Presentation sword, Brigadier General Duncan MacDougall, 1836

Presentation sword engraved with a dedication to Brigadier General Duncan MacDougall (1787-1862), Quarter Master General of the British Auxiliary Legion during the Carlist Wars in Spain, 1836.

Between 1835 and 1838 eight thousand British officers and men fought as the British Legion in the Carlist Wars in Spain. Little credit accrued to this force which was basically intervening in a Spanish civil war and it was withdrawn from the conflict in 1838. It is likely that the sword was presented by the field officers serving under General MacDougall that year.

The sword itself is highly ornate and has the unusual decoration on the blade of a scroll etched with the names of all the officers who subscribed to its purchase. It also bears the MacDougall Clan motto, 'Vincere vel Mori', meaning 'to Conquer or to Die'.