The shillelagh was originally used for settling disputes in a gentlemanly manner - like a duel with pistols or swords. Shillelaghs may also have a strap attached, similar to commercially made walking sticks, to place around the holder's wrist. Shillelaghs may also have a heavy knob for a handle which can be used for striking. The loaded types needed to have its knob fitted with iron ferrules to maintain structural integrity, and the sticks also have iron ferrules fitted onto their narrow end. Shillelaghs may be hollowed at the heavy "hitting" end and filled with molten lead to increase the weight beyond the typical two pounds this sort of shillelagh is known as a 'loaded stick'. In the broad sense, the Shillealagh bata or sticks could include short mallets only 1 to 2 feet (0.30 to 0.61 m) in length to long poles measuring 6 to 9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 m) in length. They are commonly the length of a walking stick (distance from the floor to one's wrist with elbow slightly bent), or rather longer, about 4 or 5 feet (1.2 or 1.5 m), as opposed to the walking stick measuring about 3 feet (0.91 m). Oaken shillelaghs in various stages of completion Hugh Brontë is said to have rubbed train oil ( whale oil) on the stick using chamois leather, and applied magpie blood to give it a darker appearance. One isolated case of this brining method being used, by Charlotte Brontë's uncle named Hugh, has been documented.
The saltwater, being a hypertonic solution, would pull moisture from the shank with little warping. Rarer still was brining, where the shank was placed into a basin of saltwater. Some examples may just be given a coat of black paint. A further coat of special soot finish may be applied, or a mixture of black lead and grease rubbed on with woolen cloth to a polishing finish. īoth of the previous methods would be finished with oils or sealants, etc. The stick may require protection from its dung bath by being wrapped in well-greased oiled brown paper (steeped in hog's lard or oil). The less frequent methods were to bury the shank in a dung pile, or in slaked lime. Most commonly, the chosen wood would be placed up a chimney to cure for a duration of several months to several years the accumulated layer of soot gave the shillelagh its typical black shiny appearance.
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Wood from the root was prized since this would be used for the knob, and was less prone to crack or break during use. With the scarcity of oak in Ireland the term came increasingly to denote a blackthorn stick, and indeed blackthorn stick is sometimes glossed as equivalent to shillelagh. Shillelaghs are traditionally made from blackthorn (sloe) wood ( Prunus spinosa) or oak.
The geographic name Shillelagh derives from Síol Éalaigh, or "Descendants of Éalach" in English. Īs an alternate etymology, Anna Maria Hall and Patrick Weston Joyce have written that the name may have derived from the wood being sourced from forest land in the village or barony of Shillelagh, County Wicklow. The name shillelagh is the Hiberno-English corruption of the Irish (Gaelic) form sail éille, where sail means "willow" or "cudgel" and éille is genitive for iall meaning "thong", "strap", "leash", and "string", among others.
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