By Christopher Scott Thompson

A modern historical fencer who takes up the German longsword tradition or the Italian rapier tradition does not necessarily have a deep interest in the culture of Germany or Italy as such. Not so for Highland Broadsword- the art tends to draw people that are interested in Gaelic culture or Highland history primarily, and in swordsmanship only after that.

This puts the Cateran Society in a unique position, in that most of our members share a lifelong fascination with the Scottish Gael, regardless of the somewhat ambiguous status of the historical "Highland Broadsword" manuals. As I mentioned at the beginning of this book, it was always our intention to practice the broadsword in reference to the culture of the Scottish Highlanders, even if it could not be shown that the surviving manuals actually described the methods used by the Scottish Highlanders.

I believe that this issue has essentially been resolved. There was a single tradition of cut-and-thrust swordsmanship, practiced throughout the British Isles, which I have referred to as the Three Kingdoms Backsword Tradition because it was the native fighting tradition of the Irish, English and Scottish peoples, including the Scottish Highlanders. There were probably regional variations and peculiarities in this system, and the sword and targe branch of it described by Thomas Page probably reflects what most of the Highland warriors were actually doing in 1746. Over the next fifty years, as the Three Kingdoms Backsword Tradition began to fade away, most fencers began referring to it as the "Highland Broadsword" tradition because the Highland Regiments were the most visible champions of the tradition still remaining. Naturally, the Regimental Highland Broadsword systems are very different from earlier incarnations of the same tradition- they are modernized, simplified, and subject to influence from smallsword fencing. Yet it is recognizably the same tradition in a modified form. One of the regional peculiarities that seems to have been carried over into the Regimental Highland Broadsword system was the tactic of frequently slipping the lead leg, which was seen at the time as a particularly Gaelic tactic and which is also the defining feature of Henry Angelo’s method.

As such, I am confident that the Regimental systems accurately represent what the soldiers of the Scottish Highland Regiments were being taught in their basic training, and that these were the same systems they used on the battlefields of North America, India, China and elsewhere throughout the 19^th century.

I am equally confident that the systems described by Thomas Page and (in less detail) Donald McBane, accurately represent what a Highland stage gladiator or broadsword champion of the Jacobite era would have done with his weapon- although it should be understood that this is largely the same as what an Irish or English stage gladiator would have done with his, once allowances are made for some degree of regional variation.

The first book I published on this topic was called Lannaireachd: Gaelic Swordsmanship. There are several words for "swordsmanship" in the Gaelic language. The word "claidhmhireachd" is the closest literal translation. "Bàsbaireachd" was also used in the past. "Feansaireachd" simply means "fencing." I chose to use the word "lannaireachd," because of its poetic connotations. Lannaireachd is an archaic term, which suggests the flashing of a sword blade in the sunlight.

The entire system we teach at the Broadsword Academy can be referred to as "Iomairt Airm," a Gaelic phrase which means "weapons play." However, we primarily refer to our system as "Highland Broadsword" or "The Highland Broadsword Exercise," because the broadsword and its principles form the core of everything we do, including the MacGregor Method.

The obvious question is this- why do we use Gaelic terms at all, when the tradition we teach is not exclusively or uniquely Gaelic?

The answer lies in this intersection between our love of Gaelic culture and history and our interest in swordsmanship as a martial art. Most of the members of the Cateran Society are involved in and attracted to both aspects. The Highland Broadsword, for us, is a potent symbol of the Gaelic culture, its heritage and its struggle for survival- it’s not just an interesting weapon to fence with.

As such, while we could easily practice the same techniques and the same art as a generic expression of the Three Kingdoms Backsword Tradition in its later stages, we prefer to practice it with a Gaelic blàs or "flavor," insofar as we can. That is why the advanced stages of our curriculum derive from Gaelic folklore rather than the broadsword manuals, and it is this that the makes the art of the Cateran Society Broadsword Academy distinct from all others.