Abernethy Highland Games

The chieftain of the Games is traditionally presented with a shepherd’s crook created by a local craftsman, the latest of whom is David Asher from Grantown-on-Spey. The staves are usually hazel or blackthorn wood, while the handles are carved from the horn of a Blackface ram. The carving involves first the softening of the horn with boiling and then much filing and cutting until the required pattern, usually a thistle, has been achieved.

The handle is attached to the stave with a virl or ferrule made from a ewe’s horn.