Meaning of sgian dubh | Babel Free

Definitions

A small, single-edged knife worn tucked into the hose (stocking) as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress along with the kilt.

Scotland

Equivalents

Examples

“[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.”

“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.”

“In another moment claymores and skene-dhus gleamed in the grasp of several uplifted hands; [...]”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“"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."”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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).”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“The gift store sells everything to help accessorize your kilt, from sporrans (leather pouches) and sgians dubh (daggers) to special socks and shoes.”

“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.”

“[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.”

“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?”

“The others in the patrol grunted, turning back to cooking their food, sharpening their sgianan dubha, or scratching their wee balls.”

CEFR level