One Mystery solved

[Nightbreak]

A couple of years ago, I purchased a truncheon, one of a few lots from Lockdale's.  (I regret not bidding on some of the others offered, but was new to collecting and hadn't yet made the decision to specialize).  The official description was

Police Truncheon - unidentified c1805/1810 Police Long

Stave, colour painted with a House and 41 (63cm)

 

Several suggestions were offered by Mervyn Mitton and others on here, and I consulted several Scottish museums in the process.  Nothing seemed to fit.  There's a difference between short/long staves, and I'm not sure if the line's at two or three feet long. (63 cm - 92 cm)

 

Then, last year, I finally acquired a copy of Alan Cook's Truncheons, An Unequal Match, and hoped to solve the mystery.  No luck, however, and I asked him about it, whereupon he recommended John Green's book Scottish Insignia as Used by Old Police Forces.  Luckily, one was available and I figured "Well, one more book won't hurt".

 

Bingo.  The truncheon/staff in question had been part of John's collection, and it was illustrated in the colour plates in his book.  It belongs to Kinross-shire, and the House mentioned in the description is meant to represent Lochleven Castle.

 

So thanks to Alan, Meryvn, (posthumously, as your own book has been an invaluable source of learning), and everyone on here who had ideas on what this piece of wood was.

 

 

 

[coldstream]

Congratulations on a positive identification, however long it took, personally I really enjoy that positive discovery or confirmed identification however long it takes.

Regards Simon.

[Nightbreak]

I'm grateful for the experts who took the time to compose their knowledge and make it available, as well as those of you who pointed me towards it.  The collection of Scottish tipstaves is now at 9, and other pieces aren't formally identified yet.  I'll upload some pictures soon.

Out of idle curiosity, does anyone know the best way to arrange a visit of the museum at the Scottish Police College in Tulliallan?   I was told they have an excellent collection of their own.

[CollectorInTheUSA]

Wow, nine Scottish tipstaves is a very large collection indeed.  As you likely already know they are all very very rare, so few to begin with, and even fewer survive, and so well done!  Can you please upload photos?  I'm sure we all would dearly love to see!

[Nightbreak]

Seven of them are here.  About half of them have been confirmed by either museums or previous collectors as authentic, but they're sometimes difficult to pin down, due to the variety made in various parts of the country and just my inability to find the right people to identify some of them.  The most Mervyn Mitton said about them was "They come in a variety of shapes and sizes." and went on from there.

The High Constables had a pattern (Perthshire, Edinburgh, etc) , but the others were often hand-made and painted.  Others were suggested to be magistrates' staves, as opposed to constables.

Not pictured is my Edinburgh High Constable's tipstaff, possibly one from Mervyn's collection, and a yet-to-arrive tipstaff from John Green's collection.

 

Left to Right:

George III - Kinross-shire Constabulary

William IV - Aberdeen

George III - Calton, (Glasgow or Calton Hill, Edinburgh?)

1911 Investiture of the Prince of Wales "Green Staff Officer's Baton"

George III - Edinburgh Midlothian Magistrate's staff (according to Paul Wharton)

Victoria - Kirkcaldy (This one bothers me the most, as the crest is upside down, and I remember another thread on here about how truncheons are displayed for all the details to be seen upright. The constabulary of the burgh had the numbers necessary for 26 in Victoria's reign, but it's got a larger circumference than most.  This was one Mervyn noted in his book that would have 'usually only a crown, the cipher 'VR' and and sometimes the identification of the relevant town.'  Possibly a magistrate's instead.)

George III - Brechin (matches John Green's illustration of Victorian Brechin staves)

Victoria - Perthshire

)

 

I know there are still some from Edinburgh, Midlothian, and probably Leith and other burghs out there.

[CollectorInTheUSA]

Great pieces all, and look to be in beautiful condition. These do all look right to me, if you had any concerns, I don't think you should.  I know you also called these "tipstaves" but I would personally call them just "staves" which is how the old timers would call them (singular would be "staff" or "stave").  The one on the extreme right I recognize as the Perthshire "High Constable" stave, and is a great looking one with detailed coats of arms.  And nice to see a Georgian City of Brechin one as I had only seen a Victorian one before.  

The Investiture staff was actually carried by "Stewards" of the ceremony at Caernarfon.  Here is an old Pathe Newsreel of the ceremony, and if you look carefully, you can actually see the Stewards carrying these staves.  There were no more than a couple of dozen made for the ceremony so they are also, very rare.  The newsreel can be seen here: