The Walking-Stick, Cudgel, and Other Accessories

Author: Rowland George Allanson-Winn (in Self-Defence, with Charles Edward Walker).
Published: 1903.

We would like to thanks Jason Couch for the OCR of this article.

Even for the sake of the extra security which a really good stick imparts to a lonely walk, one does not want to be encumbered with an unsightly or aggressive-looking weapon. The choice of a serviceable walking-stick is by no means easy. To begin with, it must be of a weight and length suitable to your strength and height. It should possess stiffness and strength sufficient to enable you to use it when worked with both hands and at close quarters. It should have density (for weight) and elasticity, and should not be liable to snap or split. The oak makes a good stick, but it is rather apt to snap unless the sectional area is so considerable as to render the stick too bulky and heavy for ordinary use. The rattan cane is very strong and pliable, but it is liable to split, and is not stiff enough for effective pointing work. The hazel is very stiff, but it is too light and is apt to snap like the oak.

You want stiffness and strength for effective lunging without bending, and you must have a certain amount of spring to make the stick handy and "lively" in actual encounter. There are some splendid sticks cut from certain hard woods in India —sticks which will stand very severe tests. The best ground-ash in this country is far too soft and liable to split or crack. The best quality of orange and lemon-trees furnish good sticks, but none of these are in it with a first-class well-prepared blackthorn, which is the king of sticks for effective work.

Do not, on reading this, go off to a stick-shop and ask for a blackthorn—you will probably be shown one of those articles highly varnished and "got up" for the shop-window. The best way is to ask a friend in Cork or Kerry, or some other Irish county, to look out for you and to secure one of the sticks as prepared by the people of the country. Ask for a stick of oval or elliptical section, as such are quite as stiff and less bulky than those with circular section. These sticks are cut from the hedges at that time of year when the sap is not rising, and are then carefully dried and otherwise prepared: the bark is left on and the knobs not cut off too close to the stick. They are constantly rubbed with oil and dried in the peat smoke. When finished they are hard, stiff, tough, and thoroughly reliable weapons approximating to the strength of the crowbar and the "liveliness" of the ash plant. The advice about the elliptical section is of more importance than may at first appear, and a consideration of what we do when requiring the stiffest possible beam from a log of circular sections will help to demonstrate the point.

The diameter a b is divided into four equal parts at c, d, and e, perpendiculars are drawn from c and e. meeting the circumference at f and g; a g b f is then the stiffest beam that can be cut out of the log, and it will be seen that the removal of the shaded portion is so much gain, as it saves weight and bulk. The dotted line shows approximately the sides of the stick in section.

THE “ STIFFEST” BEAM THAT CAN BE CUT FROM A CIRCULAR LOG.

There is another advantage in the flat section, and that is that the shape of the stick more nearly approaches that of the blade of a sabre, and if you understand your sword exercises, and make your cuts and guards with the true edge, you will be likely to do more effective work. The blow, also, comes with greater severity, because the curvature at either end of the major axis of the ellipse is sharper than it is at the end of a diameter of the circle—the diameter of the circle being taken as equal to the major axis.

A stiff blackthorn is excellent for prodding, and being covered with sharp knots is a first-rate weapon for defence at very close quarters. If, therefore, your efforts to keep the foe at a distance have failed, and you are getting "hemmed in," it will be better to seize the stick with both hands and dash the point and hilt into the faces and sides of your assailants. This, too, is the best way to hold the stick should you be attacked by a large dog, which perhaps jumps at your throat—by holding the stick with the hands about eighteen to twenty inches apart you may be able to throw him off, and then break one of his legs by a well-directed hit. Remember on such an occasion to lean forward and keep one leg well planted behind, otherwise you may be thrown down.

It is well to have a good steel or iron ferrule at the end of your stick. An inch and a half from the end of an old gun-barrel will answer well, but on no account fasten it on by a peg running through the stick, as this will tend to cause the stick to split. The best way is to cut a couple of saw-like notches on each side of the ferrule, and then to press these into the wood, or, if you take the notches all round the upper part, have them all pressed in; the ferrule will be held securely in its place, and without any chance of a split in the end of the stick.

Whatever you do, make sure that you have complete mastery over your stick. It is advisable when walking along a country road to make cuts at nettles, weeds, etc., just as though you were using a sabre, for by this means and by making points at stones, etc., in walls, you may greatly improve the accuracy of your eye.

I once knew a man who carried what appeared to be a neat little "masher" cane, painted some dark colour, and grained to imitate wood. This harmless-looking adjunct was in reality a solid bar of the finest steel, and, in lunging, it was quite easy to run the point slap through the panel of a door, or an ordinary inch deal plank, for the matter of that. Of course such a weapon as this may be most useful, and, from its uniform strength, it is far preferable to a sword-stick, which should not, in my opinion, ever be carried.

The two most prominent objections to the sword-stick are the liability of abuse by a, hasty individual, and the weakness of the stick itself. The "sword," or apology for a sword, is something between a skewer and a foil, and the Malacca cane, which constitutes the scabbard, is so weakened by hollowing out that it is useless for hitting or guarding purposes. Altogether they are not to be compared with the good solid blackthorn, and in the hands of a hot-headed, excited individual, may lead to the shedding of blood over some silly dispute.

