Braveheart sword could swell the fund

By Colin Grant THE LAST time a claymore from the blockbuster film Braveheart went up for auction, it fetched an incredible £116,000. The buyer that day was Celtic director and major shareholder Dermot Desmond. Iain Ritchie from Portpatrick hopes history will repeat itself when the only other Braveheart claymore currently available is sold — for Iain has pledged all the profits to our Hospice Challenge. The story of how the sword used in the film was made available for our campaign is a remarkable example of our readers’ generosity and kindness. Fight scenes The claymore originally belonged to the Wallace Clan Trust — a Glasgow-based firm which supplies men, weapons and expertise for films. They’re highly regarded in Hollywood. The tartan-clad trust members were involved in all the fight scenes in Braveheart. When they were hired to stand shoulder to shoulder with Mel Gibson they insisted, as part of their contract, that they could keep the memorabilia from the film.

From left — Jim McGurk, Douglas Hannah and Iain Ritchie with the sword which is to be auctioned with the proceeds going to the Hospice appeal.

This included 50 specially-designed and individually numbered claymores.
Earlier this year Seoras Wallace, the Trust’s chief executive, sold one of the swords to Douglas Hannah and Jim McGurk, who are partners in the Stranraer-based Galloway Kilt Hire Company.
They in turn presented the sword to Iain in the hope it would raise a substantial sum for CHAS.
Douglas says, “Seoras originally hails from Portpatrick and we’ve been the best of pals for 30 years. He sold the sword to me because he knew it would eventually be sold on to raise money for a good cause.
“Jim and I agreed to ask Iain Ritchie to auction it for The Sunday Post School’s Hospice Challenge because he has raised many thousands of pounds for CHAS over the past nine years and we all believe this is a very worthwhile cause.”
Iain, who works for Stenna Line in Stranraer, says, “The claymore is the only one authorised by the Wallace Clan Trust for public sale this year. 
“It bears the clan crest and has full certification and we expect it to attract great interest around the world.
Noble cause
“When Douglas, Jim and I read about The Sunday Post’s efforts we decided selling the sword was the least we could do to help such a noble cause.”
Details of how to bid for the claymore are available on www.gallowaykilthire.com 

You can e-mail us at: hospice@sundaypost.com