ANTIQUE Sgian-Dubh

Made by Mackay & Chisholm EDINBURGH Scotland 1906

By ROYAL APPOINTMENT Makers to Queen Victoria

The sgian-dubh also anglicized as skene-dhu "skene-dhu" & "skean-dhu" is a small, single-edged knife worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress

Originally used for eating & preparing fruit, meat, & cutting bread & cheese, as well as serving for other more general day-to-day uses such as cutting material & protection, it is now worn as part of traditional Scottish dress 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 same side as the dominant hand

The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic sgian-dubh. Although the primary meaning of dubh is 'black', it also has the secondary meaning of 'hidden', which is at the root of sgian-dubh, according to the stories & 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

The sgian-dubh may have evolved from the sgian-achlais, a dagger that could be concealed under the armpit. Used by the Scots of the 17th & 18th Cent, this knife was slightly larger than the average modern sgian-dubh & was carried in the upper sleeve or lining of the jacket body

Courtesy & etiquette would demand that when entering the home of a friend, any concealed weapons would be revealed. It follows that the sgian-achlais would be removed from its hiding place & displayed in the stocking top held securely by the garters

The sgian-dubh also resembles the small skinning knife that is part of the typical set of hunting knives. These sets contain a butchering knife with a 9-10" blade, & a skinner blade of about 4"

The larger knife likely the ancestor of the modern dirk

Scalloped file work ("Jimping") on the blade's spine is de rigueur on Scottish blades

A short blade of 3 to 3.5 inches is typical

The POINT needs a wee bit of reshaping on carborundum stone