A dirk for each day of the week ;-) Mac

- A few dirks that Allan & the boys at Armor Class made for a customer !
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Hey Mac,

Thanks for the pic. They Look Great.

Some thing in the pic caught my eye and raised a little question which in turn raised a larger question. I Noticed that all of the dirks but one had some sort of file work along the spine as well as narrow fullers. It appears that the other is is double edged. Is the file work and fullers simply ornamentation or does it serve a practical purpose. Some thing i have always been kind of of curious about but never thought to ask.

Also what is the difference between a ballock (kidney) dagger and Dirks.

Lol Now that i think about it I have absolutely no clue to the difference in the different types of Scottish dirks as well. (don't feel like slaughtering their names so can't list specifics) But Historically what were each of their purposes?

Wow and all of that started with a simple "thanks for the pic."

But you know what they say about "The More You Know..."

Wow! They look great! Would dearly like to have one such as these.
Thanks for the picture, Mac.

-Henrik

Hi Matt

Well, lets see ....

Beyond the coolness effect *g*
Fullers are carved to reduce weight in the blade, which aids in longer blades staying lighter, etc!

That being said .....
Some old dirks utilized cut-down sword blades (probably of German manufacture) because the quality & temper of these blades were superior to what the locals were producing (not to mention the thrift factor in salvaging a broken sword blade, etc.!).

I've read various things concerning the spine's file-work .... some have speculated that it was a tool for sawing, while others believe it was more a decorative thing ?

The Ballock knives, and Dudgeon ,were early forms of dagger that the later dirks no doubt developed from .....
Here is a plate from Charles Whitelaw's book, "Scottish Arms Makers", that shows the dirks evolution from the early forms of ballock, etc!

Slàinte, Mac

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Matt G. Meekma wrote:

Hey Mac, Thanks for the pic. They Look Great. Some thing in the pic caught my eye and raised a little question which in turn raised a larger question. I Noticed that all of the dirks but one had some sort of file work along the spine as well as narrow fullers. It appears that the other is is double edged. Is the file work and fullers simply ornamentation or does it serve a practical purpose. Some thing i have always been kind of of curious about but never thought to ask. Also what is the difference between a ballock (kidney) dagger and Dirks. Lol Now that i think about it I have absolutely no clue to the difference in the different types of Scottish dirks as well. (don't feel like slaughtering their names so can't list specifics) But Historically what were each of their purposes? Wow and all of that started with a simple "thanks for the pic." But you know what they say about "The More You Know..."

Thanks Mac.

That helps me out some. Still think that I am more partial to the earlier stuff. Little less glitz and glam, if you can call it that. I have been becoming more fond of simple clean lines in daggers, dirks and knives as of late.

Again thanks for the Info.

There's some interesting information somewhat relavent to this discussion In this Other Topic, too.