sgian dubh

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See also: sgian-dubh

English[edit]

WOTD – 25 January 2021
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Etymology[edit]

A sgian dubh with (top) and without its sheath (bottom).
The sgian dubh is traditionally tucked into the hose (stocking) on the side of the wearer’s dominant hand so that only the top of the hilt (in this case made of deer antler) is visible.

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic sgian-dubh: sgian (“knife”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut; to cut off, sever”)) + dubh (“black; (figurative) hidden”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“deep”)).

The plural form sgianan dubha is also borrowed from Scottish Gaelic.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

sgian dubh (plural sgian dubhs or sgians dubh or (rare) sgianan dubha)

  1. (Scotland) A small, single-edged knife worn tucked into the hose (stocking) as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress along with the kilt.
    • 1823, [Walter Scott], “The Bohemians”, in Quentin Durward. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 129:
      [Y]oung Durward sprung lightly as the ounce up into the tree, drew from his pouch that most necessary implement of a Highlander or woodsman, the trusty skene dhu, and, calling to those below to receive the body on their hands, cut the rope asunder in less than a minute after he had perceived the exigency.
    • 1827, [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in Chronicles of the Canongate; […], volume I (The Two Drovers), Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 302:
      Give me my skene-dhu, and let me go on my road. I should have been half way to Stirling brig by this time—Give me my dirk, and let me go.
    • 1831, Andrew Picken, “The Deer-stalkers of Glenskiach. A Highland Legend.”, in [Andrew Picken], editor, The Club-book: Being Original Tales, &c. […] (Harper’s Library of Select Novels; XIV), Harper’s stereotype edition, volume II, New York, N.Y.: […] J[ames] & J[ohn] Harper;  […], →OCLC, chapter IX, page 133:
      In another moment claymores and skene-dhus gleamed in the grasp of several uplifted hands; [...]
    • 1839, [George Robert Gleig], “Legends of the Lochs and Glens. No. I.—The Linn of the Caldron.”, in Bentley’s Miscellany, volume V, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 411:
      The hasps, which were evidently intended to be secured by padlocks, had lost their fastenings, which were supplied by two skean-dhus—the small dagger of the Highlander—which had been thrust through the iron loops, and kept the casket perfectly water-tight.
    • [1857, Standish Hayes O’Grady, editor, Toruigheacht Dhiarmuda agus Ghrainne; or, The Pursuit after Diarmuid O’Duibhne, and Grainne the Daughter of Cormac mac Airt, King of Ireland in the Third Century (Transactions of the Ossianic Society for the Year 1855; III), Dublin: […] [F]or the Ossianic Society, by John O’Daly, […], →OCLC, footnote 3, pages 97–98:
      The word sgian now means any kind of knife, but formerly denoted the peculiar dirk which was one of the weapons of the Irish. It was frequently called sgian dubh, i.e. black knife, either from the usual colour of the haft, or from the fatal blow which it so often dealt.]
    • 1866, P. Dun, “The Earl’s Niece”, in Summer at the Lake of Monteith, Glasgow: […] James Hedderwick & Son […], →OCLC, page 41:
      In his hand was a long, sharp-pointed "sgian-dubh," the cherished gift of his father, the plaything of his early youth, and the trusty companion of his manhood and riper years.
    • 1871, Henry Kingsley, chapter XVI, in Old Margaret. […], volume II, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 236:
      "Will you give me his name?" said Macgregor, "for we have skene dhus in this country." / "His name is John Van Eyck," said Van Dysart; "but as you are never likely to meet him, you can keep your skene dhu in your stocking."
    • 1874 March, Archibald Forbes, “The Inverness Character Fair”, in The Gentleman’s Magazine, volume XII (New Series), London: Grant & Co., […], →OCLC, page 325:
      It strikes me that quite three-fourths of the shops of Inverness are devoted to the sale of articles of Highland costume. Their fronts are hidden by hangings of tartan cloth; the windows are decked with sporrans, dirks, cairngorm plaid-brooches, ram's head snuff[-]boxes, bullocks' horns and skean dhus.
    • 1890 October, A. P. Skene, “Notes on the Origin of the Name, Family, and Arms of Skene”, in Scottish Notes and Queries, volume V, number 5, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire: D. Wyllie & Son, […], published 1891, →OCLC, section III (Origin of the Arms (continued)), page 86, column 1:
      When I first saw engravings of these seals, I took Patrick's to bear the Skene coat, as always known since—three skenes, points upwards, bearing three wolves' heads. The blades show but little, but this could well be, even with skenes dhu, if they were pushed right up to the skull: the heads, however, are far too small.
