This sword was found on a Lanarkshire moor during the excavation for a new housing estate. This might suggest that it has a connection with the Scottish Covenanters but the blade mark is "Andrea Ferrara" which suggests a Highland connection. We don't know where in Lanarkshire the sword was found but two possibilities present themselves.

      The Battle of Drumclog (near Strathhaven in Lanarkshire was fought in 1679 on moorland between the insurgent Covenanters under Sir Robert Hamilton and William Cleland and a Government force of Highlanders lead by John Graham of Claverhouse ('Bonny Dundee' or 'Bluidy Clavers' depending on your point of view). The Encyclopaedia of Scotland tells us that the "combatants were few and well-matched, the battle brief." The Highlanders "ventured into a bog, were routed by the psalm-singing conventiclers, and forced to flee to the security of Glasgow. There they again offered resistance but then withdrew, leaving the burgh to the not-so-tender mercies of the godly. These successes drew many supporters and sympathisers to the insurgents main camp at Bothwell Brig [Lanarkshire], where Claverhouse would soon enjoy revenge."

      At Bothwell on the River Clyde the Covenanter strength had grown to some 6000 men. The Government force had grown to 10,000 commanded by Duke of Monmouth with Claverhouse leading the Dragoons. Outnumbered, out-gunned and disorganised, the Covenanters offered little resistance. Battle casualties are thought to have been less than 200 and 1400 were taken prisoner. Many of the latter perished during the time they were held prisoner for many months in Edinburgh's Grayfriars Kirkyard.