Shinty () is a
team sport
A team sport is a type of sport where the fundamental nature of the game or sport requires the participation of multiple individuals working together as a team, and it is inherently impossible or highly impractical to execute the sport as a s ...
played with sticks and a ball. It is played mainly in the
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...
and among Highland migrants to the major cities of Scotland. The sport was formerly more widespread in Scotland
and even played in
Northern England into the second half of the 20th century
and other areas in the world where Scottish Highlanders migrated.
While comparisons are made with
hockey, the two games have several important differences. In shinty a player is allowed to play the ball in the air and use both sides of the stick. The latter is called a , which is wooden and slanted on both sides. The stick may also be used to block and to tackle, although a player may not come down on an opponent's stick, a practice called hacking. Players may also tackle using the body as long as it is shoulder to shoulder.
The game was derived from the same root as the
Irish game of
hurling
Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...
/
camogie and the
Welsh game of
bando, but has developed unique rules and features. These rules are governed by the
Camanachd Association
The Camanachd Association (in Scottish Gaelic, ''Comann na Camanachd'') is the world Sport governing body, governing body of the Scotland, Scottish sport of shinty. The body is based in Inverness, Highland (council area), Highland, and is in ...
. A
composite rules shinty–hurling game has been developed in which Scotland and Ireland play annual international matches.
Another sport with common ancestry is
bandy
Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.
The playin ...
, which is played on ice. In
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
the name for bandy is "ice shinty" () and ''bandy'' and ''shinty'' (and ''shinney'') could be used interchangeably in the English language.
Origins
Hurling
Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...
, an Irish pastime for at least 2,000 years similar to shinty, is derived from the historic game common to both peoples. Shinty/hurling appears prominently in the legend of
Cúchulainn, the
Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed ...
hero.
[Hugh Dan MacLenna]
SHINTY'S PLACE AND SPACE IN WORLD
The Sports Historian, No. 18, 1 (May 1998), pp. 1-23. A similar game is played on the
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
known as
cammag, a name cognate with camanachd. The old form of hurling played in the northern half of Ireland, called "commons", resembled shinty more closely than the standardised form of hurling of today. Like shinty, it was commonly known as and was traditionally played in winter. It is still played regularly on
Saint Stephen's Day in
St John's.
The origins of the name ''shinty'' are uncertain. There is a theory that the name was derived from the cries used in the game; "shin ye", "shin you" and "shin t'ye", other dialect names were ''shinnins'', ''shinnack'', ''shinnup''. ''chinnup'', Alernatively, as
Hugh Dan MacLennan proposes, from the
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
.
However, there was never one all-encompassing name for the game, as it held different names from glen to glen, including ('play-ball' in
English) and in the
Scottish Lowlands
The Lowlands ( or , ; , ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland.
The region is characterised by its relatively flat or gently rolling terrain as opposed to the mountainous landscapes of the Scottish Highlands. This area includes ci ...
, where it was formerly referred to as ''
hailes'', ''common''/''cammon'' (''caman''), ''cammock'' (from Scottish Gaelic ), ''
knotty'', carrick and various other names, as well as the terms still used to refer to it in modern Gaelic, or . Shinty was once a popular game in lowland Scotland, as shown by its name ''shintie'', a term which took that form around 1700, displacing the earlier ''shinnie'' – of which there is a written record about 100 years earlier. ''Shinnie'' may also derive from ''shin'' in English, with the affix ''-ie'', a common termination to the name of many games in Scotland.
Game
Playing area
The objective of the game is to play a small ball into a goal, or "hail", erected at the ends of a by pitch.
The game is traditionally played on grass, although as of 2009 the sport may be played on artificial turf. The pitch also has marks indicating a area around the goals, the penalty and centre spots (along with their associated arcs/circles of radius), and corner arcs at the corners of the rectangular pitch of radius.
The goals, at opposite ends of the field, measure wide and high and a net is affixed to catch the ball when a goal is scored.
Ball
The ball is a hard solid sphere of around half the diameter of a tennis ball, consisting of a
cork core covered by two pieces of
leather
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...
stitched together. The seam is raised. It is very similar to a hurling
sliotar in that it resembles an American
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
with more pronounced stitching. The permitted circumference is between and weight between .
The ball is usually white, but there is no statutory colour, black being a common colour for Kyles Athletic, and fluorescent balls now being available.
Plastic balls or soft balls are often used in youth competitions such as the variant "First Shinty".
Stick

The ball is played using a ''caman'', which is a stick about long with two slanted faces. The stick has a wedge shaped head, roughly triangular in cross section, which must be able to pass through a ring in diameter.
Unlike the Irish ''camán'', it has no blade. The ''caman'' is traditionally made of wood, traditionally
ash but now more commonly
hickory
Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''.
Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...
