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.
#I lathered him with my shillelagh crack
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. 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", "string", etc.
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