A RARE WILLIAM ALLAN HIGHLAND PISTOL ATTRIBUTED TO THE 77TH HIGHLAND REGIMENT,

Stirling, Scotland, mid-18th century.

Footnotes

Provenance
Theodore F. Dexter, Semi-Illustrated List of antique arms for sale, 910, Jefferson St., Topeka, KS, March 19, 1931, item H2 [copies of relevant pages included with the lot].

Bonhams, Antique Arms & Armor and Modern Sporting Guns, San Francisco, November 17, 2008, Lot 4372.

Note
The 77th Regiment of Foot (Montgomerie's Highlanders) was raised in Sterling, Scotland, by Major Archibald Montgomerie. Originally designated the 1st Highland Battalion in 1757, the unit was composed of a total of 1,460 men in thirteen companies. The first ten companies arrived in Charlestown, South Carolina, in early September 1757 to reinforce the town's garrison. Three companies arrived in Philadelphia in April 1758 and the remainder landed at Philadelphia the following June.

The regiment participated in the Forbes Expedition taking part in a raid on Fort Duquesne on September 14, 1758, where it lost 231 men killed as well as the capture of its commanding officer, Major James Grant. Later that fall, the regiment took part in the capture of Fort Duquesne on November 24. In 1759 the 77th moved to northern New York to join Major General Jeffrey Amherst's forces for the invasion of Canada where it participated in the siege and capture of Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) and capture of Crown Point in late July.

In 1760 six of the regiment's companies participated in a campaign against the Cherokee taking part in the destruction of the Indian town of Little Keowee and the Capture of Fort Loudon in August. The following year the 77th sailed to the West Indies where in January 1762 it took part in the Invasion of Martinique and then the Siege of Havana in June of that year. In October the regiment returned to New York City. Two companies of the 77th participated in the recapture of St. John's, Newfoundland, in early September 1762. In the summer of 1763, the regiment took part in the Bouquet Expedition fighting in the Battle of Bushy Run on August 5-6 and relieving the British garrison at Fort Pitt four days later. The regiment disbanded in the fall of 1763 and many of its men and officers chose to settle in American as opposed to returning to Great Britian.

While William Allan has long been identified as a gunmaker working in Edinburgh, Scotland, correspondence associated with this pistol from the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (now part of the National Museum of Scotland) indicates that the Edinburgh attribution is likely incorrect. A surviving pistol in the museum's collection is marked "W Allan" and "Stirling." The Allen family were prominent armorers in Sterling in the 18th century and Heer, Der Neue Støckel, 1978, confirms W. Allan's presence in Stirling, c. 1750.

This pistol bears stylistic similarities to the Ensign James Grant of the 77th Highlanders also by Will Allan from the Walter O'Connor Collection sold at Morphy Auctions, September 26, 2018. Both have flaring muzzles, pierced trigger and vent pick knobs, long ring-decorated rammer pipe and distinctively loose foliate scroll engraving. Similarly, they both exhibit similar thinning of engraved details in wear-prone areas. Highland pistols were carried on a narrow leather strap slung under the left arm. Because the back of the pistol was fully exposed, it was subject to constant rubbing against the officer's woolen coat. The areas that saw the most extensive wear are the outside surface of the belt clip, and the inside edge of the underside panel forward of the trigger. These areas show noticeable loss of engraved detail from being carried.

The 77th Highlanders were raised in and around Stirling, Scotland. Pistols carried by Highland officers were privately purchased. The Ensign James Grant pistol is well documented to the 77th and the scarcity of surviving Will Allan pistols (presently only six known), similarity of this pistol to the Grant pistol, along with the fact that only the 77th was raised in Stirling suggests that the present pistol was also owned by an officer of the same regiment.