A Shillelagh you have, an Irish fighting stick you say. History of why we carried a big strong stick. Back in the ages Irish people were Not allowed to carry any type of weapon. No knives of any size , no guns ever , no slashers , scythes, pitchforks even spades, they all could be used as a weapon against the Law ( the British ) so the Irish who were always used to carrying some form of weapon for thousands of years were reduced to carrying a strong Stick , a Shillelagh ( Shill-A-Le ) So if you are going to bother to carry an intimidating stick , well it best be strong and have a good knob or weight to the business end of it. For Example ,,, If you hit me with a good stick I am sure it will hurt but I also assure you that I would shake it off and it might be time for you to do a legger ( run ) if not , well, I hear the doctors are really great in the emergency ward of late :) .. Now a different scenario , you hit me with a Shillelagh made of Oak , Blackthorn, Ash or Holly most likely tis I will visit the emergency ward. Yes the weight of the timber was very important. The knob end had to be heavy , the stick a good length, ( some even drilled the knob end and added lead for more weight ) that was called a loaded stick. Fighting with sticks was practiced and some were very good at this type of fighting, for a while gone were the days of the fist fight and now were the days of the stick fighting. It eventually evolved into Faction Fighting , ( group/clan fighting ) . It was tough times and real men stood up and were looked up to , mousey men were just followers . Actually I have recently read that the last recorded Faction fight took place in Co Tipperary 1877 :) My county . well I would expect as much.. Yes I own a Shillelagh, It is Holly , I made it myself , I will post a photo soon.. I do not bring it around with me but I just like to have it as part of the tradition. Holly is hard to find and in long lengths , I was lucky , also after I cut the stick I broke off several little off chutes and planted them along the border of the field . Take something , give something back. That is a bit on the Shillelagh , the Irish fighting stick, It features in The Quiet man film , the Field Film , and Brendan Gleason has a Fine one lol , in Gangs of New York :) Yes I like Brendan but not in that way :) Ginni ;-) I know she will say something Lmao .. By the way , the Shillelagh is not a symbol of Ireland but it is Irish, it is a symbol and it is in almost every Irish film made . I thank you ..
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 01:01:47 +0000
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