However, before you say, “but that’s way of life” … think again. Instead of seeing ourselves waste away, losing stability to walk properly and losing strength of our bones to support us, we could really declare, “never say die!” and we could really sustain our strengths for walking stability through natural methods.

Historically, hill men would never leave their houses without a stick to carry. Because of rugged environment, stick acted both as aid and companion. When sheep were already being herded, stick became a necessary and ready tool for catching and controlling animals. This was when plain sticks came to be called as “Shepherd’s Crook”, a working tool and a walking aid for hill men.

To be sturdy and durable, shepherds themselves form their crooks from sheep’s horn. In order to produce sheep’s horn crook, they are exposed to heat from peat fire so that their shape would bend and then, carve them with knife. Most fine selections of these hand-made horn handled crooks and walking sticks can be found in Scotland. There are crook makers that specialize on handcrafting these sturdy, elegant and durable walking sticks.