Rifle bayonet from the late 1800s
British pattern Martini-Henry socket bayonet and ply-wood & brass scabbard found hidden in the thatched roof of `Cnoc Bhiosta`, Kilmoluaig, by Ian & Sue Atkins during re-thatching around 2005. For use with the .450″ calibre Martini-Henry single-shot rifle made famous during the Zulu Wars. Manufactured in 1876 and used into the early 1900s. The bayonet has a triangular blade which was banned by the Geneva Convention after WWI because of the irreparable injury that it inflicted. It is not known how the bayonet came to be hidden in the thatch, although the brother of Calum Iain `Bhan` MacKinnon (who once lived in the house) was in the Canadian army in the early 1900s, and may have brought the bayonet to Tiree during a holiday with Calum. Texts identifying the bayonet are stored in filing cabinet 9, drawer 3.
