A Scottish Regimental Dirk of the Black Watch R. & H.B. Kirkwood of 66 & 68 Thistle Street, Edin...

A Scottish Regimental Dirk of the Black Watch R. & H.B. Kirkwood of 66 & 68 Thistle Street, Edinburgh With bright tapering blade double fullered and notched along the back, hardwood baluster hilt carved with basket weave set with brass nails, brass basal mount cast with thistles, and pommel set with a piece of faceted glass against yellow foil, in original wood-lined leather scabbard with border engraved mounts each with applied thistles, the locket with the figure of St. Andrew, with bi-knife and fork en suite, 26.5cm blade. Footnotes: This dirk was formerly the property of the soldier and writer Bernard Fergusson, later Lord Ballantrae (1911-80). He joined the Black Watch in 1931 and served with it on and off until 1939, in Scotland, England and Palestine. He serving as Aide-de-camp to then Major-General Archibald Wavell 1935-37. During the Second World War, he served in campaigns in North Africa and Syria, and in the two Chindit guerilla campaigns Burma in 1943-44. He commanded the 1st Battalion of the Black Watch in Germany after the War, with further service in NATO Headquarters and commanding Brigades in Perth and Dover. After four years as a writer and journalist, he went to New Zealand as Governor-General from 1962-67 - the last British-born person to hold the office, but also the first to speak Māori. He was Chair of the British Council from 1972-76, Lord High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland 1973 and 1974, and Chancellor of St Andrew's University 1973-80. His best known books are about the Burma campaigns: Beyond the Chindwin and Wild Green Earth. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing