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 ""My father used to say that sometimes great things come in small packages. I know that's true when I look back at some of my favorite girlfriends! But the same came to me when I was lucky enough to come across this amazing piece of Fiddleback maple wood!
It was about the size of a Fatcat's cigar, and in the light had this most remarkable natural incandescent intensity! I couldn't keep my eyes off it. Somehow I suddenly remembered the story of the "Fiddler's Dream", a fishing boat off the coast of Nova Scotia, which got its name because of the type of knives they would carry… made with this Fiddleback wood. For the fishermen, their knives were their biggest lifelines for a million different chores, and lifesaving events in a day of fishing off the shore of some of the stormiest seas. Not to mention breaking open the fresh shellfish, and skinning their catch! Since the daylight up there always had a strange glow to it, they especially loved the Fiddleback maple wood, since it, when properly polished, had a natural glow to it… making it easy to find. It was said that a fisherman without his knife was like a solider without his honor.
As the story goes, the "Fiddler's Dream" fishing boat went out one stormy February and never returned. Not a trace. However, ever since, other boats swear that they could see the glow of the "Fiddler's Dream" crew's knives on the ocean just before sunrise, and when the sea was calm. And when they sailed out to the glow, the "markers" acted just like makers outlining the best fishing spots.
I loved that story, and I love this wood. It does indeed "glow", and show the way! Since many of the crew of "Fiddler's Dream" were Vaquero's who had made their home way, way North from their homeland to escape the authorities and a bad political scene, I made the black sheath in the style of the spur-coverings they are famous for.
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