Any guess to age of walking stick
- Thread starter jtw1313
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very cool.
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What you have there is an Irish walking stick, as a kid I remember my grandfather using one. 
They're very difficult to date, but the colour of the wood and the amount of wear present are often good indicators of age.
Dave
The Irish Shillelagh is a walking stick or cane but, to the ancient Irish, the shillelagh was their weapon of choice. The Gaelic bata, or fighting stick, would have been made from oak, blackthorn, ash or holly. It was actually an English writer who coined the term 'shillelagh'. The original stick gets its name from the Shillelagh Forest in County Wicklow, where the forest was once famous for its stands of fine oak trees. Most of them were cut down and exported to Western Europe for furniture making and, sadly, there are few oak trees remaining in Ireland.
Sometimes the knob on the end was hollowed out and filled with molten lead, which was known as a 'loaded stick'. However, in shillelaghs made of blackthorn, the knob was actually the root, and it would not have been necessary to load it as it could pack a significant wallop. The bark is left on for added strength and a metal end is attached to the bottom. During the curing and drying process, sticks would be buried in a manure pile or smeared with fat and placed in the chimney.
The shillelagh is not considered a symbol of Ireland, as such, but a badge of honor for those who carried it. Very young Irish boys were exposed to the traditions of the bata and, when they became of age, their stick represented passage into manhood.
They're very difficult to date, but the colour of the wood and the amount of wear present are often good indicators of age.
Dave
The Irish Shillelagh is a walking stick or cane but, to the ancient Irish, the shillelagh was their weapon of choice. The Gaelic bata, or fighting stick, would have been made from oak, blackthorn, ash or holly. It was actually an English writer who coined the term 'shillelagh'. The original stick gets its name from the Shillelagh Forest in County Wicklow, where the forest was once famous for its stands of fine oak trees. Most of them were cut down and exported to Western Europe for furniture making and, sadly, there are few oak trees remaining in Ireland.
Sometimes the knob on the end was hollowed out and filled with molten lead, which was known as a 'loaded stick'. However, in shillelaghs made of blackthorn, the knob was actually the root, and it would not have been necessary to load it as it could pack a significant wallop. The bark is left on for added strength and a metal end is attached to the bottom. During the curing and drying process, sticks would be buried in a manure pile or smeared with fat and placed in the chimney.
The shillelagh is not considered a symbol of Ireland, as such, but a badge of honor for those who carried it. Very young Irish boys were exposed to the traditions of the bata and, when they became of age, their stick represented passage into manhood.
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