DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1310#0262
208 THE GREAT EXHIBITION
space and verge enough" to display whatever might be deemed worthy of public atten-
tion. All therefore might find abundant matter for wonder and delight.
We were led into these reflections after contemplating one of those great master-
pieces of human genius with which the Crystal Palace abounded, by casually wandering
into a department wherein was arranged every possible form, shape, and variety of
" walking sticks;" yes, gentle reader, we repeat, of every specimen and description of walk-
ing-sticks, from the plain and unadorned shepherd's staff, to that of gold and ivory, fit
for the hand of royalty itself. We shall select for the amusement and gratification of our
readers, a few remarks, on this apparently insignificant subject, from the "Juries'
Reports." "Whensoever," they observe, "the heroic period may be supposed to have
existed, the staff', as employed for the support of old age, was then well known, since
it is referred to in the enigma, put forth by the Sphynx, and solved by CEdipus."
"There is a Being," said the questioner, "which has four feet, and it has also three
feet, with only one voice; but its feet vary, and when it has the most it is the weakest."
"This is man," was the hero's answer, "who when he is an infant, crawls upon his
hands and knees; when he is a man, he walks uprightly, and when he is old he totters
with a stick." The use of the staff for support in walking appears to be so natural and
inartificial as not to require any illustration; and yet the Pilgrim's staff of the middle
ages, and the Alpenstock of the present time, have a certain amount of historical
interest. The Bourdon, or Pilgrim's staff, was a strong and stout stick, apparently about
five feet in length, armed at the lower end with an iron spike, and intended to supply a
support and balance to the body, when the traveller was climbing up slippery paths, or
steep acclivities. About a foot from the top of the staff was generally found a large
protuberance, either artificially or naturally formed around the staff, on which the pil-
grim's hand securely rested, without danger of sliding downwards. The lower part
of the staff was altogether solid, but the upper joint was a hollow tube, capable of
containing small articles, like a long hollow box. It is probable that these articles were
originally reliques of saints, or the " signs," as those emblematical figures were usually
termed, which were commonly sold at the shrines to which pilgrims travelled, as
proofs that they had really visited those sacred parts. In the latter ages of pilgrimage,
however, this part of the staff was sometimes converted into some kind of pipe or
musical instrument, such as sticks have frequently contained in modern times. Above
the tube, the staff was surmounted by a small hollow globe, and it was also furnished
near the top, on the outside, with a kind of crook, for the purpose of safely sustaining
a gourd-bottle of water. After the pilgrim had completed his votive journey, and
returned from Palestine, he commonly brought with him a branch of palm, fastened
into the top of his staff, as a proof of his travel into Palestine or Egypt. It is, however,
unquestionable that the pilgrim's staff frequently became the receptacle of secular
articles. It is recorded by Holinshed, that in the hollow part of a pilgrim's staff the
first head of saffron, afterwards so successfully cultivated at Saffron Walden, was secretly
brought over from Greece, at a period when it was death to take the living plant out of
the country. The silkworm also found its way to Europe in the hollow of a pilgrim's
staff. So late also as the time of Cervantes, certain Spanish pilgrims existed, who had
collected upwards of an hundred crowns in alms, which, being changed into gold, they
concealed in the hollow of their staves, or the patches of their clothing. It seems to
be a natural observation in this place, that the ancient contrivance of making a reposi-
tory in the hollow of a walking-stick, is not yet obsolete. In the Great Exhibition,
Dr. Gray, of Perth, displayed a medical walking staff, containing a variety of instruments
and medicines; and the same principle has also been frequently employed for the por-
table conveyance of telescopes, and other important articles.
space and verge enough" to display whatever might be deemed worthy of public atten-
tion. All therefore might find abundant matter for wonder and delight.
We were led into these reflections after contemplating one of those great master-
pieces of human genius with which the Crystal Palace abounded, by casually wandering
into a department wherein was arranged every possible form, shape, and variety of
" walking sticks;" yes, gentle reader, we repeat, of every specimen and description of walk-
ing-sticks, from the plain and unadorned shepherd's staff, to that of gold and ivory, fit
for the hand of royalty itself. We shall select for the amusement and gratification of our
readers, a few remarks, on this apparently insignificant subject, from the "Juries'
Reports." "Whensoever," they observe, "the heroic period may be supposed to have
existed, the staff', as employed for the support of old age, was then well known, since
it is referred to in the enigma, put forth by the Sphynx, and solved by CEdipus."
"There is a Being," said the questioner, "which has four feet, and it has also three
feet, with only one voice; but its feet vary, and when it has the most it is the weakest."
"This is man," was the hero's answer, "who when he is an infant, crawls upon his
hands and knees; when he is a man, he walks uprightly, and when he is old he totters
with a stick." The use of the staff for support in walking appears to be so natural and
inartificial as not to require any illustration; and yet the Pilgrim's staff of the middle
ages, and the Alpenstock of the present time, have a certain amount of historical
interest. The Bourdon, or Pilgrim's staff, was a strong and stout stick, apparently about
five feet in length, armed at the lower end with an iron spike, and intended to supply a
support and balance to the body, when the traveller was climbing up slippery paths, or
steep acclivities. About a foot from the top of the staff was generally found a large
protuberance, either artificially or naturally formed around the staff, on which the pil-
grim's hand securely rested, without danger of sliding downwards. The lower part
of the staff was altogether solid, but the upper joint was a hollow tube, capable of
containing small articles, like a long hollow box. It is probable that these articles were
originally reliques of saints, or the " signs," as those emblematical figures were usually
termed, which were commonly sold at the shrines to which pilgrims travelled, as
proofs that they had really visited those sacred parts. In the latter ages of pilgrimage,
however, this part of the staff was sometimes converted into some kind of pipe or
musical instrument, such as sticks have frequently contained in modern times. Above
the tube, the staff was surmounted by a small hollow globe, and it was also furnished
near the top, on the outside, with a kind of crook, for the purpose of safely sustaining
a gourd-bottle of water. After the pilgrim had completed his votive journey, and
returned from Palestine, he commonly brought with him a branch of palm, fastened
into the top of his staff, as a proof of his travel into Palestine or Egypt. It is, however,
unquestionable that the pilgrim's staff frequently became the receptacle of secular
articles. It is recorded by Holinshed, that in the hollow part of a pilgrim's staff the
first head of saffron, afterwards so successfully cultivated at Saffron Walden, was secretly
brought over from Greece, at a period when it was death to take the living plant out of
the country. The silkworm also found its way to Europe in the hollow of a pilgrim's
staff. So late also as the time of Cervantes, certain Spanish pilgrims existed, who had
collected upwards of an hundred crowns in alms, which, being changed into gold, they
concealed in the hollow of their staves, or the patches of their clothing. It seems to
be a natural observation in this place, that the ancient contrivance of making a reposi-
tory in the hollow of a walking-stick, is not yet obsolete. In the Great Exhibition,
Dr. Gray, of Perth, displayed a medical walking staff, containing a variety of instruments
and medicines; and the same principle has also been frequently employed for the por-
table conveyance of telescopes, and other important articles.