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David Blair gunmaker Birmingham & Robert Burns
- Thread starter Vivienne14
- Start date
There's an account of David Blair, his gun making and his other activities in Birmingham Archives and Collections (Local History).
The title of the account is: "David Blair, Robert Burns, Radicals and Birmingham: The Story of a Gunmaker, Poetry, Politics and Blades in the Age of Revolution. Version 2.1".
https://calmview.birmingham.gov.uk to locate the relevant catalogue entry.
Edited to update detail to version 2.1 August 2026
The title of the account is: "David Blair, Robert Burns, Radicals and Birmingham: The Story of a Gunmaker, Poetry, Politics and Blades in the Age of Revolution. Version 2.1".
https://calmview.birmingham.gov.uk to locate the relevant catalogue entry.
Edited to update detail to version 2.1 August 2026
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The title of the account in Birmingham Archives and Collections is "David Blair, Robert Burns, Radicals and Birmingham: The Story of a Gunmaker, Poetry, Politics and Blades in the Age of Revolution. Version 2.1".
Universal access is now available to read online: CLICK HERE ( https://birmingham.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_d1780420-0349-41aa-bfba-c1ee5007ed0d/ )
Edited to update link to v2.1 dated August 2026
Universal access is now available to read online: CLICK HERE ( https://birmingham.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_d1780420-0349-41aa-bfba-c1ee5007ed0d/ )
Edited to update link to v2.1 dated August 2026
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My information about all this is that David Blair gave Burns the flintlock holster pistols and Burns famously acknowledged their receipt.. They have Blair's marks imprinted. The excise pistols are quite different and may well have "come with the job". The two are compared below:
As for Dr William Maxwell, Burns gave him the pistols from Blair just before he died.
Blair already knew William and his older brother James Maxwell from previous encounters.
The Balamerino Dirk has a quite different provenance. Maxwell owned it initially having paid a small cask of Ferintosh whisky for it. It was stolen from him and stripped of its silver. He later regained it and he gave it to Burns. Burns chose not to have it repaired and gave it to David Blair who left it to his eldest son, also David. It eventually turned up over 100 years later with solicitors in Glasgow as a bequest and was donated to the Mauchline Memorial Tower Museum and it's now held at the Dean Castle Museum in Scotland.
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