"Bagpipes - Weapon of War - 1746" t-shirt

[dutchy kilted]

I thought this would be the perfect shirt for the kilt!

http://www.druidsoak.com/stock.htm

[Dale Seago]

I thought this would be the perfect shirt for the kilt!

http://www.druidsoak.com/stock.htm

I'd prefer the "Kiss My Dirk" shirt, 'specially since I wear one anytime I'm kilted; and I almost ordered it on the spot when I saw your post. Unfortunately it looks like they got the Gaidhlig spelling wrong: should be "biodag" for dirk, and it looks to me (would be nice if I could enlarge it) like they spelled it "diodag".

One that I'm thinking of getting is the "Piobaireachd" t-shirt at the far right on this page:

http://www.cuillinn.com/tshirts.html

[Dale Seago]

I'd prefer the "Kiss My Dirk" shirt, 'specially since I wear one anytime I'm kilted; and I almost ordered it on the spot when I saw your post. Unfortunately it looks like they got the Gaidhlig spelling wrong: should be "biodag" for dirk, and it looks to me (would be nice if I could enlarge it) like they spelled it "diodag".

Old Hippie, great to see you here!

I asked the owner about the possible discrepancy, and he just got back to me. He says "diodag" is the spelling that was given him by several people for Gaeilge, or Irish Gaelic. (But it's a Scottish weapon!)

I'm checking that with an Irish Bujinkan instructor friend who speaks it fluently. I can think of other kinds of differences in spelling that would make sense, but that kind of difference in an initial consonant doesn't seem right to me despite the fact that there are some significant differences between Gaidhlig and Gaeilge.

[macshorty]

"Kiss my dirk"

That's hilarious

[Dale Seago]

Actually there are "layers" of potential humor in that shirt, as kissing the dirk is an old custom. From an article I wrote ten years or so ago:

The dirk occupies a unique niche in Highland culture and history. Many Highland Scots were too cash-poor to buy a sword, but virtually every male carried a dirk - and carried it everywhere! If in Japan the katana was the soul of the Samurai, in Scotland the dirk was the heart of the Highlander. In many warrior cultures oaths were sworn on one's sword. Among the Gael, however, binding oaths with the force of a geas (involving dire supernatural penalties for breaking such an oath) were sworn on one's dirk. The English, aware of this, used the custom against the Highlanders after Culloden: When Highland dress was prohibited in 1747 those Gael who could not read or sign an oath were required to swear a verbal oath, "in the Irish tongue and upon the holy iron of their dirks", not to possess any gun, sword, or pistol, or to use tartan: "... 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."

In the well-known paintings of clansmen & tartans by R. R. McIan, the one for MacGregor shows the clansman kissing his dirk -- he looks a wee bit put out, probably swearing an oath of vengeance given the clan's history.

[Lallans]

Actually there are "layers" of potential humor in that shirt, as kissing the dirk is an old custom. From an article I wrote ten years or so ago:



In the well-known paintings of clansmen & tartans by R. R. McIan, the one for MacGregor shows the clansman kissing his dirk -- he looks a wee bit put out, probably swearing an oath of vengeance given the clan's history.

Thanks for the great exposition, and I mean including the detailed excerpt which didn't get copied here. I was aware of some of that and suddenly realise I have unconsciously transferred the concept to my sgian dubh (the handmade one not the plastic one)- to the amusement and/or consternation of some on this website as I recall.

[macwilkin]

Actually there are "layers" of potential humor in that shirt, as kissing the dirk is an old custom. From an article I wrote ten years or so ago:



In the well-known paintings of clansmen & tartans by R. R. McIan, the one for MacGregor shows the clansman kissing his dirk -- he looks a wee bit put out, probably swearing an oath of vengeance given the clan's history.

This ritual is actually dramatized in the 1960 Disney Version of RLS's Kidnapped, when Alan Breck (Peter Finch) swears by the "Holy Iron" (forming a sign of the cross with a dirk) that he had nothing to do with the murder of The Red Fox...

T.

[Old Hippie]

Actually there are "layers" of potential humor in that shirt, as kissing the dirk is an old custom. From an article I wrote ten years or so ago...

Good to see you here, Dale! Welcome aboard.

Enjoyed your work over the years, first exposed to it through SFI and then as part of the classical fencing and swordsmanship collection held at the University of Iowa, where I studied "the art of fence" and did a Ph.D. to justify my continued haunting of the library.

:ootd:

[macwilkin]

Actually there are "layers" of potential humor in that shirt, as kissing the dirk is an old custom. From an article I wrote ten years or so ago:



In the well-known paintings of clansmen & tartans by R. R. McIan, the one for MacGregor shows the clansman kissing his dirk -- he looks a wee bit put out, probably swearing an oath of vengeance given the clan's history.

Dale: is this article posted somewhere on the 'net, or would it be possible to get a copy somehow? I am interested in this topic, and I would love to read your article.

Many thanks,

Todd

[Dale Seago]

Dale: is this article posted somewhere on the 'net, or would it be possible to get a copy somehow? I am interested in this topic, and I would love to read your article.

Many thanks,

Todd

You can find it here:

http://swordforum.com/articles/hes/highlandscots.php

Please keep the following in mind: (1) These years later I know a bit more, such as that my late Irish friend's theory about the origin of the word "dirk" is linguistically impossible; and (2) the article isn't meant to be rigorously academic, so no sources & footnotes though what I have there is easily verifiable.