The Cowal Highland Gathering (also known as the Cowal Games) is an annual Highland games held in the Scottish town of

Dunoon Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well a ...

, on the

Cowal Cowal ( gd, Còmhghall) is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute, in the west of Scotland, that extends into the Firth of Clyde. The northern part of the peninsula is covered by the Argyll Forest Park managed by Forestry and Land Scotland. The Arroch ...

peninsula in

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

, over the final weekend in August.

History

The first record of an organised Highland games in the town is in 1871, the same year as the

Argyllshire Gathering The Argyllshire Gathering is a Highland games held in Oban, Scotland. History A meeting on 23 August 1871 held at the Argyll Arms Hotel led to a resolution to have an "Annual Gathering of the Gentry of the County of Argyll for social purposes". ...

in Oban started. In subsequent years games were held at New Year. The organisation of the Cowal events and other games around Scotland was due to a wide interest in Highland sports, partly stemming from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

's love of Scotland. The event that would evolve into the Cowal Gathering was first held on 11 August 1894, and organised by local man Robert Cameron. 1906 saw the introduction of a pipe band competition for Army bands, at the suggestion of Malcolm McCulloch. 25 bands entered in 1909, the first year that civilian bands were allowed to compete. The Argyll Shield, donated in 1906 by Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, is still awarded to the winning band in the Grade 1 competition. The easy access of Dunoon by

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

from Glasgow contributed to popularity of the Games. The Games also featured in early BBC television broadcasts. The global

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

saw the cancelling of the highland gathering for 2020 and 2021, events normally attracting in excess of 1500 competitors annually. This was due both to travel restrictions for international participants, as well as uncertainty health-wise. A ' virtual gathering' was to be held for 2021, following a similar 2020 action.

Events

Pipe band competition

As the last major competition in the season, Cowal was historically where the Champion of Champions title for the best overall performance in the major competitions of the season was decided and awarded. Until the World Pipe Band Championships started in Glasgow in 1947, Cowal was regarded as the premier pipe band competition. Following discussions between the Gathering Committee and the RSPBA, it was decided that after 2013 Cowal would lose its status as a major competition due to difficulties accommodating the number of bands. The pipe band competition continues to be held but with a reduced number of entrants. Cowal Games 2014

Solo bagpipe competition

The Games hosts open graded pibroch, march, and strathspey and reel competitions, as well as juvenile and local restricted competitions.

Highland dancing competition

2008-08 - Plum Island and Cowal Games 433

At the Games are held the Scottish National Highland Dancing Championships which is only open to Scottish residents, the Scottish (open) Highland Dancing Championships and the qualifiers and finals of the World Championships.

Sports

The Games features a variety of traditional Highland games events, including the shot put, caber toss, weight throw and

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that na ...

, as part of an international competition. The shot put is done with both a standard shot and with the naturally formed Cowal Stone. There is a 5-kilometre fun run and a

hill race Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...

from the stadium to the top of Tom Odhar and back again, and since 2007 there has been a Scottish Backhold wrestling competition.

References

External links

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British Pathe Newsreel Archives
Highland games Sport in Argyll and Bute Piping events Recurring events established in 1894 Cowal Tourist attractions in Dunoon Highland games in Scotland Multi-sport events in the United Kingdom Festivals established in 1894 Sports festivals in Scotland {{Authority control