Restoring and replicating swords used in pivotal battles helps Paul Macdonald bring history back to life
Words by NICK DRAINEY
The sword is surprisingly light – 936g to be precise – with a wafer-thin blade and a delicate and intricate silver basket hilt.
“There is a myth that swords were crude, heavy things but it’s not true at all,” explains master sword-maker Paul Macdonald.
It’s extraordinary to think this beautiful, lightweight creation – which can be balanced on the tip of a finger – is an exact replica of a weapon relied on to guard a man’s life in one of the fiercest and most desperate battles ever fought on Scottish soil.
The sword is Paul’s loving recreation, down to the last gram and millimetre, of the weapon carried by Donald Cameron of Lochiel when he led his troops at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
Nicknamed ‘Gentle’ Lochiel due to his insistence on good treatment for enemy prisoners, the clan chief led 800 Cameron men to meet Bonnie Prince Charlie when the Stuart standard had been raised at Glenfinnan.
Although he had tried to persuade the prince to go back to France, Lochiel fought loyally for the Jacobite cause at Prestonpans, Edinburgh and Falkirk.
“At Culloden, it’s said he got within 10 paces of the Redcoats and could clearly see a cannon being loaded in front of him, so he got behind his ‘targe’, his shield, and was in the act of drawing his sword when he was hit in both ankles by grapeshot,” says Paul.
Wounded, he was taken from the field, and after the defeat fled to France where he died two years later, his lands in Scotland confiscated.
The tale may be tragic but for Paul, who runs Macdonald Armouries in the Borders, it was a thrill to be able to bring a piece of Scottish history to life. “It was the first time it had been remade since the 1740s. It was a special project,” he says.
“My heart was in my mouth when I was grinding the fullers [the channels running down the blade] because if you see the tiniest bit of daylight, that’s the blade ruined.”
The first reproduction took Paul nine months to make. Most of the limited number of reproductions were sold, with prices running into the thousands, but one remains that he uses when he appears at events such as Highland games to tell tales of famous Scottish swords and their fascinating history. The original sword now rests back at its home at Achnacarry Castle, the Lochiel seat near Spean Bridge.
Paul has spent more than 20 years as a sword-maker and restorer, as well as a master-at-
