How it all started.

It is reported in numerous books and Highland games programs, that King Malcolm Canmore of Scotland, in the 11th century, summoned contestants to a foot race. Some have seen in this event the origin of today's modern Highland games. Following the repeal of the Act of Proscription, various Highland Societies, beginning in the 1780s, began to organize around attempts to retain or revive Highland traditions. It was these early efforts that eventually led to the Highland Games as we know them today. This modern revival of the Highland games received an enormous boost with the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822, although events were held in the years just prior to that. In 1819, for example, the St. Fillans Society organized a full scale Highland games with piping, dancing, and athletics and the Northern Meeting Society's Highland Games was first held in 1822. In the 1840s, in Braemar, Games began as a fund raising effort by local artisans to support a "Friendly Society" and their charitable activities. Soon thereafter, Queen Victoria who, together with her consort Prince Albert, had made Balmoral Castle their special retreat, began to patronize the Games. The Queen first attended the Braemar Games in 1848 and the following year, they were moved to the grounds of the Castle itself. Together with the earlier 1822 event, Queen Victoria's patronage of the Games constituted one of the most significant factors in the popularization of the Games and what some have called the Highlandification of Scotland.

Highland Olympics

In the latter part of the 19th century, the Highland games played a role in the development of the Olympic movement. As part of his efforts to organize the first games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin visited a number of athletic competitions in order to determine which sports should be included in the forthcoming Olympic Games, to standardize rules, and to examine the technical aspects of running such a competition. Among the events he visited for this purpose were a Highland Games event organized in conjunction with the Paris Exhibition of 1889. That event, in addition to what we today would call track and field events, also contained wrestling, tug-of-war, cycling, as well as competition in piping and dancing.

Events

In their original form many centuries ago, Highland games gatherings centered around athletic and sports competitions. Though other activities were always a part of the festivities, many today still consider that Highland athletics are what the games are all about - in short, that the athletics are the Games, and all the other activities are just entertainment. Regardless, it remains true today that the athletic competitions are at least an integral part of the events and one - the caber toss - has come to almost symbolize the Highland games. Although quite a range of events can be a part of the Highland athletics competition, a few have become standard: Caber toss, Stone put, Scottish hammer throw, Weight throw, Weight over the bar, Sheaf toss. Track and field events include a tug-of-war, kilted mile run and other foot races, shinty (a game somewhat like field hockey and dating back to the 18th century or earlier), and the stone carry.

Music

For many Highland games festival attendees, the most memorable of all the events at the games is the massing of the pipe bands. Normally held in conjunction with the opening and closing ceremonies of the games, as many as 20 or more pipe bands will march and play together. The result is a thunderous rendition of traditional favorites Scotland the Brave or Amazing Graze, and other crowd-pleasing favorites. It is, in fact, the music of the bagpipe which has come to symbolize music at the Games and, indeed, in Scotland itself. In addition to the massed bands, nearly all Highland games gatherings feature a wide range of piping and drumming competition, including solo piping and drumming, small group ensembles and, of course, the pipe bands themselves. But the pipes and drums are not the only music which can be heard at Highland games. Music at Highland games gatherings takes on a variety of forms. Many such events offer fiddling, harp circles, Celtic bands and other forms of musical entertainment, the latter usually spiced with a healthy amount of bagpipe music.

Dance

There are two basic forms of dancing at modern Highland Games gatherings. Scottish country dancing is a social dance like ballroom dancing or square dancing, the latter of which is related to Scottish country dancing. The other type of dancing which one can see at Highland Games events is the highly competitive and technical form known as Highland dancing. This again takes two forms. First there are the traditional Highland dances - the Sword Dance (or Gillie Calum), the Highland Fling, the Highland Reel, and the Seann Triubhas (pronounced shawn trews). The other class of competition dances are known as character and national dances, the most well known of which are the Scottish Lilt, the Flora MacDonald, the Earl of Errol, Highland Laddie, Blue Bonnets and Village Maid. Also common at the games are the Irish Jig, Irish step dancing, and the Sailor's Hornpipe dances. Highland dancing, in all its competitive forms, is a very technical dance form, requiring many hours of practice and training over a period of several years in order to perfect. In this respect, it has more in common with ballet than with the social dancing of the Scottish Country Dance. In addition, the Highland dances are typically performed solo, unlike country dancing. Even the Reel, which is performed with other dancers, is judged on an individual basis. Historically, the Highland dances were danced only by men. This came about as the result of the nature and origin of the dances themselves as well as the fact that during the years of Proscription, only military regiments were permitted to adopt Highland attire and practice the traditions such as dancing. But late in the 19th Century, a young woman named Jenny Douglas decided to enter a Highland dance competition. As this was not expressly forbidden, she was allowed to enter and since then, the number of females participating in the sport has increased until today in excess of 95% of all dancers are female.

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 928