Multiple sgian dubhs

**48HofC** · 7th June 17, 06:05 AM

Jock Scot, I am part of the pipe band world and have been for decades and agree with you 100%. Many in the piping circles believe they are the trend setters in highland dress area and others who don't follow are misguided. I have worn a sgian all my life and have never been told by a band I shouldn't or couldn't. I have questioned a couple of pipe majors why their band doesn't wear them and the reply was quite simple, they want uniformity and the band doesn't want to pay for them. That is a far cry from pipers&drummers thinking they are useless.

**Luke MacGillie** · 7th June 17, 07:11 AM

Originally Posted by OC Richard

Or the wearing of one...

in the Pipe Band world, anyhow, where it's looked on by many/most pipers and drummers as a useless affectation, and banned by many bands.

Not that it's been singled out, it's just that most bands ban any additional do-dads: lapel pins, tie pins, kilt pins, etc.

I happen to know a piper, who had a sigan handle tattooed on their leg, most of the time it is covered by the actual knife, but if it's forgotten or prohibited, well it's still there......

**LKM** · 7th June 17, 07:29 AM

There are parts oh Highland dress I have heard are more common outside of Scotland and I think the sginean was one of them. If I remember correctly black hose, white hose, and some types of sporrans were also mentioned.

**OC Richard** · 7th June 17, 04:25 PM

Yes I try always to make it clear I'm coming from by background in the Pipe Band scene, 40 years now.

At any Highland Games around here one might observe that rather than one culture you're seeing a large number of sub-cultures. Each tends to hang out in their area with others of their ilk, each has a different reason for attending the Games, and each has its own "fashion culture".

The clan tent people tend to dress one way, the Country Dance people another, the Highland Dance people another, the Pipe Band people another yet.

I never got a sense of the situation in Scotland, because at the three Games our band attended I can't recall seeing anyone but pipe band people and Highland dance people.

**OC Richard** · 7th June 17, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by 48HofC

That is a far cry from pipers & drummers thinking they are useless.

So I'm wondering what you use them for.

I did have a Pipe Major back in the 1980s who always wore a sgian and kept it sharp. He used it to shave members' chanter reeds.

Most reedmakers/tonemeisters around here have actual reed-knives.

**Michael A** · 25th June 17, 05:47 AM

I rarely wear anything in my hose, but when I do, it's a "sgian brew" due to knife laws in New South Wales. I only wear it when in Prince Charlie Jacket, mainly at lodge.

Oh, and "Sgian dubh" means black knife. I would abbreviate that to "knife", rather than "black".

**Dollander** · 26th June 17, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by Michael A

I rarely wear anything in my hose, but when I do, it's a "sgian brew" due to knife laws in New South Wales. I only wear it when in Prince Charlie Jacket, mainly at lodge.

Oh, and "Sgian dubh" means black knife. I would abbreviate that to "knife", rather than "black".

Well, we do. Unlike English, most languages put the adjective after the noun, Gaelic included. So even though you're tacking an English adjective onto it, sgain brew more or less means "brew knife"...which sounds like something Koko the gorilla would come up with if she didn't know a sign for "bottle opener".

And I too go with the sgain brew on the rare occasion I dress up; I suspect NSW's knife laws are not unlike New Jersey's.

**Michael A** · 26th June 17, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by Dollander

Well, we do. Unlike English, most languages put the adjective after the noun, Gaelic included. So even though you're tacking an English adjective onto it, sgain brew more or less means "brew knife"...which sounds like something Koko the gorilla would come up with if she didn't know a sign for "bottle opener".

And I too go with the sgain brew on the rare occasion I dress up; I suspect NSW's knife laws are not unlike New Jersey's.

I was referring to people calling them "dubhs" for short.

**Dollander** · 26th June 17, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by Michael A

I was referring to people calling them "dubhs" for short.

Ah, okay, my mistake.

**Coleman January** · 29th June 17, 02:55 PM

Whatever I wear, however I dress, I always have some sort of knife with me. Jeans = pocket knife with clip on it. Duty (police) uniform = assisted open with window punch to break windows and cut seat belts at car crashes. Suit and tie = My key chain has a victorinox single blade, scissors and file. Kilt = sgian dubh in the hose.

A knife is a tool, and the only time I carry a second one is if it's very job specific (box cutter, drywall blade, bayonet, foil cutter attached to a wine cork screw, et cetera).

Currently, I only have one sgian dubh. A simple, plain wood handle from Sheffield, that I keep tucked in low and mostly out of sight (maybe 1-2 inches visible). Decorative or not, it's still a knife. I'm sure I'll add fancier dress ones as time goes by, but I'll only carry/wear one. If I were in your conundrum (and it's sounding like a good conundrum), I'd increase the time wearing the sgian dubhs singly by wearing a kilt more often.

Patrick