Sgian-dubh

The sgian-dubh is a small, singled-edged knife(Gaelic: sgian) worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress along with the kilt. It is worn tucked into the top of the kilt hose with only the upper portion of the hilt visible. The sgian-dubh is normally worn on the right leg, but can also be worn on the left, depending on whether the wearer is right or left-handed.

Originally, the sgian dubh is said to have been part of a set of knives used by servants or ghillie or gille(Gaelic: boy), as in serving boy to clean, skin and dress the meat after the Lord of the manor and his party had killed the game. One knife was long and heavy bladed(9 to 10 inches) for butchering the game. This larger knife is likely the ancestor of the modern dirk. The other of the set had a blade from 3 to 4 inches in length, this was for skinning the game. A skinning knife would have a straight single edged blade, or a clipped pointed blade (like a small bowie knife) with a handle of stag antler, or wood carved into interwoven bands of knotwork.

This brings us to the primary meaning of dubh (meaning black). Sometimes bog oak are used on the handle of these skinning knives—bog oak is dark brown to black in color. The secondary meaning, “hidden”, is at the root of sgian-dubh. It’s based on the stories and theories surrounding the knife’s origin, in particular those associated with the Highland custom of depositing weapons at the entrance to a house prior to entering as a guest. Despite this practice, a small twin edged-dagger, a mattucashlass (Gaelic: sgian-achlais /axLɪʃ/: oxter knife, [similar: anns an achlais, under the arms]) is concealed under the armpit—since in these far off days it was unsafe to be ever totally unarmed, not because he feared his host but rather because he feared intrusions from outside. Out of courtesy to his host, it’s removed from its place of concealment and placed where his host could see it, invariably in his stocking on the side of his hand.

The earliest known blades some of which are housed in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh are made from German or Scandinavian steel which was highly prized by the Highlanders. The blades varied in construction, some having a “clipped” (famously found on the Bowie knife) or “drop” point. The “spear-point” tip has now become universal. Scalloped filework on the back of the blade is common on all Scottish knives.

Since the modern sgian-dubh is worn mainly as a ceremonial item of dress and is usually not employed for cutting food or self-defence, blades are often of a simple (but not unglamorous) construction.

Highland dirk

The Scottish dirk (“Highland dirk”, Scottish Gaelic: Biodag: dagger) is the traditional and ceremonial sidearm of the officers of Scottish Highland regiments. The development of the Scottish dirk as a weapon, beginning in the second half of the 17th century (during the Jacobite Rising), is a continuation of the 16th-century bullock/roundel dagger—narrow-bladed and the handle has the shape of bullocks.

Early dirk blades were long and single-edged with “gimping” of the blade spine, an effect that makes the spine of the blade look like it has dull saw teeth. The hilts were normally of wood, and the leather sheaths often contained pockets for by-knives and forks.

The earliest “traditional” dirks seem to appear shortly after the life of Oliver Cromwell ended in 1658. The knot-work carving on the grips became intricate with small studs appearing in the gaps of the knot-work. Blades of the old single-edge tapered form made solely for dirks still existed, though cut-down sword blades. This could be an early example of recycling for cost purposes, though most experts agree it was done more because the imported blades were better tempered than those of local manufacture. When present, pockets for by-knives and forks were also metal bound, however, rather than being carried side-by-side, the by-knife/fork pair began to be carried one beneath the other. Dirks of this form enjoyed their heyday for less than a century. The disaster at Culloden in 1745 led to prohibitions of wearing highland dress and accoutrements by those not in the army.

The final stages of the dirk show a marked change from the early weapons becoming “a dress accessory.” By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the shape of the grip changed from the more cylindrical form handed down by the bullock to a shape intended to represent the thistle, the floral emblem of Scotland. The studs in the knot-work were replaced with more fashionable nails and tacks of brass and silver, sometimes gilt. The carving on the grips also evolved (or degenerated according to some historians), moving from interwoven bands of knot-work to a style looking much like a basket weave. Fancier fittings for both grip and scabbard, often of silver, became even more common after 1800. Dirks of this late form were issued to Highland regiments after the ‘45.

Dirk Dance