In San Diego, Padres broadcaster Mark Grant popularized the shillelagh as a rally call, by using terms like "Shillelagh Power" to describe late game heroics by the Padres. The Boston Celtics logo has a leprechaun leaning on his shillelagh, etc. For example, the NCOs of the Fighting 69th carry shillelaghs as rank badges in parades.
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In modern usage, the shillelagh is recognised (particularly in an Irish-American context) as a symbol of Irishness. By the 19th century Irish Shillelagh-fighting had evolved into a practice which involved the use of three basic types of weapons, sticks which were long, medium or short in length. There is some evidence which suggests that the use of Irish stick weapons may have evolved in a progression from a reliance on long spears and wattles, to shorter spears and wattles, to the shillelagh, alpeen, blackthorn (walking-stick) and short cudgel. Of the practice, researcher JW Hurley writes: Methods of Shillelagh fighting have evolved over a period of thousands of years, from the spear, staff, axe and sword fighting of the Irish. Modern practitioners of Bataireacht study the use of the shillelagh for self defense and as a martial art. There is no actual connection with the village or forest of Shillelagh ( Irish: Síol Éalaigh, meaning "descendants of Éalach") in County Wicklow, other than the fact that both the original Irish names have ended up with the same Anglicized pronunciation.Īlthough originally used for settling disputes in a gentlemanly manner (like pistols in colonial America, or the katana in Japan), the shillelagh eventually became a symbol of stereotypical violent Irish behavior, and has thus become nearly a tabooed topic of discussion for some Irish people. Many shillelaghs also have a strap attached (hence the Irish name), similar to commercially made walking sticks, to place around the holder's wrist. Most also have a heavy knob for a handle which can be used for striking as well as parrying and disarming an opponent. They are commonly the length of a walking stick (distance from the floor to one's wrist with elbow slightly bent). Shillelaghs may be hollowed at the heavy "hitting" end and filled with molten lead to increase the weight beyond the typical two pounds this sort of Shillelagh is known as a 'loaded stick'. The wood would be smeared with butter and placed up a chimney to cure, giving the Shillelagh its typical black shiny appearance. Shillaber appears even earlier in a 1908 Los Angeles Herald story in which a man running a rigged carnival game used the word to refer to his assistants who pretended to be customers.Ī 1915 article in The Day Book, also about rigged carnival games, directly connects shill with shillaber and says they can be used interchangeably.Shillelaghs are traditionally made from blackthorn (sloe) wood ( Prunus spinosa) or oak. Shill was used as early as 1911, when it appeared in a short story in The Metropolitan to describe planted bidders who submitted fake bids to drive up the price of items in an auction. Both shill and shillaber are found in the early 20th-century in carnival (or “ carny“) lingo, which isn’t well documented. Many dictionaries maintain that shill comes from an older word, shillaber, a noun with the same meaning as shill and with an obscure origin.
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The word shill has a complicated history, oddly appropriate considering the underhanded meaning of the slang word. The shill has ulterior motives for their actions, usually because they are the actual seller or have something to gain if the product sells well. A shill is a hustler or con-person who tries to convince other people to buy something or think something is great ( shilling).