Rare Polearm, 17th-18th Century, possibly Scottish

A rare polearm from my own collection which I suspect to be Scottish in origin. I purchased it some years ago near the border with Scotland. It comprises a near semi-circular axe-head with a projecting spear of flattened-lozenge shaped cross-section. One face bears an armourer's mark in the form of an upper case letter L in sunken relief within a rectangular field. The conical socket has a lapped seam. It retains it's original shaft, and even though it measures 128cm overall, if reduced, it was made so in antiquity. An identical weapon, even down to the armourer's mark, is held at the Royal Armouries, (see Ffoulkes' 1915 Inventory and Survey of the Armouries of the Tower of London, volume II, page 243, item 942). It appears to be related to the Lochaber axe variant held at Inveraray Castle and illustrated on page 304 of Scottish Weapons and Fortifications, Caldwell (Ed.), 1981. As such I suspect it to be 17th or 18th Century in origin. A fascinating polearm.

Code: 10421