The Shilleighly/Shelaylee/Shileily/Headache/Hard To Spell Wooden Hammer Thing

[packbat]

Those of you who were (or are!) fellow members of Boy Scout Troop 439, Kensington, MD, U.S.A., will well remember this device. Some others may remember it as well – as far as our troop is concerned, it is a wooden hammer, made from a section of log. One end of the log is left intact (sometimes the bark is removed) to serve as the head, and the other end is narrowed with saw, axe, and knife to serve as a handle. Making a ... err, one of these is a requirement for Totin' Chip in Troop 439, since it requires all three of Totin' Chip tools to make. Additionally, it is perhaps the best tool available to Scouts for driving their tent stakes. Unfortunately, no-one knows how to spell it.

Fortunately, this situation can finally be repaired, at least for the next ten minutes. Examination of my dictionary shows that shillelagh is the proper spelling, named for an Irish village. (Internet research further shows that many places have a different definition of shillelagh, but we don't care about that.) Thus, shillelagh.

Comments

Arthur McBride

[(Anonymous)]

btw, a traditional Irish song that you may have heard includes the shillelagh-as-weapon verse:

He says: "My young fellows if I hear but one word
I instantly now will out with my sword
And into your bodies as strength will afford
So now my gay devils take warning"
But Arthur and I we took in the odds
We gave them no chance for to launch out their swords
Our whacking shillelaghs came over their heads
And paid them right smart in the morning

Re: Arthur McBride

[packbat.livejournal.com]

Ah, neat! I don't actually know that song, but I'm not surprised at it; the dictionaries define "shillelagh" as a kind of cudgel. Thanks for the reference!