The Gaelic Corner

In 1956, an American inventor, Norman A. MacLeod, filed a patent for what he described in the patent application as an “anti-personnel fragmentation weapon”. The prototype directional fragmentation mine which MacLeod had originally designed was referred to as the “T-48”. MacLeod’s patent was eventually granted by the U.S. Patent Office in 1961. MacLeod, who had been trying to come up with a name for his patented mine and who was particularly proud of his Scottish heritage, eventually named his product the “Claymore Mine”.

The U.S. Army, which for about a decade had been trying to develop an anti-personnel explosive device which could be used to halt the kind of “human wave” assaults which had been launched against United Nations Forces (including Canadian troops) by Chinese troops during the Korean War, seized on MacLeod’s design but worked on improvements to it. These improvements eventually led to the U.S. Army’s M18 mine, which in turn led to the development of the M18A1 mine. It was the M18A1 mine, also known as the Claymore, which was eventually extensively used by the U.S. in military operations throughout the Vietnam War and which continues in use today.

But where did MacLeod’s “claymore” moniker come from? The answer, it turns out, is Scottish Gaelic.

Traditional Gaelic warfare tactics made use of both light infantry, known as ceithearn, and heavy infantry, known as gallòglaich. Unlike the ceithearn, who were lightly armed foot soldiers, the gallòglaich were typically suited up in chainmail armour, were often fielded as heavy cavalry, and were typically armed with heavy weapons, including in many cases a claidheamh-mòr (“claidheamh” being the Scottish Gaelic word for “sword”, and “mòr” being the Scottish Gaelic word for “big”). Claidheamh is pronounced “Klay-uvh”, and mòr is pronounced “mohr”, or simply as “more”. So the “claidheamh-mòr” was simply the “Big Sword”, or “Giant Sword”, carried by a traditional heavy infanteer in a Scottish Clan armed force.

Within The Regiment, of course, the claidheamh-mòr (or ‘claymore”) is the basket-hilted sword carried on parade by officers. The somewhat smaller, basket-hilted form of the claidheamh-mòr was developed within British Army Highland regiments during the 19th century, as a method of differentiation from the more “refined” swords carried by the officers of English regiments; the Highland regiments were keen to retain signs of the aggressive gallòglaich traditions and heritage of their forebears.

An officer’s claymore sword and a soldier’s claymore mine … they both reflect Highland military weaponry in the form of the claidheamh-mòr … the “klay-uvh mohr” … the Great Sword. Be proud of your Scottish Gaelic warfare heritage and, with your fellow Highlanders, make it a part of your esprit de corps.