Walking canes

[fortcollinsjerry]

What is the traditional historical information regarding the tall walking cane I see in many drawings?

[pastorsteve]

I'm no Scotland expert but I would suspect it's a remnant of either shepherding, walking in the highlands - or both.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

It's called a cromach, and it is a variation of the shepherd's crook. Classically the "crook" is made of horn, and just large enough to slip round a sheep's neck. The end of the hook has an upturn (sometimes carved to look like a thistle) and this creates a small hook. During lambing, the staff can be plunged into the ground at night and a lantern hung from the small hook, leaving the shepherd with both hands free to assist with the delivery of the lamb.

[Twa_Corbies]

Here are a few photos showing a typical range of styles of the cromach or Highland shepherd's cruik:

[wyldathart]

I've read someplace that some Cromache makers bend living saplings or branches and after enough time has passed then they harvest the ready made Cromache. The pictures give me some idea's though.

[Twa_Corbies]

I've read someplace that some Cromache makers bend living saplings or branches and after enough time has passed then they harvest the ready made Cromache. The pictures give me some idea's though.

Usually cromachs are made with the head shaped from a ram's horn, which requires boiling the horn and some other techniques unknown to me; but there are cromach's that are made entirely from wood, and I believe that these are often made by digging up a portion of the root and carving it into the head of the stick. There are also very simple ones made by bending the branch using heat and steam. Stick carving is an artform unto itself, and there are competitions in stick-making throughout the U.K.

[fortcollinsjerry]

....interesting that there is such a liking to have that "stick" in hand as one walks a trail or across a field. I have a solid rosewood walking stick that I made several years ago. Perhaps I'll take it to Scotland with me just to give it some field work there.

[Chas]

The best book on the subject is "Walking & Working Sticks" by the late Theo Fossel, who was the founding chairman of the British Stickmakers Guild. ISBN 1 869988 00 0 - hardback and 1 869988 01 9 - paperback. It really is a stickmaker's bible and for that reason, I believe is still in print.

I once attended one of his weekend "Schools" and produced a stick at the end of it - 'a poor thing, but mine own'. It is not much to look at but I have used it this last 20 years.

Regards

Chas

[wyldathart]

Usually cromachs are made with the head shaped from a ram's horn, which requires boiling the horn and some other techniques unknown to me; but there are cromach's that are made entirely from wood, and I believe that these are often made by digging up a portion of the root and carving it into the head of the stick. There are also very simple ones made by bending the branch using heat and steam. Stick carving is an artform unto itself, and there are competitions in stick-making throughout the U.K.

I've used that method myself, I've found that maple is the easiest to carve from the root. I've used a steam box before but never on a walking stick. As far as horn goes, think of anything that makes your own fingernails soft. It's the same material but thicker and denser.
I have many folks around me that have herds of goats, I'm thinking of inquiring about procuring some goat horn for my own cromache. I don't how well it'll turn out but it might be fun to try

[piperdbh]

About bending saplings into curves...
That's a technique used by some rustic furniture makers, and probably used by a few walking-stick producers, as well. For furniture, where wide curves would be used, a sapling would be bent into the desired arc or curve, then tied so as to hold that shape. It would usually hold its shape after a year or two's growth.
Walking canes would need a much tighter arc, and so younger saplings would have to be used. That might be more trouble than it would be worth. That's probably why some enightened soul affixed a horn to the end of his cromach, then someone else saw it and said, "Why didn't I think of that?" and someone else started whittling to pass the time and now people charge several dollars/pounds/drachmas to produce works of art.