Claymore The term claymore ( ; from Scottish Gaelic " claidheamh mòr " , " great sword " ) refers to the Scottish variant of the late medieval two - handed longsword . It is characterised as having a cross hilt of forward - sloping quillons with quatrefoil terminations . It was in use from the 15th to 17th centuries . Terminology . The term " claymore " is an anglicisation of the Gaelic " claidheamh mòr " " great sword " , first attested in 1772 ( as " Cly - more " ) with the gloss " great two - handed sword " . The sense " basket - hilted broadsword " is contemporaneous , attested in 1773 as " The broad - sword now used [ . . . ] called the Claymore , ( i . e . the great sword ) . " OED observes that the latter usage is " inexact , but very common " . The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica likewise judged that the term is " wrongly " applied to the basket - hilted sword . Authors arguing that the basket - hilted sword is " incorrectly " called " claymore " have been known to suggest that " claybeg " ( from a purported Gaelic " claidheamh beag " " small sword " ) should be used instead . This does not parallel Scottish Gaelic usage . According to the " Gaelic Dictionary " by R . A . Armstrong ( 1825 ) , " claidheamh mòr " translates to " broadsword " , and " claidheamh dà làimh " to " two - handed sword " , while " claidheamh beag " is given as a translation of " Bilbo " . The term " claymore " became part of vocabulary of the Victorian era sentimental or Romanticist " retro - Jacobite " literature and poetry such as the Skye Boat Song ( 1870 ) . Other contemporary Gaelic descriptives of swords include " claidheamh cuil " or " back " sword , referring to a single - edged sword with a flat " spine " ( not one worn on the back , a common misinterpretation ) , the " claidheamh crom " or " crooked " sword , which could describe either a typical sabre style blade ( such as that worn by Archibald Campbell , 1st Duke of Argyll , in the painting by Medina ) or a scimitar style blade known as a " Turcael " ( " Turkish " blade ) such as that brandished by Alasdair Mor , the Champion of Clan Grant , in the c . 1715 portrait by Waitt , or the " claidheamh caol " or " narrow " sword , usually describing a rapier or small - sword . The term " claybeg " , purportedly from Scots Gaelic " claidheamh beag " meaning " little sword " is not seen in clan - era Gaelic song or poetry , ' Dwelly ' s ' [ ibid . ] , or other authorities , and seems to be a fairly recent invention . Two - handed ( Highland ) claymore . The two - handed claymore was a large sword used in the late Medieval and early modern period s . It was used in the constant clan warfare and border fights with the English from circa 1400 to 1700 . Although Claymores existed as far back as the Wars of Scottish Independence they were smaller and few had the typical quatrefoil design ( as can be seen on the Great Seal of John Balliol King of Scots ) . The last known battle in which it is considered to have been used in a significant number was the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689 . It was somewhat smaller than other two - handed swords of the era . The two - handed claymore seems to be an offshoot of Early Scottish medieval longswords ( similar to the Espee de Guerre or Grete war sword ) which had developed a distinctive style of a cross - hilt with forward - angled arms that ended in spatulate swellings . The lobed pommels on earlier swords were inspired by the Viking style . The spatulate swellings were later frequently made in a quatrefoil design . The average claymore ran about 140 cm ( 55 in ) in overall length , with a 33 cm ( 13 in ) grip , 107 cm ( 42 in ) blade , and a weight of approximately 5 . 5 lb ( 2 . 5 kg ) . Fairly uniform in style , the sword was set with a wheel pommel often capped by a crescent - shaped nut and a guard with straight , forward - sloping arms ending in quatrefoil s , and langet s running down the centre of the blade from the guard . Another common style of two - handed claymore ( though lesser known today ) was the " clamshell hilted " claymore . It had a crossguard that consisted of two downward - curving arms and two large , round , concave plates that protected the foregrip . It was so named because the round guards resembled an open clam . The largest claymore on record is a sword measuring 7 feet 6 inches ( 2 . 24 m ) and weighing . The claymore was wielded by a 15th - century Scottish giant of unknown name and origin , though the individual is believed to have been a member of the Maxwell Clan .