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HighlandWizard

Most of the material here is expansion and additional information acquired during my research for this site. You will find articles on the history, traditions and customs of the Scots.

The word “pagan” comes from the Latin “pagani”, meaning “People who live in the country.” The word “heathen” means “people who live on the heath. (Heath . An extensive tract of uncultivated open land covered with herbage and low shrubs; a moor or heather.

More on Henge's:
Popular imagination peoples the henge's with druids, but the circles of stone predate the druids by many, many centuries. In fact, no one knows who built the Great Stone Henge. Tribes that saw the Great Henge must of thought that it was built by the gods and in many cases imitated them.

Archeologists believe that new people, called the Beaker people after their most common archeological product, moved to the Isles around 2500 BC bringing their metalworking skills and culture with them. This was a peaceful influx, a more technologically advanced society influencing and dominating the less advanced. However, the Beaker people embraced wholeheartedly the notion of stone circles and they are the ones who perfected the art. Therefore, cultural exchange worked both ways.

A henge is a roughly circular or oval-shaped flat area enclosed and delimited by a boundary earthwork - usually a ditch with an external bank.

The most distinctive components of any henge monuments are its bank and ditch. Most henge's have either a single ditch or a pair of concentric ditches surrounding the central area. This is not always the case, however, with some henge's having no ditch while others have three.

The soil and bedrock taken from the ditch was used to build the henge bank which generally lay outside the ditch. The sizes of the banks varied proportionally with the size of the ditches. Typically, however, they seem to have been fairly broad at the base, five meter's to 30 meter's wide and up to five meter's high.

Access to the central area was via formal entrances through the earthwork. Most henge's have either one entrance or two opposed entrances.
The alignment of henge's seen in the position of their entrances is highly variable and may have been as much conditioned by local geography as by any preferred orientation. There is, however, a slight tendency for henge's with a single entrance to have that entrance set in the north or north-east sector while sites with two entrances are aligned SE-SSE to NW-NNW or ENE-E to WSW-W.

The original purpose and function of henge monuments is not fully understood. Because of the arrangement of banks and ditches it is generally accepted that they are ceremonial or ritual monuments.

Henge's are generally classified into four main types according to the number of entrances and ditches they have. The traditional classification is as follows:
Class I Single entrance, single bank, and, usually, a single ditch circuit.
Class IA Single entrance, single bank, and double circuit of ditches.
Class II Two opposed entrances, single bank, and single ditch circuit.
Class IIA Two opposed entrances, single bank, and two or more circuits of ditches.
Class III Four opposed entrances, single bank, and single ditch circuit.

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The Scottish Targe (pron. tar-gie) was a round shield with loops on the back through one of which the arm was passed while the other was grasped by the hand.

This name as applied to a shield goes back to the 12th century and was used, especially by the Scots. The typical Scottish targe was about twenty inches in diameter, and was made of wood covered with leather studded with brass bosses. It had a central spike which was sometimes as much as ten inches long and could be unscrewed and carried in a pocket in the deerskin lining.

Used by the wild clansmen of Scotland, this shield was still in use in 1745 when it gave the Redcoats real trouble during Bonnie Prince Charlie's Rebellion. When the Redcoats lunged with the bayonet, the Scots would catch it on the Targe, and then slash with the sword.

The front was decorated with brass or silver studs and plates which occasionally had cutouts, backed with red cloth (traditionally a piece of redcoat's uniform). The leather was usually tooled in Celtic type patterns etc.

It is from the Greek and Roman historians who first encountered the Celtic peoples that we have developed our basic image of the fierce Celtic warrior, woad-painted and naked, howling like a banshee. We've also garnered images of ancient druids, congregating under the sacred oaks, harvesting mistletoe, and supervising human sacrifice.

Who are the Scots?

People known as the Picts or Pechts earlier inhabited the Highlands of what is now Scotland. In fact, this area was then known as "Pictland" and did not become "Scotland" until as late as the eleventh century. A second century Roman geographer, Ptolemy, drew the earliest map of the region. On it, he showed four tribes: the Venicones, Tazali, Vacomagi and Caledoni. By the third century these four had become two tribes, the Caledoni and the Maeatae, and by the end of the third century merged as one nation, the Picts.

These people have long been a mystery, partly because they spoke a language that is now lost. When the Scots became a dominant force in the welding together of medieval Scotland, it was not in their interests to keep alive any Pictish traditions.

