_Inscription on a Claymore_ (Vol. iv., p. 59.).--Is your correspondent
"T. M. W., Liverpool," who inquires the translation of an "inscription
on a claymore," certain that his quotation is correct? To me it appears
that it should run thus:
[x] GOTT BEWAR DE
[x] _G_ERECHTE SCHOTTEN.
or, "God preserve the righteous (or just) Scots;" referring, no doubt,
to the undertaking in which they were then engaged.
I believe that formerly, and probably at the present time, many of the
finest sword blades were made abroad, and sent to England to be mounted,
or even entirely finished on the Continent. I have in my possession a
heavy trooper's sword, bearing the name of a celebrated German maker,
although the ornaments and devices are unquestionably English. Another
way of accounting for the inscription is, that it belonged to some of
those foreign adventurers who are known to have joined Charles Edward.