, and must not have any plate or metal attached to it. The ''caman'' would be made from any piece of wood with a hook in it, hence ''caman'', from the Scottish and Irish Gaelic word ''cam'', meaning bent or crooked. It can also be called a stick or club. The slant of the face will vary according to the position that the stick is used for. It can be made according to the player's height.
Plastic camans are common in the youth variant "First Shinty".
Rules of play
A player can play the ball in the air and is allowed to use both sides of the stick. The stick may also be used to block and to tackle, although a player may not bring their stick down on an opponent's stick, which is defined as hacking. A player may tackle an opponent using the body as long as it is shoulder-to-shoulder as in
association football (soccer).
A player may only stop the ball with the stick, the chest, two feet together or one foot on the ground. Only the goalkeeper may use his hands, but only with an open palm since he is not allowed to catch it. Playing the ball with the head constitutes a foul whether intentional or not, as it is considered dangerous play. Other examples of dangerous play, which will be penalised, are a player, while grounded, playing the ball, or a player recklessly swinging the caman in the air in a way which might endanger another player.

Fouls are penalised by a free-hit, which is indirect unless the foul is committed in the penalty area, commonly referred to as "The D". This results in a penalty hit from .
[Rules of Play and Playing Season](_blank)
, Camanachd Association - Rules and Byelaws, February 2010
A ball played by a team over the opposing bye line results in a goal hit from the edge of the D, while a ball played by a team over their own line results in a corner. A ball hit over the sideline results in a shy: a shinty shy involves the taker tossing the ball above his head and hitting the ball with the shaft of the caman, and the ball must be directly overhead when struck.
Scoring
The winner of a game is the team that scores the most goals. A team scores a goal "when the whole of the ball has passed over the goal-line and under the cross-bar". A goal can only be scored with the caman; there is no goal when the ball "has been kicked, carried or propelled by hand or arm by a player of the attacking side." A goal cannot be scored directly from a free-hit.
Team size
Teams consist of 12 players (men) or 10 players (women), including a goalkeeper. A match is played over two halves of 45 minutes. With the exception of the goalkeeper, no player is allowed to play the ball with his hands. There are also variants with smaller sides, with some adjustments in the field size and duration of play.
Substitutions
As with sports such as
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
, shinty originally did not have substitutes. These were introduced in the 1960s, progressively expanding to allow a maximum of three substitutions per game. As of 2011, a rule change allowed for rolling substitutions to be made at the senior level.
Organisation
In common with many sports, it became formalised in the
Victorian Era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
and the first organised clubs were established in cities such as Glasgow and London where there were thousands of Gaels resident.
In 1887, a historic game was played between
Glenurquhart Shinty Club and
Strathglass Shinty Club in
Inverness. This game was attended by thousands of people and was a major milestone in developing a set of common rules. This fixture was to be repeated on 12 January 2007 in Inverness as the opening centrepiece of the
Highland 2007 celebrations in Scotland, but was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
The modern sport is governed by the
Camanachd Association
The Camanachd Association (in Scottish Gaelic, ''Comann na Camanachd'') is the world Sport governing body, governing body of the Scotland, Scottish sport of shinty. The body is based in Inverness, Highland (council area), Highland, and is in ...
(). The association came into being in the late
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
as a means of formulating common rules to unite the various different codes and rules which differed between neighbouring glens. Its first meeting was held in
Kingussie in 1893.
The Camanachd Association maintained its initial structure for much of its first century. The 'Future of Shinty' Report published in 1981 led to a complete restructuring of the way in which shinty was organised and managed. That led to the move away from a dependence on volunteers to govern the sport, to the Association's first salaried employees.
Competitions
There are shinty clubs in
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
,
Aberdour (
Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
),
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
,
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
,
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and even
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
University Shinty is a popular section of the sport, with almost all Scotland's main universities possessing a team. Historically,
Glasgow University,
Aberdeen University and
Edinburgh University have vied for supremacy, but in recent years,
Strathclyde University,
Robert Gordon University
Robert Gordon University, commonly called RGU (), is a public university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It became a university in 1992, and originated from an educational institution founded in the 18th century by Robert Gordon (philanthrop ...
,
Dundee University, and the
University of St. Andrews have risen to prominence. Clubs compete in various competitions, both cup and league, on a national and also North/South basis. While the top
Premier Division has been played on a Scotland-wide basis since 1996, the lower leagues are based on geography. Many clubs run second teams that also compete in these leagues against clubs with only one senior side.
File:Camanachd Tactics North.PNG, North tactics
File:Camanachd Tactics South.PNG, South tactics
Season
Shinty was traditionally played through the
winter
Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...
, based around the tradition of the "Iomain Challainn", where
New Year was marked by a game between neighbouring parishes. The
summer
Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...
was left free for seasonal work and friendly tournaments. The Winter season always ran over, however, and many teams would find themselves finishing the previous season only weeks before the next one would start.
