Early Scottish Bollock Dagger, King James I Period

Status: Sold · Region: Europe · Type: Daggers

A most rare dagger of the early 17th century and which can be dated closely to the reign of King James I, circa 1600.

The blade belonging to a particular form of dagger known as a ‘dudgeon’ dagger (see Royal Armories Acc. Nr. X.1293, dated 1603). ‘Dudgeon’ was simply a word for wood and this type of dagger was the descendant of the medieval ballock knife and predecessor of the Scottish dirk. It was made in the Scottish lowlands between about 1590-1630 and the blades of these daggers are similar to this example; of diamond –shape cross-section and often with flat panels at the ricasso.

The exact form of dagger is uncommon in Scotland, but is a style from the English-Scotland borderlands. The Philadelphia Museum of Art (Acc. Nr. 1977-167-700a--d) has a near identical form with flattened crossguard attributed to England circa 1632, also inlaid in silver, though this flat silver inlay is more distinctly found on Scottish 17th C. pistols.

The form of wooden grip and cruciform shape of the hilt, and particularly the ‘conventional’ form of the cross-guard or quillon, as this dagger possesses, is not usually encountered on dudgeon daggers; the haunches (the rounded ‘ballocks’ on a medieval dagger of that name) being more squashed form. However such blades have been mounted on a number of differing types of hilt. The pommel pin is likely a later addition as it screws into the tang and doesn't have the silver inlaid decoration present on the remaining iron hardware.

The inscription on the blade: ‘MY HOP AND TREST IS IN YE LORD GOD’ (‘My Hope and Trust is in the Lord God’, as you state) is very much in keeping with the sentiment and style one finds on other similar blades of such daggers. For example one dagger, noted as being in a private collection in 1963, is inscribed exactly as your example: ‘MY HOP AND TREST IS IN YE LORD GOD’ [see Blair and Wallace 1663: 13, 35]) and other examples from the same period bear variations on this pious motto. It appears to be a corruption or based upon, and shortened form of, a phrase from the Bible – Isaiah 44, v. 4: ‘Trust ye in the LORD....’. A dagger in excavated condition in the National Museums of Scotland, of about 1600 bears a similar inscription: ([MY] TRUST IS ONLIE IN YE LORDE QUA [MAKETH] ALL THINGS’ – also from Isaiah). This motto was extremely popular in 17th century Scotland.

The initials, which appear to be ‘IRC’, are more difficult to understand and interpret as they could quite possibly be the initials of the (now unknown) owner. ‘IRC’ is also to be found on the blade of a dudgeon dagger in the Bargello Museum, Florence, which has been interpreted as being the cipher of James VI of Scotland (‘Jacobus Rex 6’),previous to his coronation as King of England in 1603, therefore dating this dagger likely to the period 1567-1603. As has been noted previously (Blair and Wallace 1963: 37) ‘where the cipher I.R. 6 appears in the Chapel Royal, Stirling Castle, the ‘6’ takes the same unusual form as it does on the Bargello blade, resembling, in fact a C with scrolled ends.’ It is likely that this is what the ‘IRC’ stands for on this dagger and was likely an indication of the owners loyalty and support for that monarch. The Cross of St. Andrew also found on the blade are well known on Scottish arms and armor and the heart motif is also found on Scottish pieces. The other motifs, however, appear unintelligible at this time though likely had some clan significance for the owner.

References:
Blair, Claude and John Wallace, ‘Scots – or still English’, Scottish Arts Review, Special Number, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1963, pp. 11-15.
Caldwell, David H, and John Wallace, ‘Ballocks, Dudgeons and Quhingearis: Three Scottish Daggers Recently Acquired by the National Museums’, History Scotland, November-December, 2003, pp. 15-19.