Wearing a basket hilt.?.

[Tobus]

Actually, that's pretty much exactly what happened.

The sgian dubh is virtually unknown in Scotland before 1800, with the earliest representation (Raeburn's painting of "The Macnab") dating from about 1806. By 1854 Scotland, and all things "Highland" become wildly popular with the upper classes. Sportsmen, drawn to Scotland to shoot stag, notice that the stalkers often carry a small knife in their stocking top, which they put to a variety of uses in the field. The wearing of a sgian dubh quickly becomes the hallmark of someone who has killed a stag (in much the same way that the "gamsbart" worn in HRH Prince Albert's hat marks him out as a member of the German shooting fraternity). This "badge of a hunter" quickly becomes a fashion necessity, and within a few years it is not only considered an indispensable accessory if one is to be well dressed in the Highland manner, the wearing of a "Full Dress silver mounted Skean Dhu (sic)" is required if wearing Highland attire at the Royal Court.

The sgian dubh has absolutely nothing to do with self defense, and everything to do do with 19th century self-aggrandizement.

That is an interesting bit of history, but I think your conclusion doesn't necessarily match your description.

You seem to have stated that the original use of the sgian dubh was utilitarian (as I bolded in your reply above). Just because others in later years started to wear it as a mere decoration doesn't mean that this was its origin. It seems pretty clear that it was first carried as a functional tool, and only evolved into a decoration later.

Hence, Andy Proffitt's statement was correct. It didn't come about from someone just waking up one day and deciding his sock needed a decoration.

Right?