Highland Games!!!!!
Back after a brief hiatus. Been very busy at work, sleep deprived, tempers flaring all over and disgruntled in a very obvious way. The only highlight of the past two weeks was my birthday (23rd). The birthday by itself wasnt all that fun, but I got to see the much spoken about Highland games in Inverness.
The history of highland games dates back to centuries and the tradition still carries on, with added modernisation. A huge congregation of people from all over the highlands, England and Asia were there. The traditional scottish games were a total display of brawn all over the place. The three events fun to watch were the shotput, Throwing the heavy stone and Caber. The shotput was not like the shotput we have seen, but was a hybrid of short put and hammer throw, except that the hammer chain was absent instead it was a wooden stick with a short put at its end.
Throwning the heavy stone was to throw the heavy weight around 15-20kgs or probably even more over a high jump kind of pole. They had to stand below this and hurl it over the bar. Yea, they had to watch out for the falling stone and see that it didnt fall over their heads. The winner threw it over 17 feel.
The best was the Caber. The caber is a 16 feel long pole weighing almost 15kgs. The idea of throwing the caber is to topple it over. For this to happen, the caber has to land in such a way that it is 90 degrees, so that there is a chance for it to fall over. The weight and the height of the caber makes it almost impossible to topple the caber over. I recon this needs brute strenght.
The Irish three time shotput gold medallist was there, surprisingly he didnt win any of the events.
Apart from these events I did finally see the ceilidth dancing. It was just too brilliant, I probably will join for ceilidth dancing soon. The Bagpipers bands were there in all their grandoise. The sound of the bagpipes I think are rich, unique which I say have come about to enjoy. Infact, I know the tunes of quite a few songs, which suprises me. I havent really heard many celtic/gaelic songs.
I tried to find out about the history of the highland games. The games in the medival ages were between different clans. This I understand was quite brutal. During First Jacobite Rising, the scotts clan chiefs made special use of runners who had distinguished themselves in informal but noteworthy games and tournament. Bodyguards of clan chiefs were men who proved their strength in wrestling contests. Some aspects are less certain. The tossing of the caber history says that it may have had its origins in the throwing of a two-handed, heavy war-spear. Now it is part of the ritual. The caber itself was originally the roof tree or part of the roof tree of a house.
This rich tradition is still carried on in the present time though a highly organised event. I regret that I forgot to take my camera, hopefully get to see the games once more entirely for the photos.
Song: bad motor scooter ( beats me, first time I have heard it )
The history of highland games dates back to centuries and the tradition still carries on, with added modernisation. A huge congregation of people from all over the highlands, England and Asia were there. The traditional scottish games were a total display of brawn all over the place. The three events fun to watch were the shotput, Throwing the heavy stone and Caber. The shotput was not like the shotput we have seen, but was a hybrid of short put and hammer throw, except that the hammer chain was absent instead it was a wooden stick with a short put at its end.
Throwning the heavy stone was to throw the heavy weight around 15-20kgs or probably even more over a high jump kind of pole. They had to stand below this and hurl it over the bar. Yea, they had to watch out for the falling stone and see that it didnt fall over their heads. The winner threw it over 17 feel.
The best was the Caber. The caber is a 16 feel long pole weighing almost 15kgs. The idea of throwing the caber is to topple it over. For this to happen, the caber has to land in such a way that it is 90 degrees, so that there is a chance for it to fall over. The weight and the height of the caber makes it almost impossible to topple the caber over. I recon this needs brute strenght.
The Irish three time shotput gold medallist was there, surprisingly he didnt win any of the events.
Apart from these events I did finally see the ceilidth dancing. It was just too brilliant, I probably will join for ceilidth dancing soon. The Bagpipers bands were there in all their grandoise. The sound of the bagpipes I think are rich, unique which I say have come about to enjoy. Infact, I know the tunes of quite a few songs, which suprises me. I havent really heard many celtic/gaelic songs.
I tried to find out about the history of the highland games. The games in the medival ages were between different clans. This I understand was quite brutal. During First Jacobite Rising, the scotts clan chiefs made special use of runners who had distinguished themselves in informal but noteworthy games and tournament. Bodyguards of clan chiefs were men who proved their strength in wrestling contests. Some aspects are less certain. The tossing of the caber history says that it may have had its origins in the throwing of a two-handed, heavy war-spear. Now it is part of the ritual. The caber itself was originally the roof tree or part of the roof tree of a house.
This rich tradition is still carried on in the present time though a highly organised event. I regret that I forgot to take my camera, hopefully get to see the games once more entirely for the photos.
Song: bad motor scooter ( beats me, first time I have heard it )
posted by Rider on the Storm at 5:02 AM
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