Information required re. Grant crest & motto.

[MacRob]

`Thank you for the interesting reply. Photos, especially when posted online, can be deceiving and the mounts on your gun did look like silver to me. Thanks for the correction.

James Lowe is an obvious choice given the time frame in which he worked and the fact that this is clearly an English-made gun. Your comment about the location of the Lowe gun making business and its proximity to Parliament is interesting and certainly gives credence to James Lowe as the maker.

My comments regarding the Grant armory relate to the Scottish National long gun. Only 28 of these guns survive and, interestingly enough, eight of them were in the armory of the Earls of Seafield at Castle Grant. These guns were made in Scotland by a handful of smiths. The reason for their rarity has been regularly discussed and many theories offered, ranging from confiscation and destruction during the Jacobite Rebellions to small production numbers. The latter is my belief. Many of the guns are very ornate and clearly hunting firearms as they were too decorated for military use, unless you wanted your very expensive long gun to rust or be broken from use on the battlefield. These guns varied slightly in style but all sported a variation of what is referred to as a "paddle butt" stock or "herren butt." I have attached a photo of one of my reproduction Scottish National guns.

Thank you again for the reply. If you come up with more information please post it here.
Brass Gun 1.jpg