The Scots, incidentally, were immigrants from Ireland who, having come first as raiders, by the fifth century had settled in the under populated areas of the west. By the seventh century they were virtually masters of the lowlands. The right of succession to the throne was matrilineal: in other words, reckoned through the mother. This practice was in existence for well over three hundred years, that we know of, and probably much longer.

Most of what was learned about the Picts was through their art. They used powerful animal symbols and geometric forms. Jewelry, metalwork, stone carvings: all show the same highly skilled craftsmanship.

Witchcraft was practiced in Scotland from earliest times. During the reign of Natholocus, in the second century, there was a famous Witch living on the island of Iona (a tiny island off the coast of the large island of Mull, in the Hebrides, off the West Coast of Scotland.) Such was her renown that the king sent a trusted messenger to her to find out what was going to be the result of a rebellion then building in him kingdom. The Witch said that the king would soon be murdered, not by an enemy, but by one of his most trusted friends. When the messenger demanded who it was, she said it was he. After thinking it over, not wanting to report what the Witch had said, and perhaps be killed by the king in anticipation, the messenger did stab the king to death.

There are many cases of Witchcraft throughout Scottish history, reflecting the bitter crusade pursued by Protestants and Catholics alike, in their paranoia over possible "servants of the devil." The vast majority of Scottish Witches, like their Pictish forebears, practiced as Solitaries, only occasionally coming together for special celebrations. Witchcraft was first made legally punishable, in Scotland, by an Act passed by the Scottish Parliament, in the reign of Mary, in 1563.

It is the Triquetra (try-KET-ra, Latin for "three cornered").
So what's the real story behind this symbol?

Christian Symbolism:
The Triquetra represents the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The unbroken circle represents eternity. The interwoven nature of the symbol denotes the indivisibility and equality of the Holy Trinity. It symbolizes that the Holy Spirit is three beings of power, honor, and glory but is indivisibly one God.

Pagan/Wiccan/Goddess Symbolism:
The Triquetra represents the threefold nature of the Goddess as virgin, mother
and crone. It symbolizes life, death, and rebirth and the three forces of nature: earth, air, and water. The inner three circles represent the female element and fertility.

Many cultures and religions consider the number three to be holy or divine. The symbol of three interlocking circles (right), has been found on 5000 year old Indian religious statuary. We see lots and lots of threes if we just look
around. The Triquetra symbol itself dates as early as the eighth century on
carved stones in northern Europe.

A Norse rune known as the Odin Knot or Val Knot resembles it almost exactly. But who had it first, the pagans or the Christians? To know for sure, we would have to find a Triquetra that positively predates Christianity. Since this hasn't happened yet, we're in a bit of a pickle. Maybe it originated with the pagans or maybe with the Christians. Maybe it's one of those universal signs like the cross and the triangle that pop up in cultures irrespective of one another. The pagans have a few points in their favor, however.

We can speculate knowing what we do of similar signs. The early Christians freely "appropriated" many pagan symbols, rituals, and holidays and took them as their own. The Mandorla, the Christians' sacred almond,(The Mandorla, a symbol that was used during the times of medieval Christianity. It is an ancient symbol of two circles coming together, overlapping one another to form an almond shape in the middle. Also known as the "Vesica Piscis", symbolizing the interactions and interdependence of opposing worlds and forces. The circles may be taken to represent spirit and matter or heaven and earth. Mandorla is the Italian word for almond), was originally a pagan feminine symbol signifying fertility. The Christians changed it to one representing virginity and purity. It is pictured in early Christian art as the almond-shaped halo of Christ. So it's quite probable that the early Christians adopted the Triquetra, an interlocking triple Mandorla, also.

In the final analysis, maybe the origin isn't nearly as important as its meaning to the group, or the individual. So whether you're pagan, Christian, or simply a fan of the television show "Charmed," you may believe what you want to believe. So can I

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HISTORY OF HIGHLAND DRESS - MAINLY THE KILT
Highland dress and the tartan are among the most powerful, romantic and dramatic of all the symbols of Scotland. It has been claimed that 'a man in a kilt is a man and a half'. There really is something about the 'wearing of the kilt' that confers extra stature on its owner. It is absolutely no coincidence that the kilted, 51st Highland Division was rated by the Germans as the most formidable of all the formations they came across during the Second World War. Certainly the British government had no doubts on the matter when, after the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie, they banned the use of Highland dress and the tartan, which they clearly saw as an incitement to further rebellion. Offenders were killed or sent to the colonies in the USA, the wilds of Canada's Hudson Bay Fur Company, or to Australia (mostly to the Penal Colony, New South Wales).

