My great granpa, (Northern Irishman, with a temper to match) had one remarkably like yours with the box hammer head on it. His, I recall his had a curved handle. I also remember the kerf in the base of the head and a stamp marking in the head although I have no idea what the marking was, well before my interest in tools other than them being fun to play with. I used to play 'tomahawks' with it when we used to visit him, there wasn't a tree or a yard of turf in his back garden without scars as proof of my adventures. Ironically, he was more than happy for a 7 year old boy as I was then to play with it as it kept me out of the house and out of the way of the adults. He even taught me just about every profanity & swear word known in the English language, much to the horror of my mother. Ah, Halcyon days. Can you imagine that now. The kids are not even allowed plastic copies these days, the 'weans' (kids) are even acknowledged in such visits and often the centre of attention
He kept it in the 'coal hoose' for spltting kindling for the fire. He was long retired before my time although he was a coal face miner in the days before pnuematic drills. A shortened pick and shovel were the tools of choice. He was a mountain even as an old man, so god knows how he managed to burrow himself into a coal seam. The face miners made the bigger money, the more they dug and brought out the more they earned. Every face worker had an assistant, or boy to shovel the coal into bogeys . If you couldn't shovel the coal up from the face quick enough you slowed the digger down....and that would not do. Although originally from Ulster he ended up and spent his working life in the coal mines of South Ayrshire, Scotland. I only mention this as your subsequent link mentions it being a Scottish pattern.
He was born in 1882 and died in 1973. he landed in Scotland when he was barely 17, so around 1899 if my arithmetic is correct. Not sure though where or how he came about the hatchet, possibly 'borrowed' from the mine. He refered to it as the 'ehxe'. The 'A' was pronounced as in the capital 'A' sound rather than the 'A' in the word apple. hope that makes sense. It will to a Scotsman I guess.
David
