For those of us who wear ‘Highland dress’, which has become synomymous as traditional dress throughout Scotland, with the law regarding the wearing of the ‘black knife’ having never been an issue. However, over the last decade or so, questions have arisen over its legality. There has of course, been much written on social media, with much by so called experts in their field stating that it wasn’t.
This position has finally been cleared up by a written question: no. 900956, tabled 7th July 2026 with the Scottish Parliament, regarding knives worn in Scotland. The question covered ‘whether the wearing of the sgian dubh was illegal‘ and was raised by Robin Swann, MP directly to the Secretary of State to Scotland. The answer came back on the 15th of July 2026 from the Scotland Office and is recorded as:
“the wearing of a sgian dubh is permitted where it is worn as part of a national costume. There are no plans to change this. However, we are clear that if any bladed or pointed article is used to threaten or harm others, this will be met with the full force of the lay. This strikes the balance between protecting public safety and protecting freedoms“.
As such this puts the urban myth that it is illegal in Scotland to wear the black knife/sgian dubh in the sock when wearing Scottish national dress to bed once and for all.
To the left is the official sgian dubh with the Carruthers clan crest.
So what is the Sgian dubh and why is it worn?
The sgian dubh (pronounced approximately skeen doo) is the small knife traditionally worn as part of Scottish Highland dress. It is tucked into the top of the stocking/hose, usually on the right leg. Today, it is one of the most recognisable accessories of Scottish national dress, but its history is more complicated than the familiar story of a concealed weapon carried by Highlanders.
Its origins would seem to lie in the practical use of knives throughout Scotland, while its distinctive position in Highland dress has developed over time. The sgian dubh also reflect Scotland’s changing social history, from traditional Highland life to Victorian romanticism and the revival of Scottish ceremonial dress after the early 1800’s, throughout the nation.
The name comes from Scottish Gaelic and means, as alluded to earlier as Sgian – knife, Dubh – black, (dubh also carrying connotations of being dark or concealed).
The make-up of the knife reflects the dark handle colour and this colour it is said helped it blend into the clothing. This has augmented the idea that it originally was a concealed article, although this is not in itself firmly established, but the theory is well recognised.
One of the most popular explanations is that the sgian dubh developed from an earlier knife called the sgian achlais, again sgian meaning knife, achlais meaning armpit. The theory proposes that Highlanders would have carried a small blade concealed beneath the jacket or in the armpit area. However, when visiting a friendly household, they would make the knife visible by transferring it to the top of the stocking. This process could demonstrate that they were not attempting to conceal a weapon from their host. Sadly, the evidence is not conclusive, and other ancestors may come into play, such as those with a more practical use i.e. hunting and skinning knifes
What we do know is that before the modern representation of the ‘black knife’, sometimes seen with some Scottish icon such as a thistle etc or a clan badge, it had a practical use. Just like other nationalities, and over the many centuries, people throughout Scotland carried knives for everyday work. A knife was therefore an ordinary tool used for cutting food, preparing materials, hunting and many other practical tasks. Of course, the sgian dubh should not be confused with the much larger knives carried e.g. the dirk, as this is simply not the case. They are separate and distinct items with the wearing of the dirk becoming more popular by some, but that may bring with it its own legal questions.
Small personal knives would therefore be carried in clothing, pouches or sheaths. However, the evidence does not establish one single, unbroken design lineage from an ancient concealed Highland knife to be linked to every sgian dubh worn today. As such it is fair to say that the historical background therefore belongs to a broader Scottish tradition of practical knives and personal weapons and these days as part of the mode of attire, which is the distinctive Highland dress.
When did the wearing of the sgian dubh become part of traditional Scottish dress?
As we are aware, Highland Dress as we know it today and in fact ‘clan/family’ tartans themselves only came into being around the time of the Peer’s Grand Ball held in Edinburgh for George IV. The invite stated for all those dignitaries to wear their family.clan tartan which caused a flurry of registrations against clan and family names by those on the invitation list. The list included, peers of the realm, respected landowners, chiefs of clans and families, and those others deemed important enough to attend. Carruthers of Holmains, who had suffered financial difficulties loosing their estates, died in 1809, which put the Carruthers chiefship into dormancy for over 200 years. However, as a highly respected landowning name in the borders, we may have received an invitatuion if circumstances had been different. The ball and all the pageantry which went with, was to a great part was stimulated by the romanticism induced by Sir Walter Scott in his novels. From this era, supported by the love of the country by Victoria and Albert, set the course for what has become the tradition of today, which is shared not just at home but by the diaspora world-wide.
