Note 57 — Part I. Historical.

An illustration of the pair of pistols preserved at Copenhagen, and certified to have belonged to Sinclair, is given at p. 126. Although undoubtedly Scotch, and of the period, the initials A. S. engraved on them are most probably those of Sir Andrew Sinclair. (See note, p. 126.) The swords, of which so many are still offered for sale as relics of the expedition, are mostly of doubtful origin. The author is, however, in possession of a rusty short sword, with the Scottish crown and the letters V. R. very distinct on the blade, on the broken-off edge of which there would have been room for the letter J., making J. V. R., or Jacobus V. Rex. It was found at Kringelen, and is almost exactly like the sword carried by the third figure in the accompanying illustration, representing some of the "Irishmen,"—i.e., the Scots of Mackay's regiment,—who were landed at Stettin in 1630. The illustration has been taken from an interesting work published in 1885, by W. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, entitled, "An Old Scots Brigade: being the History of Mackay's Regiment, now incorporated with the Royal Scots." The author, Mr. John Mackay, late of Herriesdale, has generously allowed the block to be used for the purposes of this little work.

Another sword, in a wooden sheath covered with leather, and which had evidently been used as a walking-stick by some Bonde, was purchased by the author as an authentic relic of the Scots, and presented by him to His Majesty King Oscar II., as a weapon that had in all probability been used in the service of His Majesty's great predecessor, Gustavus Adolphus. The motto, "Honni soit qui mal y pense," engraved on the long straight blade of the sword, made it all the more appropriate that His Majesty, as a Knight of the Garter, should be the possessor of so interesting a relic.