A little bit of Argyll social history.

[Steve Ashton]

Shinty is a game peculiar to the Scottish Highlands. At first glance similar to field hockey but with several distinctive differences in the rules.
A forerunner of ice hockey. In Canada an impromptu Hockey game is called shinny.

Basically you need a field, a ball, some sticks, and a bunch of guys who like to hit each other with the sticks while running around the field trying to find the ball.