[Sca-cooks] quarterstaffs

[Stefan li Rous]

Bear commented:
> > IIRC the Brits, during their foray into Ireland, criminalized the 
> carrying
> > of staffs over a certain thickness and length.  Anyone recall the
> > particulars?
> >
> > Daniel
>
> I don't recall seeing this but I can believe it.  There is a tale 
> about a
> French general who declared a company of Irishmen with shillelaghs to 
> be
> against the rules of civilized warfare.  And in the late 13th Century, 
> the
> Lincolnshire court records showed that the most common implement of 
> unlawful
> death was the quarterstaff.

Yes. I believe I've got somewhere comments that a good quarterstaff man 
was the equal of a good swordsman in period. Use of the quarterstaff 
was banned early on in SCA combat for safety reasons.

I thought a "shillelagh" was a sword. It is a staff?

For those interested in some more details:
quarterstaff-msg (18K) 1/ 7/00   Quarterstaffs and why they're not used 
in
                                     the SCA.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/COMBAT/quarterstaff-msg.html

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****