A question this morning that I was hoping someone might be able to answer. Clackmannanshire, just north of the Antonine Wall in Scotland, is Scotland's smallest county. Roman remains in the county are few and far between - predominantly coins - even though Roman soldiers must have been fairly active in the area.
What intrigues me particularly is a Roman sword that was found on the Harviestoun estate in 1796. It is not surprisingly that one was found there. The estate sits close to what is now the A91, the main east west route along the base of the Ochil Hills and parallel to the Antonine Wall. I first came across mention of the sword in JP Day's Clackmannan and Kinross, CUP, 1915:
It seems probable that, during the Roman occupation, some of the expeditions beyond the Antonine wall may have passed through Clackmannan. Roman coins have been discovered; a double-edged straight iron sword, 31 inches long, was dug up near Harviestoun in 1796; cinerary urns have been found at Alva, Tillicoultry and elsewhere. In 1828, while an old road at Alloa was under repair, a supposed Roman burial-ground was discovered. Twenty cinerary urns of coarse pottery, rudely ornamented, were found, along with two stone coffins and a pair of gold penannular armlets.
An early mention of the discovery is in The New Statistical Account of Scotland: Dumbarton, Stirling, Clackmannan (Blackwood) from 1845:
In 1796, when digging a drain behind Harviestoun House, a sword was found; and in 1802, when making the west approach to Harviestoun, an urn; both of which are now in the possession of John Tail, Esq. Sheriff of Clackmannanshire. The sword is iron, but totally oxidized. It appears to have been double-edged, and is perfectly straight. It is 31 inches long, including the handle, which is remarkably small, not large enough for an ordinary-sized man's hand. There is no basket at the handle, but a small narrow piece of iron, curved outward in a semicircular form, at each extremity, one of which serves as a guard, separating it from the blade. It is thought to be Roman, as the Romans were certainly in this part of the country, and as it resembles some of the swords used by them.
There is a little more more detail in Reminiscences of Dollar, Tillicoultry and other Districts adjoining the Ochils by William Gibson (Andrew Elliot, 1883):
From several urns containing human bones having been dug up at the north end of the Cunninghar Hill, it is supposed the Romans had a station here; and an old rusty sword, evidently of Roman make, was dug up a little farther east, near to Harviestoun Castle.
But I have been unable to find any modern mention of the discovery. Can anyone help?
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