The form of Highland dress has always owed much to the army and it was the Highland regiments which kept the kilt and the tartan alive until at last, in 1782, their use was once more permitted. Before that date, Scots were only permitted to wear any Scottish wear, 'if' they joined the British Armed Services. Pipers were permitted to wear their kilt, but usually in a Regimental color. Of service men, - most were permitted to wear the balmoral with their clan badge on it. A high price to pay to wear highland clothes, laying their life on the line to do it. Whilst back home, unbeknownst to the regiments of Highlanders, their own people were being "cleared" (the English and Lowlands called it "improvements". History will be the judge of these actions, this information and other facts are coming to light, and finally to the Scottish people. [Read Skyelander's History of the Highland Clearances, Robert M.Gunn],Author/Historian

Today, the kilt is seen as the national dress of Scotland. In fact, it started life as "no such thing", being entirely confined to the Highlands. The Lowlanders, who have always made up the majority of Scots, regarded what they considered a "barbarous" form of apparel with 'loathing' and 'contempt' and conferred the opprobrious term of 'redshanks' on the Highlanders, who were, they felt, what we would now term 'blue' or 'red' with cold.

Today anyone with the smallest claim to Scot's ancestry, (and not a few without), proudly wears the kilt; even Lowland chiefs and their followers vie with their Highland counterparts in a way which which their forefathers would have found incomprehensible and appalling. (These directions are written in 'old Scots and are not grammatical mistakes by the author of this page.)
"To put it on, its owner "put his leather belt on the ground and then placed the material lengthways (or lengthwise if you are American) over it. This he then methodically pleated, on the belt from end to end,(suitable to the size of the wearer), over the belt until he had gathered along its length leaving as much at each end unpleated as would cover the front of the body, while overlapping each other. That was referred to as the apron. Lying down on the belt, he would then fold these ends - overlapping each other. The plaid being thus prepared, was firmly bound round the loins with a leathern belt, in such a manner that the lower side fell down to the middle of the knee joint, and then while there were the foldings behind, the cloth was double before. The upper part was then fastened on the left shoulder with a large brooch, or pin, so as to display to the most advantage the tastefulness of the arrangement, the two ends being sometimes suffered to hang down, but that on the right side, which was of necessity the longest, went over the shoulder and was more usually tucked under the belt."

The belted plaid had many advantages in the Highland climate and terrain. It allowed freedom of movement, it was warm, the upper half could provide a voluminous cloak against the weather, it dried out quickly and with much less discomfort than trousers and if required. it could, by the mere undoing of the belt, provide a very adequate overnight blanketing. The tightly woven wool proved almost completely waterproof, something the lose woven wool of today -- is not. When complete freedom of action was required in battle it was easily discarded, and one famous Highland clan battle, that between the Frasers, MacDonalds and Camerons in 1544, is known as Blar-na-Leine, which can be translated as 'Field of the Shirts'.

The garment that was largely, -- that of the people, and lesser leaders wore a 'Leine Croich' or saffron shirt, and in fact a knee-length garmet of leather, linen or canvas, heavily pleated and quilted, which provided a surprisingly good defense and which was much more mobile (and less expensive) than contemporary plate armour. This form of dress is to be seen on West Highland tombstones right up to the early seventeenth century, worn with a high conical helmet and the great two-handed claymore.

For ordinary wear the kilt may be made of tartan or tweed and may be box-pleated or knife-pleated (as are most). For dress wear it should be of the dress tartan of the Clan. If the Clan posses one. The kilt should be worn with the lower edges reaching not lower than the centre of the knee-cap.
The ordinary or everyday jacket and vest worn with the kilt, should be made of tweed, home-spun (usually wool) or a lighter weight for summer, or other suitable material preferably with horn buttons.

The sporran, or purse, may be made of leather for day wear; the head and skin of the badger, seal, ermine or other light and dark colored skins for evening. The kilt, having no pockets, insured the sporran to be evolved by necessity.
Hose for daywear may be a white or oatmeal in co lour, for evening they should be tartan to match the kilt. Either fine knit, woven or cut from the tartan piece. Garters, with flashes, are usually of wool or worsted, and knotted with a garter knot, the end or 'flashes' hanging below the overturn. At present, elastic garters are popular. Colors either red, green, or navy blue are popular. Although new colors are evolving.

