The ugly stick is a Newfoundland percussion instrument, often made of a mop handle stuck in a rubber boot and festooned with rows of bottle caps punctured by protruding nails.
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. This year, Dave Rowe, owner of a decades-old music store in St. John's, N.L., found himself in a peculiar yet pressing situation: he was out of ugly sticks, and the man who made them was retiring.