I think we should put this to bed now. I can well understand the concerns of someone from the States or elsewhere in the world who has seen difficult encounters regarding the wearing of a ceremonial weapon. In the United States that is.

The question was not put to us in the context of travelling in the U.S. or elsewhere. It was asked specifically in relation to travelling in Scotland and any informed opinion I might offer relates purely to Scotland and the rest of the U.K. by extension.

Naturally, I cannot offer guarantees against the absurd but I repeat that running into trouble with the police just for wearing a sgian dubh with a kilt is unlikely.

Recently, I have been to a few highland games and worn my sgian dubh at all of them. I even came into contact with the police who were unconconcerned althougnthey were happy to acquiesce to my request to fake an arrest of my friend "because he is annoyingly tall" (see pics: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...18#post1180918). A real arrest for the same reason would be about as likely as a 999 call for a sgian dubh. Scottish police are quite approachable depending upon how they find you when they arrive.

Visitors to Scotland, a request. Please do rely upon us to exercise common sense. It's how we go about our lives and we would prefer that senseless behaviour was the exception rather than the norm. You could dream up a thousand fictional scenarios involving police, weapons, insanely agitated members of the public or robot telephonists but this will have little to do with reality or the common experience of going peacefully about your life in Scotland. Good judgement and discretion are your best protection against negative experiences.