A dirk is a long bladed thrusting

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...

.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), ''Dagger'', The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729 Historically, it gained its name from the Highland Dirk (Scots Gaelic "Dearg") where it was a personal weapon of officers engaged in naval hand-to-hand combat during the

Age of Sail The Age of Sail is a period that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid- 15th) to the mid- 19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the introduction of naval ...

O'Brian, Patrick, ''Men-of-War: Life In Nelson's Navy'', New York: W.W. Norton & Co., (1974), p. 35 as well as the personal sidearm of Highlanders. It was also the traditional sidearm of the Highland Clansman and later used by the officers, pipers, and drummers of Scottish Highland regiments around 1725 to 1800 and by Japanese naval officers.

Etymology

The term is associated with

Scotland in the Early Modern Era Scotland in the early modern period refers, for the purposes of this article, to Scotland between the death of James IV in 1513 and the end of the Jacobite risings in the mid-eighteenth century. It roughly corresponds to the early modern perio ...

, being attested from about 1600. The term was spelled ''dork'' or ''dirk'' during the 17th century,Head, T.F. ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology''

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(1996) presumed related to the Danish, Dutch and Swedish ''dolk'', and the German ''dolch, tolch''; from a West Slavic ''Tillich''. The exact etymology is unclear.Hoad, T.F. ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology''

(1996) ''Collins English Dictionary 21st Century Edition'' Harper Collins (2001) Robinson, M. (ed.)(1985). ''The Concise Scots Dictionary''. Chambers. . The modern spelling ''dirk'' is probably due to

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

's 1755 ''Dictionary''. The term is also used for "dagger" generically, especially in the context of

prehistoric daggers A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use def ...

such as the Oxborough dirk.

Highland dirk

George Sanders - George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon

The Scottish dirk (also "Highland dirk",

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

: ''Biodag''), as a symbolic traditional and ceremonial weapon of the Highland Cathairean (cateran or warrior), is worn by officers, pipers and drummers of Scottish Highland regiments. The development of the Scottish dirk as a weapon is unrelated to that of the naval dirk; it is a modern continuation of the 16th-century ballock or

rondel dagger A rondel dagger or roundel dagger was a type of stiff-bladed dagger in Europe in the late Middle Ages (from the 14th century onwards), used by a variety of people from merchants to knights. It was worn at the waist and might be used as a uti ...

. The traditional Scottish dirk is a probable development from the 16th century but like all medieval societies, the Highlander needed a knife for everyday use. The dirk became symbolic of a Highland man’s honour and oaths were sworn on the steel which was believed to be holy. The following highlights the importance of the dirk in Highland culture:

The dirk occupies a unique niche in Highland culture and history. Many Highland Scots were too cash-poor to buy a sword, following the Disarming Acts enacted to erode Highland martial insurrections 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 (Scots Gaelic) 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."

During the period of proscription, only service in a British regiment permitted Highlanders to bear their traditional arms and dress. The

78th Fraser Highlanders The 78th Regiment, (Highland) Regiment of Foot also known as the 78th Fraser Highlanders was a British infantry regiment of the line raised in Scotland in 1757, to fight in the Seven Years' War (also known as the French and Indian War in the US. ...

, raised in 1757, wore full highland dress uniform;Browne James, ''A History of the Highlands and of the Highland Clans'', Vol. IV, Edinburgh, Scotland: A. Fullarton & Co. (1838), p. 250 their equipment was described by Major-General James Stewart in 1780 as including a "musket and

broadsword The basket-hilted sword is a sword type of the early modern era characterised by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages. In mod ...

, to which many soldiers added the dirk at their own expense."Grant, James, ''British Battles on Land and Sea'', Vol. II, London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin (1873), p. 82 As is well documented in the oral traditions and in almost every title written prior to 1979; The perceived "holiness" of the steel is likely to have originated in folk superstitions. These origins are often ascribed to "magic" in the forging of Germanic steel. For this reason, it is established that Highlanders retained reverence for blades forged from Solingen steel. The modern development of the Scottish dirk into a ceremonial weapon occurred during the 19th century. The shape of the grip developed from the historical more cylindrical form to a shape intended to represent the

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...

. Fancier fittings, often of silver, became popular shortly after 1800. The hilts of modern Scottish dirks are often carved from dark colored wood such as

bog oak Bog-wood (also spelled bogwood or bog wood), also known as abonos and, especially amongst pipe smokers, as morta, is a material from trees that have been buried in peat bogs and preserved from decay by the acidic and anaerobic bog conditions, some ...

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...

. Hilts and scabbards are often lavishly decorated with silver mounts and have pommels set with cairngorm stones. The blades measure 12" in length and are single edged with decorative file work known as "jimping" on the unsharpened back edge of the blade. When worn, the dirk normally hangs by a leather strap known as a "frog" from a dirk belt, which is a wide leather belt having a large, usually ornate buckle, that is worn around the waist with a kilt. Many Scottish dirks carry a smaller knife and fork which fit into compartments on the front of the sheath, and a smaller knife known as a

sgian dubh The ( ; ) – also anglicized as skene – is a small, single-edged knife ( gd, sgian) worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress along with the kilt. Originally used for eating and preparing fruit, meat, and cutting bread and cheese, ...

is also worn tucked into the top of the hose when wearing a kilt.

Naval dirk

A thrusting weapon, the naval dirk originally functioned as a boarding weapon and as a functional fighting dagger. During the days of sail, midshipmen and officers wore dirks; the daggers gradually evolved into ceremonial weapons and badges of office. In the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, the naval dirk is still presented to junior officers; the basic design of the weapon has changed little in the last 500 years. The naval dirk (Polish: ''kordzik'', Russian: кортик) became part of the uniform of naval officers and civilian officials in the Navy Ministry of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, and in the Soviet navy an element of the

dress uniform Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is the most formal type of uniforms used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for official parades, ceremonies, and receptions, incl ...

of officers. Later, it became an element of other uniforms as well, e.g. of officers in the Russian and Polish army and air force and of the police forces in some countries. In the US, the dirk was introduced by Scottish immigrants in the 1700s. This was originally a single-edged weapon, but by 1745 more commonly had a double-edged blade making the dirk more or less synonymous with the dagger. Dirks were often made from old sword blades. In the nineteenth centuries dirks started to be made with a curved blade, but returned to a straight blade by the end of the century. Some were long enough to be considered a short sword.Nicholas J. Johnson, David B. Kopel, George A. Mocsary, E. Gregory Wallace, Donald E. Kilmer. ''Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy'', Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, 2021 .

References

External links

Spotlight: The Scottish Dirk
(myArmoury.com article) {{Knives Blade weapons Daggers Weapons of Scotland

Etymology

Highland dirk

Naval dirk

See also

References

External links