Walking Staff

[BBNC]

Where can I get a Scottish walking staff? I have several walking sticks but they are normal cane height.

[Chas]

I would be very surprised, if you could not get one at a Highland Games. An email to all the organisers of Games in your State, asking if any vendors are going might help.

[Calgacus]

Such a stick is known as a 'cromach' and if you Google it you might find vendors. otherwise, a Highland Games is a good bet.

[Mikilt]

How about this?

http://www.brazos-walking-sticks.com...walking-stick/

[McMurdo]

I see you are in Western North Carolina, have you been to the Scottish Tartan Museum in Franklin NC? The last time I was there they did have some. Below is the website for the museum.

http://www.scottishtartans.org/

[Nathan]

You can also send a PM to our own ThomasH as he makes very fine cromachs and is a registered hobbyist here at xmarks. Check out this thread.
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...76#post1226476

[KSmedic]

I got a very nice one at the Kansas City Ren Fest. Every Ren Fest I've attended has had someone selling them.

[Tobus]

I assume you're asking about a shepherd's crook or cromach, not just a plain staff?

Generally you will see two types being used. Either an all-wooden crook or one with a ram's horn crook attached to a wood staff. I prefer the latter. I searched for about 6 months, trying to find one that was inexpensive, but kept getting thwarted. You may be able to snag one on eBay, but the bidding can get pretty high (if you can find one at all).

I ended up buying mine from Tony Espley in Wales. He's a super nice guy and his sticks are top notch. Not cheap, but well worth the cost. Stick-making has become quite the boutique craft over in the UK, with artisans commanding big money for well-made sticks.

http://espleywalkingsticks.co.uk/

Photos of me with my Espley-made cromach are below.

When searching for a good cromach, you'll want to make sure that the height is correct for your body. The top should be about the height of your nipples. And you'll want a good steel or brass tip on it, not one of those big rubber feet like they put on canes. The shape of the crook is up to you, but it seems that the most traditional shape for a ram's horn crook is pretty much like mine below (with the curled end). Sometimes you will see a plain end, or one adorned with a thistle. There's a lot of variation here, and it's up for individual interpretation. Walking with a cromach can tend to be a bit pretentious to some, so you might not want to go overboard with the "bling" on a cromach.

A couple more sources I was shopping around at, but didn't buy from:
http://www.walkingandworkingsticks.c...ket-sticks.htm
http://www.thestickman.co.uk/horn.htm
http://www.shepherds-crook.co.uk/page/store
http://wilstonesticks.com/Shepherds-Crooks

[Thomas H]

I currently have 6 cromachs ready to be stained and shipped ,they are $80.00 each plus $20 shipping.
I make them from oak handles and now hard wood shanks .
Rams horn are indeed beautiful ,but tend to be expensive.
Please let me know and I can send you one .
Thank you

[Tomak]

I have one of the ThomasH cromachs, and I love it. I can highly recommend our fellow X marker.