Instead of a tie, the lace jabot is worn over a plain white shirt. In modern days, some wear the tie but the lace jabot is favored. Lace cuffs are usually sewn or snapped into the jacket cuffs allowing a great amount of the lace to be shown. Many think the lace not their 'cup of tea' however, it is the proper dress with many formal dress jackets.

Shoes for evening wear should be light weight and with silver gilt buckles. Gillies or a light weight leather shoe with the appearance of gillies, and real gillies may be worn and are well suited to dancing the Country Dances. Shoes for day wear - any color leather that compliments the kilt.

The "Balmoral" style bonnet is the most popular style of headwear. And it approximates more closely to the old broad bonnet of the Highlander. It is generally dark blue, green, lovet green and brown in color, and may have a pompom (usually) of red, which is traditional. The question has come up, why the pom pom? The Highland Bonnets were for all the early years either knitted or crocheted. The starting point of the bonnet would be the headband to get the correct fit, and working upward on the bonnet. When one finished the bonnet, it would have threads left over. The Scots, lovers of color, tied these threads into a knot and cut it flush. When the threads spread, the produced a pom pom, which has now become a tradition. The bonnet should display the crest 'Clan buckle and strap', of the wearer, if he is entitled to wear one, or if he is in fact, a member of that clan. Under no circumstances should ordinary clansmen wear the full crest without the strap and buckle, which indicates it is the chief's crest. The clan members-wearer is merely displaying the topmost part of his chief's crest in the traditional strap and buckle. Only the Chief of the Clan is entitled to wear the full Crest. To wear anything other than the strap and buckle crest, is insulting to the chief.

The diced (or orange checkered) band around the base of the balmoral indicates loyalty to the blood line that became the House of Hanover, i.e. the Dutch King England placed on the throne to forestall any taking over by the Scottish King line, waiting in the Highlands.
Highlanders generally do NOT wear the diced Balmoral, but choose to wear the plain dark blue bonnet; many lowlanders may choose wear the diced cap as they are intermingled with English blood and loyalties. Some Lowlanders also will not wear the diced cap. It is a matter of loyalties as some Lowlanders and Highlanders are loyal to the Highlands, and would not wear the diced cap, even after all these years.

The wearing of a dirk,although not necessary, is generally carried in the loop on the kilt, at the waist, made for the dirk with a strap for over the shoulder for stability. A sgian-dubh, (or small dark dagger) is carried in the right hand stocking on all occasions. The kilt is male attire and should NEVER be worn by the ladies, except Highland dancer lassies.

As it happens, pre-nineteenth century portraits of the chiefs and lairds painted in tartan are remarkably few; in general, apart from those wearing kilted military uniforms, they preferred to have their pictures painted in ordinary dress of the time. Many paintings of Lowland estate owners, show incorrectly mixed tartans worn at the same time, and the accessories worn incorrectly. This is due to the lowlander acquiring the outfit without knowing the customs.
The Feileadh Beg, or little kilt, is what is worn today. It is the military form and also the form invented by an Englishman, to keep kilt clothing out of machinery in working factories. In essence it consists of the lower part of the old belted plaid with the pleats sewn in at the back and neatly tailored (knife pleated). The ends of the kilt's two aprons being drawn across the front of the body and secured usually by leather strap and buckle. This form of dress may have existed earlier, but there is no sign of it before 1725. It is a severe shock to many people to find that the "little kilt's originator may well have been an Englishman, one Rawlinson, who was employed as the manager of an iron smelting works in Lochaber who adapted it, to allow more freedom of movement for his workers. Probably so they could work faster (being the concerned English they were). Be that as it may, it is this form of garment which is now firmly taken as being the kilt. Although in the USA the old form of Feileadh Bhreacain is picking up considerable popularity. Identification at any distance of differing clans was due largely to the wearing of the various clan plant-badges it will be noticed, is a considerable feature by an easily visible token in the bonnet so as to allow other clan members to know who their clan, septs and friends were in a battle. This plant-badge was worn on the bonnet or balmoral.

During the Jacobite uprising some wore the white cockade (from the French cocarde or the Old French coquarde meaning "vain, or cocky"). During Culloden, it was worn in the bonnet to identify supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie. The modern, armorially correct fashion for a clansman of wearing (the upper portion) of his chief's crest within a buckle and strap displaying the motto as a silver cap badge, as stated earlier, only the Chief of the clan can wear the complete crest.

