The sword, carried by officers and senior NCOs of Highland regiments, was a special pattern known as a broadsword because the blade was compared with the slim-bladed swords carried by English officers in dress uniform. It is sometimes called a claymore, but the Highland regiments prefer broadswords. The first pattern basket-hilted sword was authorised in 1789, four years before the raising of the 79th Cameron Highlanders in 1793. British sword blades came from two major sources, Birmingham and Germany; this example was made in Solingen, imported by Johann Justus Runkel, a German born cutler who lived in London but ceased trading in 1808. The hilt is engraved with the regimental title surrounding a thistle and rose design. The hilt was designed to give good protection to the hand, made of brass, but in 1828 the pattern was changed to a steel hilt. The photos are courtesy of the National Army Museum.
