“Spectacular” treasures awarded to an Orcadian naval officer for his actions during an 18th century siege have returned to Orkney after his family gifted them to the islands. Captain James Moodie, of Melsetter on Hoy, was presented with the items by Archduke Charles of Austria – the future Emperor Charles VI – in 1707, following the siege of Denia in Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession.
Capt Moodie’s intervention in the 27-day siege resulted in the 9,000 French troops who were surrounding the city being forced back with heavy losses. The collection – known as the Moodie treasures – includes three “aesthetically stunning” Ottoman weapons: a scimitar (curved sword) and scabbard, a mace, and a dagger with sheath, all of which date from the 1660s.
It is thought the highly-decorated weapons were left behind in Austria and the Balkans by retreating Ottoman armies in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The collection also includes an autographed letter from the Archduke, commending Capt Moodie to British monarch Queen Anne for his actions in the Archduke’s home city, and a portrait of the Orcadian believed to have been painted by Thomas Murray.
Following a naval career that spanned five decades during which he reached the rank of commodore, Capt Moodie retired to Melsetter House on Hoy. It was there he became embroiled in a family feud with Sir James Stewart from Burray, whose Jacobite tendencies pitted him against the Hanoverian-supporting veteran.
