Mystery sword on display in Dumfries

A mystery sword that could have belonged to an infamous Border Reiver is on display at Dumfries Museum.

Museum staff are working with independent scholar Dr Valentina Bold, and a host of experts, to research the sword and find out more about how it came to be in the museum collection.

It is believed the weapon might have belonged to Kinmont Willie Armstrong who was notorious for his bloodthirsty raids in the border lands during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

Based on initial studies, Dr Bold has been awarded funding from The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland to continue the research.

Dumfries Museum is also exhibiting a selection of swords associated with famous local characters from different eras including a Bronze Age sword found near Lockerbie, a medieval blade discovered in the Lochar Moss and other weapons belonging to the poet Robert Burns and Arctic explorer Sir John Ross.