Custom Virge???

Hi Everyone
I was commissioned to do 8 of these. They are made from Peruvian walnut( laminated 5 Ply for strength ) and scrolled, then attached to a 37” tapered Mahogany shaft with a brass tip. I used my bandsaw jig to taper the shafts then turned the round knob and attached together with a dowel pin and 2 part epoxy. Finished with 5 coats of wipe-on poly.

A virge, from the Latin virga, is a type of rod, made of wood.

Originally it was one or more branches (the French often use verges, the plural of its equivalent, as the normal word for a rod, the rarer singular verge rather indicates a switch) used as an instrument for corporal punishment, or as a riding crop.

It is presently best known as the ceremonial staff of the Anglican and Episcopalian lay church officers known as verger (or originally virger : the title derives from virge), who originally used it as a ‘weapon’ to make way for the ecclesiastical procession (compare the catholic garde suisse), and occasionally to chastise unruly choristers.

-- Mike --www.midlothianwoodworks.com