#Blackthorn shillelagh fighting stick full

Medieval maces are related to older clubs, and some cultures without metal-working used knobsticks – for example, the Maori taiaha. Sometimes called 'knobsticks', fighting with a heavy stick is common to many cultures. Generally, the root knob is at one end and some are loaded, that is, impregnated with lead. Shorter ones, about two feet long, would be called kipeen. Longer sticks were called wattles and could be six or eight feet long. The shillelagh itself is a single piece of blackthorn or oak about three feet long. As Jon Mills explained in his post, the general Irish term for stick fighting is Bataireacht. Patrick's Day was this week, so let's celebrate the shillelagh, or blackthorn walking stick and its fighting style. In Appalachia as elsewhere, the fighting stick continues to be a symbol of pride for all Celtic and Gaelic cultures.St.

#Blackthorn shillelagh fighting stick full

When the Scots-Irish settled in Appalachia, they had very little trouble locating materials for shillelaghs: The forests of the southern and central Appalachians are full of black, northern red, white, chestnut and scarlet oaks, and several species of hawthorn are common throughout the region, including may, pear, fanleaf, cockspur, and rome, all of which grow in woodland thickets at altitudes up to 8,500 feet. The knobby end can be bored out and filled with molten lead, transforming the shillelagh into a ‘loaded stick.’ To keep the wood from splitting during the drying process and to harden it, sticks were often buried in a manure pile, or smeared with butter and placed in the chimney to cure, which gives them their distinctive black patina.

Another states that the first hawthorn bush grew from the staff of St. Joseph’s staff was cut from the same hawthorn tree that produced the Crown of Thorns placed on Jesus’ head at the crucifixion. The blackthorn, in particular, also has longstanding religious connections to staffs.

The preferred material for shillelaghs is oak or blackthorn (‘pear hawthorn’ to us) due the density and hardness of those woods. I never saw a bone broken or a dangerous contusion from what was called ‘whacks’ of a shillelagh (which was never too heavy).” Nobody was disfigured thereby, or rendered fit for a doctor. In his 1790 book, ‘Personal Sketches of His Own Times,’ Sir John Barrington wrote that stickfights were exhibitions of skill….”like sword exercises and did not appear savage. Stereotypes of drunken shillelagh-swinging louts have overshadowed the existence of a disciplined martial arts training with the stick. In addition to being used as a weapon to ward off wild animals, muggers, and thieves, shillelaghs could be brought out to settle disputes-a ‘kebbie-lebbie’ to a Scotsman. The Scots called their staff a ‘kebbie’ or ‘kebbie stick.’ And at other periods the shillelagh served well for those who simply could not afford a gentleman’s sword.

But consider another Gaelic term for the staff: ‘bata,’ which means ‘fighting stick.’īoth the Scots and the Irish used them this way, especially during the historical era when neither group was legally allowed weapons for self-defense.

The shillelagh is a wooden cudgel associated with the Shillelagh Forest in County Wicklow, Ireland, famous for its once massive stands of oaks.Īs often seen in depictions of leprechauns, shillelaghs appear to be nothing more than Irish walking sticks, and they certainly are that. Patrick’s Day is only a couple of weeks off, and one of the things you’ll always find plenty of at that celebration is shillelaghs.