Today, tartans abound and it is an unfortunate person indeed who will not be told by the tartan shops that he or she indeed can buy 'their' tartan. The ascribing of a vast plethora of names to membership of various clans has long been an industry in itself - luckily there is insufficient time or space here to enter into that particular subject

The convention has now been adopted that it is the chief of the clan - assuming that there is one - who decides who belongs to his clan and what is its tartan. The chief may have a differing tartan than his clan, but it will be very similar (usually).

The transformation of the attitude towards the Highlander in the mind of the rest of the nation, from the fear and disgust engendered by the Jacobite rebellions to admiration and respect is nothing short of remarkable. Jacobite (from new latin Jacobus meaning: James, or latin meaning Jack). It was a name chosen to show support for James II.) The bravery of the Highland regiments of the latter part of the eighteenth century, must give them the right to claim a large part of the credit, but the early years of the nineteenth century saw the arrival of an extraordinary veneration and romanticizing of the Highlander. And why not, by now he was destroyed, evicted and none to fear.
Of course, the most eminent enthusiast of "things Highland" was Queen Victoria herself, her task at the time being summed up in that splendid word 'Balmorality'. The Queen displayed enormous pride in her Stewart ancestry, ignoring the fact that if 'that' family had triumphed a hundred years before, her own would have remained in undistinguished obscurity. Many speculate, that her love of the Highlands and the people was nothing more than a public relations job to win over the Highlanders that remained. Victoria had the help of Sir Walter Scott, who wrote, among many other books, his famous, Waverly Novels, glorifying the Highlanders as something much different than they were. What is meant by that remark is that the Highlanders were glorious and that is a fact. But in their own dress, fighting, clannish way. Not as the Highlander always wearing his very best tartans and looking glamorous. They were a wonderfully respected people of their own, and not the romanticized Highlander of Victoria's vision. Her reign saw the final transformation of what their detractors could claim to be a race of savages, however noble, into figures of glamour and romance. The process can perhaps be summed up by the comparison between the silver encrusted and often 'caingorm ornamented', ceremonial dirk with its knife and fork in the sheath so frequently illustrated in Scottish books, and the much older and more plain example on display at Invaray Castle as to it's stark purpose, the latter dirk, is dispelled by the Gaelic inscription on its worn blade which, being translated, reads 'Give me blood for I am thirsty!

The element of fantasy is still with us today now that Highland dress is popular as never before. There is something that is very special indeed about the kilt and the tartan. It is a limp back indeed that does not straighten as the kilt is buckled on and a poor heart that is not lifted just a little, at the sight of the colors of the clan and the skirl of the pipes.
The kilt has now become, beyond any doubt the national dress of Scotland; let us keep it that way and ensure it is not allowed to decline into mere fancy dress.

Nancy A. MacCorkill, Lady, F.S.A.S.
Sources Alistar Campbell;
Clan Septs & Regiments of the Scottish Highlanders;
Excerpts from a book titled 'The Scots Kilt'
Clans and Tartans of Scotlands
Lord Lyons Office, Agent of the Queen, Elizabeth.

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PROHIBITION OF THE TARTAN
All Highlanders forced to take this oath or die !"ACT OF PARLIMENT (ENGLISH), passed in 1746 prohibiting the wearing of the Highland Dress. EVERY HIGHLANDER HAD TO TAKE THIS OATH OR DIE:HIGHLANDERS' OATH AGAINST TARTAN (Oath every Highlander was forced to repeat, and swear on threat of DEATH), 1746. ('Those who refused to take it were treated

as rebels', killed or imprisoned....later those who were left.....were 'cleared'. )
I, _______________, do swear, as I shall answer to God at the great day of Judgment, I have not, nor shall have in my possession any gun, sword, pistol or arm whatsoever, and never to use tartan plaid, or any part of the Highland Garb; and if I do so -- may I be cursed in my undertakings, family and property, may I be killed in battle as a coward, and lie without burial in a strange land, far from the graves of my forefathers and kindred; may all this come across me if I break my oath."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~This was an especially cruel oath by Highlanders', because most to lie without burial etc'., was a devastating punishment, as the burial was such an important part of their heritage.Many died because of the 'wearing of the tartan', and 'not giving up their weapons', just as many died in Ireland for the 'wearing of the green'. Presented for you by,
Nancy MacCorkill, F.S.A. Scot
Author, Poet
Clans Gunn, MacLeod, and Keith (Marshall)

The Story of the Scottish Thistle
For the many who keep writing and asking me for the story of the thistle, and how it became Scotland's national symbol....here is the thorny subject.
The story goes like this. Avery long time ago when Scotland was ravaged by Viking invaders, a group of Scottish fighting men were resting overnight in a field.

