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

**dutchy kilted** · 3rd August 10, 09:52 AM

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

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

**Dale Seago** · 3rd August 10, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by dutchy kilted

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

**macshorty** · 4th August 10, 03:23 AM

"Kiss my dirk"

That's hilarious

**Dale Seago** · 4th August 10, 10:17 AM

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.

**seanachie** · 5th August 10, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by dutchy kilted

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

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

Right after reading this note last night I posted an email to order one of these Ts. I got an email at the crack of dawn from Neal and here it is 7:30 am and I have already got the T shirt ordered. $17 including insurance not a bad deal. Thanks for posting.

**Lallans** · 5th August 10, 07:55 AM

Originally Posted by 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:

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.

**wildrover** · 5th August 10, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by dutchy kilted

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

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

Awesome!

**Nighthawk** · 5th August 10, 12:16 PM

I still use the pipes as a weapon. I was in a King Soopers parking lot, chillin' in my car, waiting for my wife to get done with her shopping. This car full of kids with their (c)rap bumpin' pulled into the spot next to me. They had that (c)rap up so loud that I couldn't hear my own music. I politely asked them to turn it down, which was of course met with curses and middle fingers and comments about being a fag in a skirt. Well, my system was much better than theirs... so I asked them if they had ever heard of the term "Scottish warfare." I popped in ALbannach's Eye Of The Storm and turned it to Rampant's Revenge and cranked my own stereo. I then smiled at them, watched as they got all mad and gesticulated, and proceeded to lean my head back and close my eyes- keeping that smile on my face. When I my wife got out to the car, I simply grinned and told her "I made some new friends while you were out!"

**Lallans** · 5th August 10, 01:02 PM

As a Canadian I humbly enquired if the T shirt guy would sell to such a sinister foreign person (see an earlier thread about 'high risk countries' in the miscellanous section) and I'm glad to say he will, shipping either to a US address (which I could supply) or a Canadian one (costs more of course). So soon I will have both shirts. I'm thinking I'll wear them with my UKs- total Scottish rebel.

**macwilkin** · 5th August 10, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by 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:

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.