In 2003, shinty clubs voted for a trial period of two years of a summer season from March to October, with a view to moving permanently to summer shinty if the experiment was judged to be a success. Despite opposition from the "Big Two",
Kingussie and
Newtonmore, and other small groups in the game, an
EGM in November 2005 voted by an overwhelming majority (well over the required two thirds) to make summer shinty the basis upon which the game would proceed.
There have been teething problems since the move to summer shinty, with a couple of teams being culpable for the season running over into November and December. Season 2010 saw the league season finished by the first weekend in October, almost on schedule.
Shinty does still get played during the winter, in
University Shinty which has teams compete for the second most valuable trophy in Scottish sport – the Littlejohn Vase – and in New Year fixtures, the most prestigious of which is the
Lovat Cup, played between Beauly and Lovat.
Leagues
''For more information, see
Shinty league system''
League shinty was originally organised on a regional basis, with distinct competitions for the North District and at one time, two separate leagues for Argyll (the Dunn League) and the Southern League, for clubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh and the surrounding areas. Over time, there have been moves to amalgamate leagues and, since the 1980s, a push for national competition at the highest levels. In the modern era of league shinty,
Kingussie have been unsurpassed in their domination of the sport; according to the
Guinness Book of Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
2005, Kingussie is world sport's most successful sporting team of all time,
winning 20 consecutive league championships and going four years without losing a single fixture in the early 1990s.
Kingussie's unmatched run of dominance was ended on 2 September 2006 by rivals
Newtonmore, who defeated
Oban Camanachd 2–0 to ensure that Kingussie could not catch the team at the top of the
Premier Division. However, Newtonmore were unable to replace their neighbours as champions, as the first post-Kingussie champions were confirmed as
Fort William, who sealed the title on 30 September 2006, having won their games in hand over Newtonmore. Kingussie regained the title in 2007. Since 2010, Newtonmore have been the dominant league force.
Cup
Cup shinty has always been seen as being more important than league shinty, and the premier national competition remains the Scottish Cup or the Camanachd Association Challenge Cup, the
Camanachd Cup for short. Until 1983 the competition was designed to ensure the final was between the North and South.
The
Macaulay Cup still preserves a guaranteed North/South Final. There are national equivalents for the Camanachd Cup for intermediate and junior teams. There are regional cups for both senior and junior teams; the
MacTavish Cup is the senior cup for the North and the
Glasgow Celtic Society Cup is the one for the South.
Shinty and hurling internationals
In recognition of shinty's shared roots with hurling, an annual international between the two codes from
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
and Ireland is played on a home and away basis using
composite rules. In recent years, the Irish have had the upper hand, but the Scots won the fixture narrowly in 2005 and again in 2006, this time at
Croke Park,
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, albeit with the Irish fielding weaker players from the second tier
Christy Ring Cup. Scotland made it four in a row when they won in 2008.
Outside Scotland
Canadian Gaelic-speaking pioneers in
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
adapted shinty, which was traditionally a
winter sport, to the much colder Canadian climate by wearing
ice skates while playing on frozen lakes. This led to the creation of the modern
winter sport known as
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
.
The game of
shinny in Canada is a synonym for
street hockey,
pond hockey or any informal game of hockey. It derives its name from shinty, although a myth there perpetuates that it came from children tying
Eaton's catalogues around their legs to protect their shins from flying pucks or slashing.
The
English Shinty Association (ESA) is the main body for promoting and encouraging the sport of shinty in England.
London Camanachd is a shinty club first established in the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
, competing in English and Scottish competitions such as the English League, the Bullough Cup and most recently in the
Camanachd Cup in 1994. They went into abeyance in 1995, but were reconstituted in 2005. They played the first officially recognised shinty match outside Scotland in 80 years on 22 July 2006 against
the Highlanders. They compete annually in the English Shinty Championships against Cornwall, Oxford, Devon and Bristol as well as playing shinty–hurling matches and organising sporadic friendlies against visiting teams.
On 28 December 2010 Ireland held its first dedicated shinty match in Westmeath, with players who have played the
Compromise rules Shinty/Hurling.
A
Cornwall Shinty Club was established in 2012, playing their first game on 21 April 2012 against London; the match finished a draw. They also entered the St Andrew's Sixes tournament in 2012. Following this, in December 2012, two more Cornish clubs were created; the first being the Combined Universities of Cornwall and the second being Mabe. These two teams put forward their best players to play for the Cornwall Shinty Club.
There was a team in
Northallerton in the 1970s, which competed in six-a-sides; and on 1 August 2012 a re-vamped Northallerton Shinty Club was formed. The club is hoping to draw in a few former players, but wants to focus on raising awareness of the game in Yorkshire and bringing new local players into the game.