Unknown to them, a viking raiding party was preparing to attack this group of Scots, under cover of darkness.

As the attacking Vikings approached the encamped Scots, they stepped into a patch of thistles with their bare feet, and of course cried out in pain, as the thorny thistle spikes imbedded themselves in their feet and legs. The thistle is akin to a weed that inflicts such spines and pain, the 'nettle'. The weed that keeps giving pain for hours after pricking the skin.
The Scots, having been awakened by these cries, were alerted to the invaders and able to fight off the attackers.

So, from that day, the Thistle has been adopted as Scotland's National Emblem. Everywhere you go in Scotland, you will see the emblem or picture of the Thistle. A dangerous little weedy flower, and it can be quite painful and destructive ....... just like a Scot!

It adorns countless products, services, organizations, etc., and can be seen everywhere, in Scotland.

Druids:

We do know that the Celtic religion was nature based (trees, water, etc.), what neopagans now call "earth spirituality". It is thought that there were three classes of "clergy", druid, bard and ovate, with differing functions, though it's difficult to pinpoint these differences. Some feel it was a question of degree and level of training. Seership was a highly developed and a very important function. Druids not only led spiritually, but functioned as arbiters and judges. There is some evidence to suggest that the druid hierarchy spanned Celtic

Europe with some archdruids having ultimate jurisdiction over large areas.
The Celtic calendar was lunar based, with thirteen months. Extra days as needed were added at new year's as a "time between times." Their year was divided into eight segments, each with a corresponding festival. The four fire festivals take place on the last evening of a month and the following day because the Celts, like the Jews, count a day from sunset to sunset. That's why we celebrate All Hallow's Eve, Midsummer's Eve, and so on.

These four fire festivals are tied to the agricultural cycle as follows:
Samhain is celebrated on October 31-November 1 (our Halloween). It is the end of the harvest, the beginning of winter and once marked Celtic new year. At Samhain, the barrier between our world and the Other world thins, allowing contacts between the spirits (faeries) and humans. Normal rules of human conduct do not apply and one may "run wild".

The Sgian Dubh:
Never has one piece of weaponry, brought so many inquiries to this author, than the Sgian Dubh. Maybe it is because it was small, but mighty; -- alleged but hidden; or something women would call "petite", but very, very deadly.
No kilted Scot would be caught without the Sgian Dubh, tucked in his hose. No scholar of Highland weaponry or dress, could ever forget the Sgian Dubh. Few researchers agree on "all" the facts about it, but there are some definite facts about it that can be agreed to. One is, it is spelled various ways and all forms seem to be accepted: Skene du, Skein dubh, skean dhu, sgian dhub and Skhian dubh. Phonetically, it is pronounced "scheeeian doo." My own particular preference is Skean dubh, simply because that is the way my father pronounced it and spelled it and he knew ten times more than, I do about Scottish weapons. However a favorite spelling is "Sgian Dubh" so I shall use it here.

The meaning however, is clear: "Sgian" means knife or dagger, "dubh" means black. I believer Skyelander has touched upon 'Dubh' being black in his poem, 'Dubh Water.' Also there is in Celtic Mythology there is the black natured God "Dubh". There is discussion about the meaning of black in this connotation. The word Dubh, (black)comes from the usual color of the handle of the little knife, but the great majority of pundits believe that it means secret, or hidden, as in 'hidden away'. Also, some give credence to the story that because it was secreted away, - it was a dark weapon, others use the term "dubh" or black as in 'blackmail'. I do not feel it has much connection with the dark word of blackmail, most highlanders were not using it to blackmail anyone. Also we must remember that Dubh was a Celtic God, a dark God, and thus the name could have been derived from that area. However, there is a theory about this use of the word: The theory suggests that the Sgian dubh evolved from the sgian achlais (ochles), the "armpit dagger" mentioned in connection with the Scots in the 17th and 18th century. This was a knife slightly larger than the sgian dubh and was carried in the upper sleeve of the jacket and drawn from the inside through the armhole, and sometimes even in the lining of the body of the jacket, under the left arm. If one were left handed of course, the whole process was reversed.

