In all the rich variety of the world of knives, few are as distinctive as the Scottish Dirk. In its current form, the dirk is a massive piece of male jewelry, mounted in gold or silver, capped with semi-precious stones and worn with the kilt as part of formal evening dress. Like the Scot who wears it, however, the dirk had both humble and violent beginnings.

The Scottish Dirk is a direct descendant of the medieval ballock dagger. The grip form began to change, probably sometime in the late 16th century, becoming purely Scottish. The 14 to 16 inch blade was single-edged, made to use alone, left-handed with a shield and sword, or just with a basket-hilt broadsword.

The dirk was usually worn with the scabbard affixed to the belt just to the right of the Sporran. The Scots took on and beat the mightiest army in Europe in the early 1300s. Using the dirk and claymore, they continued to fight for 400 years with devastating effect.