A berdiche

A berdiche, being a pole arm with a massive crescent shaped blade fixed to the stout wooden haft by a socket with a right angled arm, the lower end of the blade also fixed to the haft by a collar, an old collector's label identifying it as a 'Lochaber' found in Edinburgh in 1907, and dating it to c. 1740, overall length 203 cm (80 in.)

The term 'Lochaber axe' is typically applied to similar arms equipped with hooks for un-horsing cavalrymen, however they shared many of the other attributes of this weapon, and according to Caldwell* berdiches were imported by the Scots from the continent, making the attribution and date entirely plausible.

* David H. Caldwell, 'Scottish Weapons and Fortifications 1100-1800'