Islanders War Club
 

i found this islander's war club on epray a week ago. it is used in ritual intertribal battle dances by a race of ferocious sea faring warriors descended from scandanavian raiders. it is also used by the warrior class as a home defence weapon. it is known as a 'hurley'. it is apparently taboo to strike your opponent with a one handed blow. two hands only. it is frequently associated with another throwing weapon called a sliotar. the ritual battle dance is known as hurling and frequently results in severe injuries. it is sometimes described as somewhere between war and murder.


there is a youtube video of a native warrior using one of these clubs against a triad of knife wielding attackers HERE

anyway, i wrapped this one & it lives near my front door. justincase. 32 inches of ash wood.

The Dreaded Pogues
 

A fearsome bunch and quite exciting to watch in action .
Shouldn't this be in Euro ? ;) :D

I sat for a while by the gap in the wall
Found a rusty tin can and an old hurley ball
Heard the cards being dealt, and the rosary called
And a fiddle playing Sean Dun na nGall
And the next time I see you we'll be down at the Greeks
There'll be whiskey on Sunday and tears on our cheeks
For it's stupid to laugh and it's useless to bawl
About a rusty tin can and an old hurley ball

The Broad Majestic Shannon

i debated putting it there but as it is a weapon of an indiginous island people, and pretty much restricted to that island (tho occasionally used by the descendants of immigrant natives to the USA), it is not known as a european weapon nor it's use a european historical pastime. it's use is especially active around their patron saint's day (march 17th) when they consume vast quantities of road tar and other fermented grain beverages and dye their sheep green.

a typical battle between two regional factions in the 1920's resulted in this:

What would this melee event be called ; they seem to have some type of uniform, but unlike lacrosse, they don't seem to have any padding or helmets . Would it be against the "rules, " to do so, or would it just be considered unmanly?

Which is why they don't have a hockey team at Notre Dame . :D

Well, since we are so terribly off topic already… :shrug: :o :)
For those who are a bit lost on the sport of hurling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDgLwZd1Ag4

yes, you can see the natives dressed in their garishly coloured native costumes, engaged in a melee which was described in the 1920's as athletic manslaughter. the object is to disable or kill as many of the opposing clan as possible before they can miss hitting your sides guardian of the magic fishing net with a missle. asside from the main use of your hurley to bash in your opponent's skull, or break his bones, you can use it to launch the missles, called sliotar in their native tongue, at a speed that is sufficient to cave in a chest wall. it can also be used to carry the missle as you are not allowed to run far with it, until you get close to your opponents net where you can launch the missle at his head so he will duck and allow the missle into the net for 3 points or over the net for 1.

this slaughter resulted in whole counties on the island being depopulated during the 19th century, as the populace fled to america, where they lied and blamed it on a potato famine to get by immigration and homeland security. bars in new york would put up signs saying dogs and hurlers not allowed. to this day you cannot get a good pint of road tar in NYC, or carry a hurley in public.

sadly, the king of the island, called the Taoiseach (pronounce tea-sack) has ordained that the melee may only be conducted wearing a helmet to prevent cameras having their lenses smeared with brains, and thus seriously limiting the death rate. some nancy-boys will also wear chest armour and hard gauntlets that protect their fingers.

it was a sad day, since then the population has been doubling every 5 years, they are roman catholic and thus forbidden from using birth control and abortion is socially unacceptable. they are going bankrupt, the economy is failing, and people are starving. the clan leaders are attempting to return to the old clannish values and they hope to repeal the helmet laws in order to regain control of the reproductive rate.

Sorry gentlemen, but the main focus of this posting is not truly weapons related and is ever so slieghtly off topic so I am afraid no matter how interesting I am going to close this thread from further discussion.

Robert

Moved to new forum and reopened.

Meanwhile, Across The Pond
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lacrosse :)

it is amazing how many sports and games are combat related.

glad to see that my thread is receiving the ridiculous attention it deserves and has resulted in an area where we can discuss humour as a weapon.

in parting, here is another ethnic club i found, bought it on a whim because i liked the carving. 22 in. maple.