He speculates that the English word shillelagh may actually come from a shortening of the Irish for ‘thong walking stick’. Irish martial arts researcher John Hurley proposes a third interpretation in his book Shillelagh: The Irish Fighting Stick. They don’t give provenance for the former, but at least maide is a more common word for stick (along with bata). Or perhaps the etymology is reversed and sail éille is actually an Irish appropriation of the English s hillelagh, which was itself an anglicization of the Irish place name? I note that Foras na Gaeilge’s New English-Irish Dictionary lists both sail éille and maide draighin as translations of shillelagh. The English word for an Irish cudgel may also be a corruption of the Gaelic for ‘beam/log/willow with a thong’, which refers to a stout stick equipped with a leather strap that could be secured around the user’s wrist. By 1773, Oxford shows that shillelagh was used to refer to a wooden cudgel, seemingly in reference to the famous oaks of the village/barony of Shillelagh. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the place name comes from the Irish for ‘descendants of Elach’, referring to the sept of an 8 th century Irish king in the Province of Leinster. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) records the first use of shillelagh (spelled Shelela) in 1677 as the name of a village and barony in County Wicklow, Ireland, which was known for its oak forests. And just to be thorough, alternate spellings of shillelagh in English include: shelaly, shillaley, shillely, shillaly, shilley, shillela, shilala, shillala, shillalah, shilela, shilelah, shilelagh, shillealah, and shilelagh. The origin or etymology of the English word shillelagh is a bit convoluted. Finally, I offer some brief preliminary thoughts on the cultural importance of the shillelagh as a symbol, which I listen for through music. Then, I discuss the ways it is currently used in reference to the practice of Irish stick-fighting as shillelagh martial arts. First, I consider how the noun may have come into English. In this introductory blog post, I define the word shillelagh is three ways. It’s a superb faux Blackthorn stick, and since it’s injection moulded from polypropylene, it will never warp, crack, swell up, or splinter and is easy to maintain with a little soap and water.An Overview of Irish Stick-fighting and Its Musical Legacy.Ī shillelagh is a wooden cudgel, and the word is pronounced “shuh-lay-lee.” More specifically, a shillelagh is an Irish style of stout, knobbed stick that can function as a weapon. It was copied carefully, and then artfully modified to a point where it not only mimics nature but actually rivals and supersedes anything the natural world could produce! If nature had fashioned the most perfect Blackthorn stick, and you were lucky enough to come by it, Cold Steel's Irish Blackthorn Walking Stick is what it would look like. Cold Steel’s recent forays into injected moulded polypropylene products have yielded some impressive results and now they have produced a new polypropylene Blackthorn that has all of the advantages of real Blackthorn and none of its pitfalls.Ĭold Steel's Irish Blackthorn Walking Stick is inspired by an authentic Blackthorn from Cold Steel President, Lynn C. It was because Blackthorn is difficult to come by and since it’s grown and not manufactured, it is somewhat inconsistent in quality. The English didn’t want to appear unreasonable by outlawing walking sticks too, so the Irish kept their modified shillelaghs and the world gained a beautiful and functional walking stick known simply as the Blackthorn.Ĭold Steel made the effort to obtain and sell authentic Blackthorn sticks over fifteen years ago, but the venture turned out to be disappointing, and not because the sticks didn’t sell well. To get around the law, the Irish turned the shillelagh into a 3-foot walking stick. In expert hands, the shillelagh was so fearsome that during the final occupation of Ireland, the English outlawed it. The original Blackthorn sticks were 2 to 4 foot long Irish shillelaghs (the national weapon of rural Ireland). It has been prized for centuries as a material for premium walking sticks. The Blackthorn bush is found throughout Ireland and the British Isles.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |