After Totem Poles come The 'Talking' Sticks ..

Paul Colbert Carves Again

It was Paul Colbert, famous Walking Stick Maker from Kempston Bedford but a regular at all Scottish Games Fairs selling his wares, who was finally commissioned to create the Prestoungrange Baronial Ellwand in the last century. And it was to him again that the Barons Courts turned when the challenge arose to create Pacific West Coast style Talking Sticks for the coming Potlatch on August 18th.

Talking Sticks are ceremonial mini-totem poles so to speak, but are carried to all meetings and potlatches whilst their grander fellows stay put.

Paul has completed his carving and has now given the preview below of just how they shaped up: "Talking Sticks as Talking Heads" perhaps?

click on all images to enlarge



Both the Barons, Dolphinstoun and Prestoungrange, will receive a Talking Stick carved in hazel with chevrons interspersed and finished with three coats of Danish oil based on tung natural vegetable oil. Both have five hats atop carved in mahogany with gold balls proper to their rank. They also have red and white chequers throughout taken from the shields on their Arms. Finally, in common they have a band of copper at their top, a red deer horn holding a raven's feather and a copper ferrule at their base.

In all other respects they differ. Dolphinstoun has a garb of corn and green crosslet from his Arms and the Man in The Moon and poppies from his Compartment. The name D O L P H I N S T O U N is carved around the stick in green and the H and O are set in the chequers.

Prestoungrange's differencing shows the coal black diamond and six pointed white star for salt from his Arms and the red crosslet. The Sun and the Thorntree are taken from his Compartment and the name P R E S T O U N G R A N G E is carved around the stick in black with the O and G set in the chequering.

[On a technical note, the hazel of the Talking Sticks was dremelled to remove the bark with a round headed router and treated with a rosewood stain.]

The Talking Sticks will be formally presented on August 18th.