Virge
A virge or verge is a type of rod, made of wood.
Originally it was one or more branches used as an instrument for corporal punishment, or as a riding crop. It later became a symbol of civil office, used in ceremonies of swearing fealty. Further deriving from this use is the sense of a measurement, and so boundary or border, of land, or generally a margin of space.
In modern times it is best known as the ceremonial staff of the Anglican and Episcopal lay church officers known as vergers, who originally used it as a 'weapon' to make way for the ecclesiastical procession, and occasionally to chastise unruly choristers.
