The Sgian Dubh

[OC Richard]

a wantabe knife

I don't know about the "wannabe" part. It's a knife, a real knife, with a steel blade that can take an edge if you want it to.

I always looked at the sgian (which by the way is merely the ordinary word for 'knife') as the equivalent of the Saxon pocketknife. Thing is, kilts don't have pockets, so the everyday utility knife would have to be put in the sporran or stuck in some other convenient place. The top of the sock is quite handy, actually.

My old Pipe Major used his sgian for cutting hemp (the yellow cord/string used on bagpipes) and also for shaving reeds. He kept the blade at just the right amount of sharpness for reed-shaving.

At some point, like the dirk, the sgian came to be regarded as part of the costume.

In the Army sginean (pl) were worn, and are still worn, by officers and pipers. So, to some extent they form a badge of rank or position.

Though a small part of the costume the sgian tends to make a big impact on people who don't see Highland Dress often. I know the first time I saw a piper in person one of the things I noticed was that knife in his sock, and when I go out on piping gigs it's one of the main things people ask about. Many pipers feel somewhat underdressed if they're not wearing one. Other pipers (civilian pipers, that is) never wear them because it's just one more thing to have to fuss with (many pipers paring down the costume to the bare minimum).

[nagod]

when did it turn from a utility knife stuck in a convenient place to a hidden knife for nefarious purposes?

[Jock Scot]

when did it turn from a utility knife stuck in a convenient place to a hidden knife for nefarious purposes?

21 April 1697.


Joking apart. I think that then they were multi-purpose, and of no particular design and carried in no particular place, unless, I suppose, skullduggery was afoot.