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Scottish Dirks
Few
other
cultures capture the
American
heart like the Highlander
culture of Scotland in the
17th-18th
century. To many this
culture is symbolized by
it's blades-
particularly the Dirk.
I make my dirks to
historical models, but
use not merely period woods
like Dudgeon and Ebony but
also a variety
of other exotic
hardwoods. Detailing
is sometimes ancient,
sometimes moder- most often
a mix of the two but always
seeking to
capture the essence of these
iconic weapons. Keep
an eye out for
Dirks on the
front page-
they
will
be coming up
occasionally. Also check
out the new Dirk
Archive!
The Scottish Dirk as we know
it today originated in the mid
17th
century as a developement of
the Ballock Dagger.
Originally hilts
seem to have been simple with
bands of incised knotwork and
were of
carved Boxwood(Dudgeon) or Bog
Oak, but by the end of the
17th century
this had evolved to elaborate
relief carvings covering the
hilt, often
with carved 'knobs' rather
like rounded nail-heads in
between the
carved bands of the
knotwork. In the early
18th century these
knobs were replaced by actual
nail-heads in brass or silver
and
fittings grew more
elaborate. It was also
in this period that
swords were prohibited in
Scottland and many fine
backsword blades were
reworked into dirk
blades. It is dirks of
this early 18th century
style that are now widely
referred to as 'Jacobite
Dirks' to
distinguish them from later
military dirks. After
Prince
Charlie's revolt of 1745 dirks
were prohibited as were all
other
'Weapons of War-' including
bagpipes! Dirks survived
in the
British army's Highland
Regiments, and by the end of
the 18th century
had for the most part assumed
the familiar 'Thistle Hilt'
form of the
Victorian Era which is most
familiar today from the many
surviving
'Regimantal Dirks.'
The Sgian Duhb's history is a
bit murky- The term
Sgian Duhb
means literally 'Black
Knife.' This does not
refer to an ebony
handle as was common in the
19th century for uniform
knives of the
Highland Regiments, but rather
'Black' as in 'Black
Ops.' These
were a hide-out weapon and
could be concealed anywhere on
the
person. Tradition has it
that when entering the home of
freinds
the knife would be removed
from hiding and tucked into
the boot-top in
plain veiw as a gesture of
good faith. This is said
to be the
origin of the military custom
of wearing the Sgian Duhb in
the stocking
garter with the dress
kilt. Prior to the 19th
century there are
few blades that we can point
to and say definitively 'This
is a Sgian
Duhb," but these seem to have
been simple, small single
edged knives
suitable for cencealed
carry. Neither
do
we
know how far back into antiquity
the custom of carrying the Sgian
Duhb goes but one would guess it
goes back at least as far as the
18th
century.
'Jacobite' style dirks and
conjectural 'Early' Sgian Duhb
Victorian era 'Thistle Hilt'
style dirk
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