Joining to ask if anyone would have additional information or know of any antique sellers who would have this style of Scottish 'short' staves. They're between 24 and 36 inches in length, have the royal cypher on the top and either the town crest or name on the base, often with a number for either the officer or district. I'm afraid I've pretty much run through the dealers online. (There's one left at the Lanes Armory, but its damage is still putting me off making an offer).
These were carried by the High Constables, magistrates, and other enforcers of the law in various Scottish burghs. Before uniforms and badges in the mid-1800s, these were used as the authority from the King or Queen to perform the duties of the police, hence the royal cypher. Often they're ceremonial as opposed to practical, but they're still a subset of the decorated truncheons used throughout the UK.
There's also a subset that I've only seen mentioned once, and that's the 'manorial stave', which allegedly seem to be the decorated cudgels carried by footmen and other manor staff. Some appeared at Keys auction last year and I was unsuccessful in bidding for them, but they've touched off a search that has left me frustrated at the lack of information about the topic. It's possible the auction house merely coined the term for the sale and I'm looking for something else altogether.
The staves pictured here are my own collection so far:
George III - Kinross-shire Constabulary
William IV - Aberdeen
George III - Calton, Glasgow
1911 Investiture of the Prince of Wales "Green Staff Officer's Baton"
George III - Edinburgh Midlothian Magistrate's staff
Victoria - Kirkcaldy
George III - Brechin
Victoria - Perthshire.
For truncheon collectors, there's Mervyn Mitton's book "A Policeman's Lot", from the 80s, and more recently Alan Cook's "Truncheons: An Unequal Match", but neither go into much detail about the Scottish ones. I'm Canadian, and I should probably try to win the lottery or something so I can go spend a few weeks in Scotland myself, rummaging around!