James & I were talking today and I brought up a question to which he didn't have an answer, maybe somebody else here does.

In period references to single-stick, does it ever mention what the preferred wood/s were to make the originals? Every wood had different properties; ash is very light but rigid which made it the preferred timber for pike, spear and polearm shafts; elm is relatively heavy but flexes beautifully if you want a bow (it was the second choice to make an English longbow after yew) and is very resistent to splitting; oak is quite heavy and rigid but has a bad tendency to split longitudinally. They're all different.

Hi, Andrea.

I don't have a source in front of me, but I believe willow was the preferred wood, stripped of bark and kept in water to maintain flexibility.

Andy

Ash is the wood recommended by the majority of authors and it is said to be best when kept soaking in a barrel of water. I can't find any online manuals that show this, the best I can find is a wikipaedia reference that is drawn in part from the Encyclopaedia Brittanica.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlestick

Cheers,
Stu.

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Had a little dig through some of my books for info on singlesticks:


Walker's "Defensive Exercises" (1840) - Broadsword:
"...As no exercise with the sword can be brought to perfection without some species of loose or independent practice, Sticks should be substituted for Swords in the present instance, as, in Fencing, Foils are used for the aquirement of that art...
...In the following directions, the word Sword is retained, although the practice is with sticks, which should be abuot thirty-eight inches long, and not so weak as to bend; and the leather practising hilts merely large enough to cover the hand without confining it..."


Hutton's "The Swordsman" (1891) - Part II. The Singlestick and Sabre
"The system of play with these two weapons is one and the same; the single stick being nothing more than a cheap (and nasty) substitute for the fencing sabre as used in every country except our own; they are employed for cutting and thrusting."

Hutton - "The Sword and the Centuries" (1901)
"...The cudgel-players copied these in a less dangerous form, the steel blades being replaced by an ash stick about a yard in length and as thick as country fellow's middle finger, the hilts ... being usually of wickerwork."

"Cassel's Book of Sports and Passtimes - Illustrated" (c1888)
"Broadsword or Single-Stick ... The single-stick, which represents the broadsword, as the foil does the small sword or rapier, is an ash plant, pickled and baked, with a little peg driven through at the handle end to keep it from slipping through the guard. This used formerly to be made of wicker work, but is now generally of buffalo hide, which lasts almost forever, while the baskets are soon knocked to bits."

"Handbook of Athletic Sports - Vol III- Boxing, Wrestling, Fencing, Broadsword and Singlestick" (1890) (broadsword and singlestick section by R.G. Allanson-Winn & C. Phillipps-Wolley)
" ... The sticks themselves should be ash-plants, about fourty inches in length and as thick as a man's thumb, without knots and unpeeled.
If you want them to last any time it is as well to keep a trough of water in the gymnasium, and leave your ash-plants to soak in it until they are wanted. If you omit to do this, two eager players, in half an hour's loose play, will destroy half a dozen sticks, which adds considerably to the cost of the amusement.
...THE SHILLALAH ... The shillalah proper is about four feet long and is usually made of blackthorn, oak, ash or hazel; and it is a great point to get it uniform in thickness and weight throughout its entire length.
... THE WALKING STICK ... First them as to the matter of the best wood. There are, roughly, two headings under whcih we may class our types of raw material - strong and stiff wood, such as the oak and hazell and strong and pliable, such as the ash-plant and various kinds of canes. What one really wants to secure is a sufficient amount of stiffness and strength to enable one to make an effective hit or longe, without any chance of snapping, and a degree of pliability and spring combined with that lightness which makes a stick handy and lively in an actual encounter.
The oak has plenty of power and about the right density, but, unless you get a rather big stick - too big for all-round usefulness, - it is apt to snap. The hazel is perhaps rather too stiff and is certainly too light, though for this very reason it is handy. Then, again, there is no bending a hazel without a good chance of breaking it. A good strong ground-ash is not to be despised if cut at the right time, but it is always apt to split or break. Turning to the rattan-cane, we find a capital solid cane - almost unbreakable - but with rather too much bend in it for thrusting, or warding off the rush of a savage dog. The rattan, too, is very apt to split if by any chance the ferrule comes off; and when once it has really split you might just as well have a birch-rod in your hands.
Where, then, shall we look for a stick which combines all the good qualities and is free from the drawbacks just enumerated? Without the slightest hesitation I refer you to the Irish Blackthorn, which can be chosen of such convenient size and weight as not to be cumbersome, and which, if carefully selected, possesses all the strength of the oak, plus enourmous toughness, and a pliability which makes it a truly charming weapon to work with. ...
... The sticks are cut out of the hedges at that time of year when the sap is not risingl they are then carefully prepared and dried in the peat smoke for some considerable time, the bark of course being left on and the knobs not cut off too close; and when ready, they are hard, tough, and thouroughly reliable weapons. ...
... The section of these sticks is seldom a true circle, but bear in mind, when giving your order, to ask for those which are rather flat than otherwise. I mean that the section should be elliptical, and not circular. The shape of the stick then more nearly approaches that of the blade of a sabre, and if you understand sword exercise and make all cuts and guards with the true edge, you are far more likely to do effective work...
... The length of the blackthorn depends on the length of the man for whom it is intended, but always go in for a good long stick. Useful lengths range between 2ft 10in and 3ft, and even 3ft 6in for a really tall man,"



