This classic Light Cavalry sabre of the British army in the Napoleonic period has a plain fighting blade (in superb condition), as opposed to the more usual engraved or blued and gilt blade, giving it a rarity value of about one in ten. The owner's initials (DJ) appear on the reverse langet and on the back of the scabbard at the throat.

This is the classic 'Christmas tree' hilt carried principally by British dragoon units in the middle years of the 18th century. Cumberland's Dragoons would have carried these when harrying Highlanders fleeing from the Battle of Culloden. The Highlanders were cut down mercilessly.

The 2nd, or Scots, troop of HGG was originally raised in 1678, disbanded in 1680, revived in 1684, and finally absorbed into the 2nd Life Guards in 1788. The sword is illustrated in one of the Morier paintings at Buckingham Palace on a soldier of this regiment. The swords may well have been carried by the regiment at Dettingen and Fontenoy.