It is believed by many that this is the same knife, Scottish women carried under the apron of her wraparound "kilted" skirt, along with her purse. Just as with men, they would have to carry their own eating utensil, and many a Scots woman had a need for a weapon. I don't believe that it was carried under the apron of her kilted skirt, because research has shown me, that Scottish women, 'never' wore kilted skirts, thus no apron front on their skirts. They wore softly gathered skirts. The new aproned long (floor length and regular length) kilted skirt is somewhat a new phenomena. Most Scots do not believe the kilt is the correct dress for a woman, except for Highland Dancers.

Therefore, let us remember, if a Scots woman carried a dagger (little knife) for eating or her own defense, it would probably be hidden in the folds of her gathered skirt. A pocket deep enough to accommodate the sheathed knife; (so as to not fall out) and well hidden from view; thus protecting her from search, a Scottish woman would avoid being searched at all cost.

No knife still exists than can be identified as a sgian achlais (armpit knife), so that is of very little good to us as information. However, it does fit the description of a secret, or "black" knife thus -- Dubh.

Courtesy of the times required than when entering the home of a friend or casual acquaintance, no weapons could remain concealed. Some say that when the armpit dagger was removed, the top of the men's hose was a convenient place to display it, (securely held by the garter (or flashes). Displaying it thus, showed the Scot had no dark intentions at the gathering. However, this writer doubts that any woman retrieved her weapon from its hiding place, as it was not intended for friends anyway and to give away the hiding place, would have given the enemy an idea where to search on their person, and no woman would have wanted that. History shows that women did not often follow the same rules as men for weaponry.

Another theory is that the sgian dubh evolved from the small skinning knife, that was a part of the typical set of Gralloch (or hunting) knives. Some of these do exist. They include a butchering knife with a blade of nine or ten inches and a skinning knife with a blade of only three to four inches. The Gralloch knives usually have antler handles, and do not fit the term black in either carry or color. However, we do know, there are still today, Sgian Dubh made with antler horn handles. This theory does have two facts in it's favor: (1) Many early sgian dubhs are fitted with antler or horn handles, and (2) the skinning and butchering of wild game after the successful hunt was a duty of the upper class hunter's ghillie, literally "boy" in Gaelic. The well-to-do huntsman would not stoop to do such work. The attitude of officers in the military regiments suggest they resisted carrying of sgian dubhs, as they were initially considered fit only for "ghillies and serving rascals." The lower -- medium class clansmen had no such qualms as they did their own butchering and skinning and never depended on ghillies or servants. Much of the research on this subject is just conjecture, because no written records were kept on the subject. However, I tend to believe the theory that states, it was "black" in the sense, it was a "secret knife."

When the sgian dubh first began to be worn full time in the stocking top, it is shown in oil paintings of the early to mid 1800's. Most nobility had their pictures painted in full dress and show the sgian dubh. In these paintings, around 1805 - 1812 the nobility and the Chieftains both had sgian dubh in their stockings and were easily seen in the paintings because of the kilts. There is a portrait in the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland showing the 15th Chief of MacDonells of Glengarry, wearing what appears to be a sheath that holds two nested knives. The National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland has a similar sgian dubh in its collection.

Colonel MacDonell was the last of the great clan chiefs, in the sense that he always dressed in Highland attire, and never went anywhere without his suite of attendants. He was the inventor of the Glengarry bonnet, and became notorious for killing the famous Flora MacDonald's grandson in a duel, and for spending his clan into poverty. He was acquainted, perhaps friends with Sir Walter Scott, and was the model for the character Fergus MacIvor in Scott's novel "Waverly.*" In Waverly there is a passage dealing with the sgian achlais. That little knife was not fully accepted by the upper classes is hinted at by the fact it is not worn by "that wee German Laddie," King George IV, when he was painted in full Highland regalia during his "jaunt" to Scotland in 1822. However by the 1850s' the sgian dubh was universally worn.

The early sgian dubhs were often crudely made by local Scottish smiths, they were made with antler horn handles and were mounted in brass, with a simple leather sheath. They were longer than today's sgian dubh, by an inch or so.The handles were full round, with little consideration given to how the knife would fit the anatomy of the wearer. As time went by the sgian dubh was accepted as a full partner to the dirk; it then began to be decorated in the same way as the dirk, and frequently made to match each other, sometimes made 'en suite' with it, and kept in the same fitted wooden case with its larger companion.

