strathspey@strathspey.org:44021

Ian Brockbank

RE: Sgian Dubh was Scottish Country Dancing VS Scottish Folk Dancing

Feb. 1, 2006, 4:25 p.m. (Message 44021, in reply to message 44020)

Hi Thomas,

> The spelling is listed as SKEAN in the following 11 sources
> 
> : EncartaR World English Dictionary, North American Edition
> : Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, 10th Edition
> : The American HeritageR Dictionary of the English Language
> : Infoplease Dictionary
> : Dictionary.com
> : Online Plain Text English Dictionary
> : Webster's Revised Unabridged, 1913 Edition
> : AllWords.com Multi-Lingual Dictionary
> : Webster's 1828 Dictionary
> : Hutchinson's Dictionary of Difficult Words
> : The Phrontistery - A Dictionary of Obscure Words
> 
> for those who are 'concerned' about such matters.

In Gaelic it's "sgian" - knife.  Probably one source has picked up an
Anglicised version and the others have copied it.  "Skean" is _not_ a common
spelling in my experience - I would expect "Sgian".

Cheers,

Ian Brockbank
Edinburgh, Scotland
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http://www.scottishdance.net/