The Seafield Collection: A unique collection of arms and armour in Scotland

Abstract

• Within the imposing setting of Fort George in the Scottish Highlands, an impressive collection of weaponry and equipment is displayed in the eighteenth century Grand Magazine (figure 1). All the objects on display relate to the short-lived service of units raised in the 1790s by the landowner, politician, and hereditary clan chief, Sir James Grant of Grant. What is so impressive about this collection is its scale: over 1800 individual items comprising an outstanding material record of Scottish involvement in the defence of Britain during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Impressive and important as the material on display at Fort George is, it is only one part of a larger collection of arms and armour amassed by the chiefs of Clan Grant across four centuries. This collection, now known as the Seafield Collection and held by National Museums Scotland, is a unique body of material evidence that can tell us much about the changing nature of the martial tradition in Scotland from the mid-16th century to the early 19th century.