At this time, they were made, like the dirk, with carved ebony and occasionally, ivory handles. The carving was normally of the simple basket weave pattern that had become popular on the dirk, with silver pins at the corners of the carved panels. The handles were almost invariably black, flattened to lay against the leg, and some had the owner's crest or coat of arms mounted on them. Some had caringorns in the topmost point of the handle. Also some were black handle, Celtic carved, decorative motif. Military sgian dubhs frequently had some form of the regimental insignia on them. Rarely were the handles carved with the earlier style of Celtic knot work that had been popular on the dirk in the sixteen or seventeen hundreds, only when custom made 'en suite' with a dirk with that early style carving. The pommels held mounts and stones to match the dirk, and the occasional matching sporran and plaid* brooch.

The earlier blades frequently had a clipped point, a style that is now associated with the bowie knife. Some had scalloped file work on the back of the blade that is common on all Scottish knives. As time proceeded, the blades were shortened slightly. The shape was altered to a spear point, and file work became universal. At least one sgian dubh is known that had a solid silver blade, useless for most chores due to it's softness. Strictly for show. Some regimental sgian dubhs had blades etched with regimental symbols.
The early leather sheath, like those on the early dirks, evolved into highly decorated pieces of art. Reinforced with wood and fitted with silver throats and tips, pierced and engraved. While this makes for great bragging rights, there was no practical purpose, as the sheath is hidden in the stocking while the sgian dubh is worn.

Queen Victoria became Queen of England in 1837, and the scottish romantic period began. (See my article "Queen Victoria's Influence On Scottish Dress,Parts 1 and 2). She had Balmoral Castle in the Highlands, renovated with many changes including tartan carpets, tartan covered furniture, tartan cloths everywhere. Lavish dirks and sgian dubhs reached their peak around the end of her reign in 1901, and continued until World War I, which ended that romantic period. However, her influence on the dress and the Clans of the Highlanders was immense. She brought Highland dress and weaponry into fashion in the Lowlands, where it had always been looked down on as the "strange Highland Dress". After Victoria arrived, every noble and large castle or mansion owner got his very own tartan and had made for his family; the "strange Highland dress" he so despised prior to Victoria. Victoria made it the fashionable thing to do.

Sgian dubhs found themselves buried in the mud of the Somme and Neuve Chapelle. After the war the gaudy military dirks and sgian dubhs were largely gone, but the flamboyant period saw some very extravagant civilian sets made. One set, made in 1925 for the Prince of Wales and now in the Tower of London Royal Armories, was auctioned in 1987 for $403,333.00.

On the other hand, the tradition of the antler handled dirk and sgian dubh returned in the 1800s. Usually mounted in brass, they were and still are, worn for informal day wear. Most have some type of brass or silver pommel decoration, and some have stones mounted.

Over time, legends have grown around the sgian dubh. One is that the stone mounted in its pommel is carefully weighed and placed to properly balance the knife for throwing..... ridiculous, to anyone who has ever thrown a knife. It was 'not' a throwing knife, it is a stabbing knife. Another; - that like the dirk and the Gurkha Kukri; the sgian dubh is never to be drawn for trivial or mundane purposes and must taste blood before it can re-sheathed, even if the user must nick his own finger...not true, but it makes an excellent tale.
In the Victorian age one piece dirks and sgian dubhs were made for young boys who couldn't be trusted with a real knife. Considering the recent laws passed in Britain against carrying knives, this may be the only way a Scot can support an honored tradition. The other alternative might be what was done by some members of kilted regiments - having the image of a sgian dubh tattooed on the leg.

Here in the "Colonies." (grin) the tradition is alive and well. Custom knife makers still make the dirk and sgian dubh, and most states allow the carrying of any knife that is not concealed. (So far!!) As is often the case, the "offshore" Scot is the most enthusiastic upholder of tradition.

*"Waverly" was the first of a series of novels written about the Highlanders, by Sir Walter Scott. The novels, the King's "Jaunt" as Prebble called it, and Queen Victoria, all helped inspire the Scottish Romantic period. Written, beginning in 1805, it centered on the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745-46, and was not much more distant in time from that rebellious war, than we are from World War II. In "Waverly" is a passage dealing with the sgian achlais. There is little reason to doubt that Scott had seen the sgian achlais in his early days, growing up a Scottish writer in the late 1700s and with an abiding interest in, and love for the Highlanders. Nancy A. MacCorkill, F.S.A. Scot

National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland
Lady MacCorkill's Articles "Queen Victoria's Influence on Highland Dress"
Regimental Clans of Scotland, J. MacPherson
The Sggean Dubh, J. Huddleston

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