Shinty was played widely in England in the 19th century and early 20th century, with teams such as London Scots, Bolton Caledonian and Cottonopolis;
Nottingham Forest F.C. was established by shinty players.
Since 2012 London has hosted the annual "London Shinty Festival", which has been attended by Cornwall, London,
Oxford Shinty Club, St Andrews university ladies team, and the Scots. It is an open tournament held in late September after the Shinty season is finished to allow any travelling teams the opportunity to attend.
Since 2013, a combined English Shinty Association side has entered the Bullough cup, being beaten in 2013 by Tayforth and then in 2014 by Ballachulish.
Shinty is played in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
, with
The Scots Shinty Club keeping alive the tradition of the game being played in the Forces.
Shinty is also being revived among the
Scottish diaspora in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
, where it was originally played in the 18th and 19th century by Scottish immigrants, but died out. More recent teams such as
Northern California Camanachd Club (NCCC), Central California Cammanchd (CCC), and Oregon Shinty-Camanachd (OSC) play at
Highland games and other venues across the USA.
Media coverage
Local papers, such as the ''
West Highland Free Press'', ''
The Buteman'', the ''
Oban Times'' and the ''
Dunoon Observer and Argyllshire Standard'', have in-depth shinty reports. The Inverness-based media reduce shinty coverage to one summary of the whole weekend's action, as do national newspapers, such as the ''
Sunday Herald'' and the ''
Sunday Post''. The only significant national press coverage is of the
Camanachd Cup final. Regional newspaper ''
The Press and Journal'' runs shinty coverage twice a week (Mondays and Fridays).
The first-ever shinty match broadcast live on television was the 1964 Celtic Society Cup Final. Although Camanachd Cup finals and internationals have been shown over the years, 2006 marked the first-ever regular TV deal for shinty with matches being shown on the BBC Sports show ''Spòrs''. This was then followed by the STV show ''An Caman''.
2009 saw the Camanachd Association sign a deal with
BBC Alba to broadcast all national finals as well as the Marine Harvest Festival. The MacAulay Cup and Camanachd Cup final were also shown on
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
. There is also an increasing amount of shinty on the internet, with various clips garnering attention on video sites such as
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. 2011 was a sparse year for TV coverage outside of the usual games, but 2012 saw several games filmed live on BBC Alba.
The sport is featured on
BBC Radio nan Gaidheal by the programme, Spòrs na Seachdain, although English-language radio interest is usually restricted to the big events in the year. Commentary on the Camanachd Cup Final is provided in both English and Gaelic.
In popular culture
Literature
* In his 1783 poem ''Moladh Gheàrrloch'' ('In Praise of Gairloch'),
Gaelic bard William Ross (1761–1791) describes a game of shinty, which was still a
winter sport played in the
Gàidhealtachd upon
St. Andrew's Day,
Christmas Day
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...
,
New Year's Day
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...
,
Handsel Monday, and
Candlemas. The bard's account of the annual
New Year's Day
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...
match at
ebb tide upon the Big Sand () of
Gairloch
Gairloch ( ; , meaning "Short Loch") is a village, civil parish and community on the shores of Loch Gairloch in Wester Ross, in the North-West Highlands of Scotland. A tourist destination in the summer months, Gairloch has a golf course, a ...
, is, according to Ronald Black, "as succinct a description as we have of the great festive shinty matches of the past."
* The author
Margaret Hope MacPherson wrote a children's book called ''The Shinty Boys'', which was published in 1963.
Music
* The shinty song "
Clash of the Ash", by the
Celtic rock band
Runrig, immediately became widely popular and is now considered an anthem for the sport.
Television
* In September 2009 comedian
Billy Connolly suggested that shinty should become Scotland's new
national sport
A national sport is a physical activity or sport that is culturally significant or deeply embedded in a nation, serving as a national symbol and an intrinsic element to a nation's identity and culture.
Several sovereign states and constituent ...
, because the
Scotland men's national football team had become so bad.
* The accordionist
Gary Innes wrote "The Caman Man" on his latest album ERA and has played shinty for Scotland fourteen times, captaining the side in 2010/11.
* The TV series ''
Hamish MacBeth'' featured a shinty match as an integral part of the plot of the episode "More Than a Game", with real shinty players Dallas Young of Kingussie and Neil "Ach" MacRae of
Kinlochshiel Shinty Club, playing pivotal role
* A shinty game is shown in episode 4, "
The Gathering (Outlander), The Gathering", of the
Starz TV show ''
Outlander''.
See also
*
Women's shinty
*
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...
, of ancient Native American origin, where the stick is used to catch, throw, and carry the ball
*
Field hockey
Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
*
Bando (sport)
*
Hurling
Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...
*
Camogie
References
External links
The Camanachd Association
{{Authority control
Sport in Highland (council area)
Sports originating in Scotland
Team sports
Sport in Argyll and Bute