The homely gamp, when opened suddenly, may turn away the assault of a bull or savage dog, but as a weapon of offence or defence it may be most effective in the hands of a good swordsman. It need hardly be pointed out that the umbrella is almost useless for hitting purposes, but, if the stick is of the best quality and stiff enough, it may be used with the greatest effect for thrusting. Also, by grasping it firmly with both hands, as one would grasp a rifle when at bayonet exercise, it may be most efficacious in warding off blows and prodding the faces and stomachs of assailants. If you grasp the silk or cotton about a foot from the point with the left hand and the handle with the right hand, it, will be most effective to use the point for the faces and the back thrusts, with the handle for the bodies.

It does not, perhaps, sound quite nice to talk about daggers or dirks in this country, but for a man who has control of his temper and would not use a deadly weapon except to save his life, I am inclined to recommend a very strong double-edged dirk, about six inches long, concealed in the handle of the umbrella. The point of this dirk is hidden by a small metal flap, which swings open when the umbrella-handle is jerked downwards, and the blade is held in position by a strong catch.  The advantages of such a weapon are obvious. Whatever you do when murderously attacked, let all your strokes be very quick and powerful, because, when it comes to such close work, the danger lies in your being thrown down and kicked to death. As before hinted in these pages, when there is a choice of evils choose the lesser, and don't be too squeamish about hurting those who would think nothing of taking your life either for sport or plunder.

Thrusting, guarding, and prodding (which is my word for "close quarters" thrusting) may be looked upon as the strong points of the umbrella. It is no use as a hitting instrument, both on account of the folds of silk and the liability to fly open.

A word or two on leaded sticks and canes. The "life-preserver" has the advantage of portability. It consists of a short, springy piece of cane about twelve inches long, at one end of which is attached a nodule of lead about as big as a hen's egg, and at the other a strong leather or catgut loop to prevent the weapon being taken away from one or from flying out of the hand. This little innocent combination of heavy and springy materials is usually bound all over with catgut or thin strips of cane, and is capable of doing very effective and very deadly work; but what you have to bear in mind is this—the actual serviceable portion is so small that unless you are extremely expert you have every chance of missing your mark altogether. With a "life-preserver" you have at most but a couple of inches of effective weapon to rely on, whereas with a good cudgel you would have at least ten times that extent of hard, solid timber to depend on.

The leaded rattan cane is an extension of the "life-preserver," and of course may do great execution, but the objections urged in the case of the shorter weapon apply with even greater force to the weighted walking-stick. Leaded sticks are not very "handy," and the presence of so much weight in one end makes them slow for returns or for guarding purposes.

Again, the rattan cane is not nearly as useful for thrusting as would be a stiff blackthorn, oak, or even hazel, and there is no doubt that a good thrust or prod can be made with far more certainty on, say, a dark night, than can a hit, which, in the case of both life-preserver and leaded walking-stick, is bound to be extremely uncertain.

If you happen to catch an opponent anything like a heavy blow on the side of the head with the small six or seven ounces of lead, you will very probably fracture his skull and kill him. If you do the same thing with a strong, heavy stick you will probably knock him senseless for a sufficient time, and that is really all you want to do. Self-preservation is the first law of nature, and it is better, in the cases we are considering, to have a very good chance of sufficiently disabling than a very bad chance of getting home at all with your hit, even when this latter carries an off-chance of justifiable homicide along with it.

I think it is safe to say that, taken all round, the leaded rattan is as inferior to a first-class blackthorn as is a life-preserver to a heavy, tough cudgel.

Another accessory sometimes used is a "knuckleduster," which is a very brutal device of brass or gun-metal, designed to make a blow with the fist more disfiguring than it would otherwise be. No real boxer would ever use one of these instruments, the only effect of which would be to make him hit in a completely wrong and ineffective manner. There are points on the instrument for cutting up the face of the adversary, and beneath these points are holes for the fingers of the hitter, and below them again is a short, rounded bar, which rests in the palm of the hand. It will be at once seen that with the knuckle-duster on the hand the true hitting knuckles cannot be properly used, and, as it is equally certain that there is no property in the device which enables you to hit quicker or put more weight into your blow, do not ever think of making use of it yourself, but look out for a chopping hit from some mean follow, who may cut your face to ribbons with one of these unmanly instruments, which no Englishman should be seen with.

It unfortunately takes a long time to become really good at many branches of athletics, and when you know a great deal you begin to get a bit too stiff and old to carry into effect all you might do if youth remained with you. To be perfect in the art of self-defence you should be a first-class boxer and wrestler, and you should be also an export swordsman, and when I say "expert swordsman," I mean that you should be so completely at home in the science that you should be able to get the most possible advantage in attack or defence out of any weapon capable of being wielded. When you are proficient with the small sword and sabre, the quarter-staff and bayonet, you will know at once what to do with the leg of an old chair, an iron bar, a hop-pole, a boat-hook, or even a lady's parasol. Depend upon it that any moderately strong and active man who is a good boxer, fencer, and wrestler may be a very nasty customer for even two or three footpads to attack.