Sir Henry Raeburn’s portrait of Colonel Alasdair Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry, note the knife in his right sock.
Visual evidence of its antiquity
The strongest visual evidence for the sgian dubh worn in the hose, comes from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with clearer evidence in portraits of Highland gentlemen during the early-to-mid 19th century. This would support the progressive nature and use of ‘highland dress’ as a Scottish statement of traditional attire
A particularly interesting example is Sir Henry Raeburn’s portrait of Colonel Alasdair Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry, painted in the early 19th century. It depicts him in Highland dress, with a dirk at his belt and what appears to be a small knife or pair of knives at the top of his stocking.
By the latter part of the 19th century, the sgian dubh was becoming an established component of Highland attire. Its place in ‘Scottish’ dress was reinforced by the growing popularity of ceremonial Highland clothing and by the Scottish military regiments adopting increasingly elaborate forms of Highland uniform, all with their own distinct tartans.
The Battle of Culloden in 1746 and the subsequent suppression of some aspects of Highland culture may possibly have played an important background to the sgian dubh’s story.
The Disarming Acts and measures against Highland dress formed part of the British government’s attempt to suppress Jacobite resistance. However, it would be misleading as a claim to suggest that these laws directly created the sgian dubh or that everyone immediately stopped carrying traditional knives.
During the late 18th and 19th centuries we know that Highland dress underwent a revival and and more importantly a transformation. It increasingly became a symbol of Scottish identity, heritage and ceremonial pride, rather than simply everyday clothing. The National Museums of Scotland describes this wider transformation as a reinvention of Highland dress within society and the acceptance through a changing and uplifting passion for Scottishness, by Georgian and Victorian society. The sgian dubh become part of this ongoing celebrated and visual identity, a situation that happily continues to this day.
The Sgian Dubh today.
Traditional examples vary considerably in their materials and decoration.
Sgian dubh handles are normally dark wood, made from such as bog oak as well as other materials e.g. horn or antler. The black handle is particularly characteristic, although not every historical or modern example is black. The blades are usually short and single-edged, with a variety of historical blade profiles on offer, while the sheaths are often leather, sometimes reinforced and finished with metal fittings and decorated with silver or brass mounts. Celtic knotwork, carved patterns, heraldic devices, clan crests and occasionally a decorative stone such as cairngorm can be seen on them. For interest, the National Museum of Scotland’s collection includes both historical Highland-dress objects and contemporary sgian dubhs and is well worth a viewing.
Over time, the wearing of highland dress became much more formal and elaborate. Sgian dubhs could be decorated to complement a dirk using matching materials, carving and metalwork. However, it is not the norm for people here in Scotland to wear a dirk as part of their formal attire, in the same vein as the sgian dubh.
The traditional position for the sgian dubh is that it is tucked into the top of the kilt hose on the outside of the leg, with the hilt exposed. It is generally worn, but not always, on the side of the dominant hand, conventionally the right for a right-handed wearer. However, the wearing of it in the right sock, irrelevent of handidness, seems to remain the norm. Again, if we accept the concealed knife theory as alluded to earlier, the position relevent to handidness, evolved from the practice of making a previously concealed knife visible when among friends or hosts. Whether factual or otherwise the wearing of the knife, sheathed in the sock, has become a well established and important accessory in the wearing of traditional highland dress. Today, the sgian dubh is worn at weddings, Highland gatherings, clan events, Burns suppers, formal dinners and other occasions where either formal highland dress or day wear is appropriate. The knife adds to the overall aesthetic, which includes the kilt itself and for us ideally in Carruthers tartan along with a dress or day wear sporran, and ghillie brogues/brogues
We cannot of course discuss the sgian dubh without mentioning the Scottish military which became standardized in Scottish Highland regiments during the early 19th century, during the Victorian era, as part of their formal dress. Another collective that wears the sgian dubh as part of their traditional attire, is the pipe bands both of whom incorporate it as part of their traditional Highland uniform which reflects both strong cultural heritage and military tradition.
In Summary
It is legal to wear a sgian dubh in Scotland as part of our national dress, and always has been, although some have misconstrued the law either by accident or design. The decision and comment from the Scotland Office in July of this year (2026) has finally offered clarification to something that has been misrepresented for quite a few years now.
Speaking personally, and not in anyway offering general criticism, as a Scot there is nothing nicer than traditional Scottish dress worn correctly and for me ideally, in your clan or family tartan. This is whether worn as day or evening wear, but that is simply my opinion. To my mind, if you are going to do something, especially if it is meant to reflect pride in your ancestry, heritage and culture, why not do it right?
Just my thoughts.
Promptus et Fidelis
Non Sto Solus