    • 1908, Frank Adam, “The Highland Garb”, in The Clans, Septs & Regiments of the Scottish Highlands, Edinburgh, London: W. & A. K. Johnston, →OCLC, page 215:
      In the simplest form the Highland dress consists of brògs, hose (plain knitted), garters, feilebeg or little kilt, jacket, waistcoat, bonnet with sporran (animal or leather), and sgian du. [...] The sgian du is worn in the stocking, on the outer part of the right leg, in a hollow between two bones.
    • 1931, Francis M. Kelly, Randolph Schwabe, “‘Mixed’ Armour (Late)”, in A Short History of Costume & Armour, Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, published 2002, →ISBN, part II (Armour), pages 67–68:
      It is to be noted that the Dagger does not become a regular feature of knightly accoutrement till the middle of the fourteenth century. [...] A very usual form, both in military and civilian circles, was the Ballok Knife (moderns term it a "kidney dagger"), a type that persisted till the sixteenth century, and whose modern analogue is the Highland dirk (skean-dhu).
    • 1941 September, Pat Dwyer, “The Adventures of Bill”, in Frank G. Steinebach, editor, The Foundry, volume 69, number 9, Cleveland, Oh.: The Penton Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 78, column 1:
      The smith can take a hunk of metal and hammer it out to the desired shape. He can see the result of every hammer stroke. He knows before the job is finished whether the skull cracker, the skean dhu or stingaree is going to serve its purpose in a private or public bickering, or merely is a piece of scrap to be hidden in the clinkers, cinders and junk pile back of the forge or under the bellows.
    • 1980, Geddes MacGregor, “Kilt, Clan, Tartan, and Bagpipe”, in Scotland: An Intimate Portrait, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, published 1990, →ISBN, page 40:
      In the stocking should be worn a sgian dubh, on the outer part of the right leg. The sgian dubh is a knife in a simple sheath.
    • 2005, Philip Zaleski, Carol Zaleski, “Prayer and Tradition”, in Prayer: A History, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 233:
      For nearly half a century this gentle Scottish scholar [Alexander Carmichael] crisscrossed the meadows and moors, mountains and islands of northern Scotland, clad in full Highlands regalia, with kilt, sporran, and sgian dubh (dagger), a walking stick in his right hand and a notebook in his left, sleeping under the stars or in rude shepherds' huts, knocking at a cottage here and a manor house there, and courteously begging, when the door cracked open, for a chance to explain his quest. His mission was to seek out, collect, and preserve the vanishing Gaelic folklore—hymns and tales, incantations, and curses, and above all, prayers—of this remote Highlands region, where the corrosive culture of modernity had not yet won the day.
    • 2011, John Elliston, Kent Priestley, updated and revised by Constance E. Richards, “The Mountains”, in North Carolina Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff, 4th edition, Guilford, Conn.: Morris Book Publishing, →ISBN, page 55:
      The gift store sells everything to help accessorize your kilt, from sporrans (leather pouches) and sgians dubh (daggers) to special socks and shoes.
    • 2012 January 3, C. R. Jahn, “The Subtle Blade”, in FTW Self Defense, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 133:
      If you do not care if your knife appears a bit weaponlike, go for a sgian dubh style blade, but be sure to pick out a good one as most eBay sgian dubhs are practically nonfunctional replicas.
    • 2012 March, William W[allace] Johnstone, with J. A. Johnstone, chapter 14, in The Killing (MacCallister: The Eagles Legacy), New York, N.Y.: Pinnacle Books, Kensington Publishing Corp., →ISBN, page 166:
      [H]e had a complete Black Watch uniform, which consisted of [...] a kilt of blue and green tartan, a black waistcoat, an embossed leather sporran which he wore around his waist, knee-high stockings, and the sgian dubh, or ceremonial knife tucked into the right kilt stocking, with only the pommel visible.
    • 2015, Charlena Miller, chapter 16, in What Lies Between, Portland, Or.: Red Bicycle Press, →ISBN:
      The sgian dubhs tucked into the top of the men's socks caught my fancy. Could those tiny knives cut someone or were they only decorative? Had anyone ever pulled out a sgian dubh at a Burns Night celebration and used it on a guest?
    • 2016, Angela Quarles, chapter 3, in Must Love Kilts: A Time Travel Romance (Must Love Series; book 3), [U.S.A.]: Unsealed Room Press, →ISBN:
      The others in the patrol grunted, turning back to cooking their food, sharpening their sgianan dubha, or scratching their wee balls.

Alternative forms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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