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| C021 - Collector's item: a very interesting old knobbly chestnut cudgel/walking
stick. Overall length 38 inches / 96.5cm. |  |
| This stick, like #C006, was clearly intended to afford some protection to the
user. However, its length gives it rather more credibility as a walking aid. It
was described to me as being made of oak, but although it's very solid and
heavy, the wood is actually chestnut. Its most striking feature is the strange assortment of big lumps and knobs that
cover most of its length. |
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| These are not knots, and neither are they burrs (the wart-like growths of
undifferentiated growth that provide us with spectacular burr-wood for making
knobs and handles). In this case, the protuberances clearly have a relatively
normal grain structure. They may have been caused by some disease or irritant,
or maybe they are a natural feature of some particular subspecies. Whatever
their origin they give this old stick a character all of its own. |
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| The knob or handle is formed out of the natural shape of the base of the branch
or stem from which the stick is made. With the top facing towards the user,
it's a knobstick for a tall person. With it facing away from the user it
becomes a walking stick for a shorter person. | 
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| There are a number of deep splits in the wood. These are a natural feature of a
thick old piece of chestnut and they have no effect at all on its strength or
longevity - so I have left them well alone. They can look after themselves, and
the way the grain parts around the splits is absolutely typical of chestnut. As
are the few true knots, which have the characteristic "funny face" appearance. |
   
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| Like my previous oak cudgel, it's impossible to place an age on this stick. Its
polished appearance suggests it has seen plenty of use, but it's never going to
wear out and will no doubt be going strong in hundreds of years from now.
Again, there is no knowing whether it has actually been used to beat off
assailants or whether it has taken part in crimes unknown. All I can say is
that its very appearance must have been enough to make anyone think twice about
picking an argument with its owner! |
 
| As you can imagine, this great baulk of timber needed very little in the way
of restoration work on my part. Just a good clean-up and a lick of linseed oil
was enough to revive it. The ferrule is of brass with an iron base. It is well
bashed-about and has a big split running down it. However, I decided to retain
it and simply filled the split with epoxy resin to keep out the weather and
hold everything together. My reason for keeping it is that it displays an
interesting feature... You see that odd lopsided sort of flange running around the middle of it? I can
tell you exactly how that happened. Whoever fitted that ferrule selected one
that was too long for the tip of the stick - or if it's the original one, they
failed to cut the stick to reach right down to the bottom of it. So... there was a gap of maybe 1/8" between the end of the stick and the base
of the ferrule. Someone bashed the ferrule on good and hard - or maybe the
owner was in the habit of banging the end of the stick down heavily on a hard
surface. Either way, the end of the stick got rammed down into that space, and
something had to give. In fact, two things gave way; the ferrule folded in the
middle, giving us the wavy "flange"; and being forced further up the taper of
the stick than was good for it, the ferrule split. Let's keep it that way, it's
a good talking point!
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