I used to belong to a Gentleman's Highland Dining society in Edinburgh which met four times a year in the home of one or another of the members. Dinners were strictly white tie, and woe betide the gentleman who forgot his dirk. Dinner started with drinks at 8PM, and we sat down to dine at nine. By 11PM the food would have been demolished and we'd be making serious inroads on that evening's host's supply of refreshments. There was a great deal of outlandish behavior, much of it involving standing on dining chairs with one foot on the table toasting "An Ard Ri". Needless to say I can't remember how any of these evenings ended, but I'm sure they ended well because (a) I am here to tell the tale, and (b) now that David Lumsden of Cushnie is gone these dinners will be missed almost as much as he is missed.

The point of this is that the dirk is still worn occasionally, and in the right company. But as an item of modern "formal" attire, especially when out with the masses, it is probably best left on the side board in the dining room next to the ram's head snuff mull.