium guard is performed with an extended arm, unlike the medium guard shown in most of the Scottish manuals. Also, Wylde follows Swetnam in advocating multiple feints with the broadsword, which no Scottish fencing master ever did:

However, his advice on leg attacks is identical to Scottish practice:

Observe, That if your Opponent drops to your Leg, at the same time slip your Leg back out of his reach, then return your Stroke as speedily as possible: If you fall to the Leg, let it be by a Falsify, that is, offer a Pitch to the outside of his Head, or right Ear, then fall to the inside of his Leg

The primary difference in the Scottish and English methods can be found in the English reliance on multiple feints, which the Scottish fencing masters viewed as being too risky with a heavier weapon such as the broadsword. However, multiple feints are not a feature of the earlier English system described by George Silver. The later English manuals also describe a forehand or medium guard with an extended arm, which is found neither in Silver nor in most of the Scottish manuals. Also, the Scottish manuals seem to have preserved several features in common with Silver until a very late date, as evidenced by Anti-Pugilism’s hanging guard and even some specific techniques. It’s not that the method of Silver was actually preserved in Scotland, but the Scottish fencing masters do seem to have held on to a few older techniques when the English had abandoned them. Overall, the Scottish and English methods are clearly part of a common British tradition, and the biggest difference between them seems to have been a slight conservatism on the part of the Scottish broadsword and backsword masters. In the 1790s, however, the Highland broadsword became a fad in England, and after this a number of English broadsword manuals were directly influenced by Scottish sources.

In 1833, a writer named James Logan described Highland Broadsword as an art which was still (barely) alive in his time:

The management of the broadsword, or singlestick, which it closely resembles, as now taught, may be comprehended in thirty-one lessons. The old Highland exercise was not less remarkable for simplicity and elegance, than utility…The importance of this exercise was evinced by enabling undisciplined troops to make head against numerous armies, and even defeat skillful veterans. It’s utility in the present day, to officers of both army and navy, is apparent… It is to be regretted that this desirable accomplishment and healthy exercise is now so little attended to.

Logan’s point is clear- the system, though highly effective, was fading away in a world with less and less use for swordsmanship. Due to the efforts of Henry Angelo, the Highland broadsword had been used as the basis for the British navy’s cutlass exercise in 1812, but in the nineteenth century, the Highland broadsword system was absorbed by modern saber practice and largely forgotten as an independent system.

Some of its principles were retained, however, in the saber system of the Victorian swordmaster Alfred Hutton, a student of the Angelos. And singlestick play was still taught according to the broadsword or cutlass method throughout the nineteenth century and even into the twentieth. The Royal Navy eventually adopted a set of rules for singlestick fencing, known as the Calpe Rules. These were used for singlestick competitions in the earlier part of the twentieth century, which were later revived by a Scottish gentleman named Locker Madden.

Meanwhile, the older Broadsword and Targe system had survived in modified form as a dance. This battle dance, which may have been called the Bruicheath, was still practiced by traditional Highland dancers. According to Logan, two brothers named MacLennan performed this dance in London in 1850. One of them taught it to his grandnephew William MacLennan, the last person known to have been proficient at the Bruicheath. He taught the dance to his younger brother D.G. MacLennan, who illustrated it in his "Highland and Traditional Scottish Dances" in 1950. However, the younger MacLennan no longer remembered how to perform the dance.

In the past several years, many people have been trying to reconstruct lost or forgotten Western martial arts. The old sword manuals have been distributed by hand or reprinted, and ordinary people have gained unprecedented access to the primary sources. The Cateran Society was founded in 1998 to revive and practice the use of the Highland weapons.

In Scotland, Louie Pastore teaches singlestick play according to the Anti-Pugilism text, as well as the traditional Scottish dirk dance and the use of sword and targe.

Maestro Paul MacDonald (a Highlander and fencing master) teaches the singlestick, backsword and other historical fencing systems at his school in Edinburgh. He also sponsors singlestick and backsword competitions at Highland Games and other events.

Just a few years ago, it seemed that the Scottish systems of fencing were on the verge of being forgotten completely. Now they are once again being practiced by dedicated swordsmen all over the world.