Page 37 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Scotland

a por tr ait of sc o tland  35

Highland Games and Activities
As well as music, the Highlands of Scot land are
famous for their Games. The first Games took
place many hundreds of years ago, and may
have served a military pur pose by allowing clan
chiefs to choose the strongest men from those
competing in contests of strength. Highland
Games are held annually at Braemar (see p42),
as well as at Oban and Dunoon, among others.
Another activity in the Highlands is the
Re-enacting Highland battles is re-enactment of past battles and rebellions.
popular with modern-day clansmen
to commemorate their forefathers’
fight for free dom. The above is a
re-enactment of red coat soldiers
charging the Highlanders at the
Battle of Culloden, where over
2,000 Highland warriors died.

The Highland Games (or Gatherings) as they are played today
date from the 1820s. The most common contests and events are
tossing the caber, weight shifting, piping, singing, dancing and
throwing the hammer. The result is a cacophany of sound and
activity, which can be overwhelming to a first-time spectator.

Throwing the hammer
involves revolving on the
spot to gather speed, while
swinging the hammer
(a weight on the end of a
long pole) around the head,
Tossing the caber is be fore launching it across
one of the most famous the field. The winner is the
Highland sports, and con testant whose hammer
requires strength and rea ches the furthest distance.
skill. The athlete must run
with the tree trunk and
toss it so that it flips over
180° and lands ver tically,
straight ahead.

Weight shifting is a severe test of
strength and stamina. Here, the man
stands with his back to a bar, over
Highland dancing is an important part of the Games, and the which he must throw the huge
dances often have symbolic meanings – for instance the circle weight. The bar is raised after each
in a reel represents the circle of life. In the sword dance, the successful attempt, until only one
feet skip nimbly over the swords without touching them. person is left in the competition.

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