Editing Sgian-dubh (section)

==Origins==
[[File:Sir Henry Raeburn - Colonel Alastair Ranaldson Macdonell of Glengarry (1771 - 1828) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Portrait by [[Henry Raeburn]] of [[Alasdair Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry]] in 1812]]
The {{lang|gd|sgian-dubh}} may have evolved from the {{lang|gd|sgian-achlais}}, a dagger that could be concealed under the armpit. Used by the Scots of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, this knife was slightly larger than the average modern {{lang|gd|sgian-dubh}} and was carried in the upper sleeve or lining of the body of the jacket.<ref name=mmoa>{{cite book |last=Grancsay |first=Stephen Vincent |title=Arms & Armor: Essays From the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 1920–1964 |publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |year=1991 |location=New York |pages=82–83 |isbn=978-0-87099-338-1}}</ref>

Draconian Scots laws introduced by the Scots Privy Council under the Stewart King in the late 1500's; intended to reduce honour interclan feuds and duelling included the outlawing of hidden weapons. {Basilikon Doron 1599}. This writ by the Scots King was impossible to enforce North of the Highland Line and so the carrying of weapons continued in the Highlands until the suppression period post Culloden in 1746. Never the less, the transition from the carrying of the last resort weapon (Sgian) may have begun to transition from armpit pocket to top of hose on the leg at this time.
However, codes of Highland courtesy and [[etiquette]] would demand that when entering the home of a friend, any concealed weapons would be revealed. It follows that the {{lang|gd|sgian-achlais}} would be removed from its hiding place and displayed in the stocking top held securely by the [[Garter (clothing)|garters]].<ref name=rcr>{{cite book |last=Ray |first=R. Celeste |title=Highland Heritage: Scottish Americans in the American South |publisher=UNC Press Books |year=2001 |page=212 |isbn=978-0-8078-4913-2}}</ref>

The {{lang|gd|sgian-dubh}} also resembles the small skinning knife that is part of the typical set of hunting knives. These sets contain a butchering knife with a {{convert|9|to|10|in|cm|adj=on}} blade, and a skinner with a blade of about {{convert|4|in|cm}}. These knives usually had antler handles, as do many early sgian-dubhs. The larger knife is likely the ancestor of the modern [[dirk]].<ref name=eaa>{{cite book |last=Blair |first=Claude  |title=European & American Arms, c. 1100–1850 |publisher=B. T. Batsfords |year=1962 |location =Virginia |pages=15–17 |isbn=978-0-8048-1684-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://irisharchaeology.ie/2013/03/the-waterford-knife/ |title=The Waterford Knife |work=Irish Archaeology |date=23 March 2013 |access-date=27 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.knives.com/ireland_iron_age.html |title=Iron Age Ireland |last=Daithi |work=archive.org |access-date=27 December 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051028201029/http://www.knives.com/ireland_iron_age.html |archive-date=28 October 2005}}</ref>

The {{lang|gd|sgian-dubh}} can be seen in portraits of kilted men of the mid-19th century. A portrait by [[Sir Henry Raeburn]] of Colonel [[Alasdair Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry]] hangs in the [[National Gallery of Scotland]]; it shows hanging from his belt on his right hand side a Highland Scottish [[dirk]], and visible at the top of his right stocking what appears to be a nested set of two sgian-dubhs. A similar sgian-dubh is in the collection of [[The National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sources.nli.ie/Record/PS_UR_088533|title=Holdings: Three Irish knife-daggers (from Co. Mayo).|work=nli.ie|year=1969 |access-date=27 December 2016}}</ref>