There's also a good description of a single stick tournament at an English country fair of the early 19thC, in "Tom Brown's School Days".


Hope these are of some use.

Cheers,

Jay --)-------

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That about covers it. Well done Jay! If you're thinking of making some here is my experience:

Wicker baskets last about a minute. The originals were obviously a different sort of wicker to what we can get! Leather baskets must be VERY thick and hardened to be adequate. You might even like to include a steel reinforcement along the knucklebow.

Rattan wands are, like the water-soaked ash, a bit too light and floppy to be serious sword substitutes, and they sting! Privet is a good locally available (& free!) choice for a cudgel, though you need to season and strip it. However any cudgel that is heavy enough to be vaguely sword-like *really hurts* and you have to armour up!

Paul

Holly trees run rampant in the Dandenongs, to the point of being a pest. They throw up suckers or saplings or whatever they're called, which I have made canes from. From my experience, it is a dense, tough sort of wood. Never tested it out for its whacking capabilites though. Any thoughts or references?

I know some local Councils treat privet as a noxious plant, and actively remove it. A word in the appropriate quarters might secure a supply.

Hi Guys!

Thanks for the references, especially Jay. I suspect one of the reasons ash was kept continually moist, in addition to any benefits in breakage prevention, is that waterlogging would also have added to the weight. Dried seasoned ash is very light. Next time James turns up to MSG (we're away to Taminick camping for 3 weeks as of next week) I'll see if I can remember to send an ash spearshaft with him as a sample.

Paul, I'm surprised you found the ash "floppy" as it's considered a fairly rigid timber for it's weight. Admittedly I haven't used it in that thickness before though. Might have to take the secateurs down to the ash stand by the creek this weekend and cut myself a sample stick to test the theory out.

The "wicker" work referred to in European sources would have been different to what's commercially available in Australia today. For one thing, as far as I know, the stuff we buy in the shops here is all made of various sorts of Asian cane and bamboo. The word "wicker" originally referred to basketry made of willow. Three particular species of osier willow to be specific. From The Complete Book of Baskets and Basketry by Dorothy Wright:

(a) Salix triandra which produces high-quality rods of 7ft (2m) long
(b) Salix viminalis gives a stouter type of rod up to 12ft (3.6m) long, which is used in coarse basketry such as hurdles and agricultural baskets
(c) Salix purpurea which is not much grown now. It gives a small, slender, very tough rod up to 4ft (1.2m) long, which does not buff well and was used for small, fine, high-class basketware.

Osier willow is different to the weeping willows we find along the banks of some rivers in Oz unfortunately. I read somewhere that their rods are unsuitable for basketry because they break too easily. Unless one of us can come up with the real thing we're not going to be able to find out how well an original wicker hilt might have lasted.

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) though........somebody said they could get me a plant of that once. Didn't think I needed one at the time. Maybe I need to go see them again.

Bye for now,

Andrea Willett

Due to the wonders of house sitting with broadband - I've been having a play with google.books and PDF's - so more info on stick materials.

Attached is the stick section from a early 19th C book on self defence.

Cheers,



Jay.

Attached Files

handyhints.doc (646.0 KB, 14 views)

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Just in case anybody likes to take the long view, Woodbridge Fruit Trees (used to be Bob Magnus fruit trees until he retired and handed the business over to his son) www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au has blackthorn for sale this year.

Andrea

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