Original Item: One of a Kind. Here we have a fantastic offering, a lovely British 14 Bore Flintlock fowler, formerly owned by Archibald Montgomery, 11th Earl of Eglinton. It had remained in Eglinton castle for decades, during which time the castle was abandoned and fell into disrepair. This fowler and many other items were Auctioned off as part of the Dowell's Eglinton Castle sale in 1925. The family still survives, but no longer owns the castle, which today is in ruins, with some of the support buildings still intact.

This Montgomery family attributed example was made and marked on the lock by GRIFFIN, a prestigious London Maker who worked circa 1750-60, and often used imported barrels from Spain, Italy, and the Ottoman empire in his works. This example is made using a beautiful Italian-made barrel, marked on the breech with ROSINA · IN · TOSCANA, indicating it was made in the Tuscany region in the city today known as Ruosina. There is also a gold touchmark on the breech area marked with EGIDO LEONI, a known maker in Ruosina listed in DER NEUE STØCKEL by Eugene Heer, number 7776. There is an empty touch mark below this, but it looks like exported barrels may have been made this way, as we have seen other examples that are marked this way.

The fowler was also once part of the collection of W. Keith Neal, one of the authors of GREAT BRITISH GUNMAKERS 1740 - 1790: The History of John Twigg and the Packington Guns. , the other author being D.H.L. Bask. From information we received with the gun, it is pictured in the book with the listing of Griffin, which depending on the edition should at approximately page 108. This fowler had previously sold at auction for $11,400.00 in 2018, which can be seen here: Archibald Montgomery Flintlock Fowler.

The gun features an octagonal to round barrel that is has 4 sets of double bands, each held in place by a wedge through the stock below. We can see a joint in the stock between two of the double bands, so we assume that it has some type of take-down ability, however it looks like it would require removal of the entire barrel, as there is no joint in the barrel we can see. The barrel has a groove rear sight with a lovely inset silver front sight.

The flint lock has a flat lock plate, and a single screw behind swan-neck cock, an early design, however it does feature a frizzen reinforcement bridle on the pan, so it is definitely an advanced design. There is lovely sawtooth type engraved decoration around the edge of the lock plate, frizzen, hammer, and top jaw, with engraved accents on the sides of the frizzen spring and pan. There is some lovely foliate engraving surrounding the banner in the center of the lock where it is marked GRIFFIN=. There is some matching engraving on the tang of the barrel. We checked the lock, and it is fully functional, holding at half cock and firing at full. We checked the bore as well, and it is bright and unfouled, so this fowler looks to have seen very little use.

The walnut stock is lovely, and is fully brass mounted, with lovely engraving on virtually all of the fittings. The butt plate tang is four stepped, and is decorated with a panoply of arms, while the large side plate shows what look to be ocean waves. The stock shows a carved "shell" or "leaf" around the barrel tang, which is very well executed. There is no major damage that we can see to the stock, just a bit of cracking on the bottom to the rear of the take-down joint in front of the trigger guard finial. The fowler comes with a lovely original ebony tipped ramrod under the barrel, which has an iron clearing worm on the other end.

This is a fantastic offering, a truly one of a kind item that would make a welcome addition to any collection of fine British firearms. Ready to research and display!

Specifications-

Year of Manufacture: c. 1750-1760
Caliber: 14 Bore / Gauge - about 0.690
Cartridge Type: Powder & Shot
Barrel Length: 46 ½ Inches
Overall Length: 62 ½ Inches
Action type: Side Action Flintlock
Feed System: Muzzle Loaded

Archibald Montgomerie (1726 - 1796) was the 11th Earl of Eglinton, a Scottish General, and a member of the British Parliament. He was Clan Chief of the Clan Montgomerie and fought in the French and Indian War and served George Washington. Montgomerie joined the army at age 13 and when the Seven Years War broke out, he formed Montgomerie's Highlanders, the 77th Regiment of Foot. In 1757, the regiment traveled to the American colonies and was put under the command of General Amherst. In 1758, he and his regiment fought with George Washington and Henry Bouquet in the Fort Duquesne Expedition. Montgomerie went on to defeat the Cherokees in 1760 at the Battle of Etchocy, then fought at the Battle of Havana in 1762. The regiment went on to New York City in October of 1762. Montgomerie may have left New York to return to Scotland at this time. However, the regiment then saw action at the Battle of Bushy Run in August of 1763. Between 1767 and 1795, he was the Colonel of the 51st Regiment of Foot and fought in the French Revolutionary War. He became a Major General in 1772, a Lieutenant General in 1777, and finally, a Full General in 1793. 

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