A little bit of Argyll social history.

[StevieR]

Hello Rabble,

Have a look at my great great grandfathers obituary from 1930, recently discovered in some family papers. I suspect it is of more interest to me than you, but it does provide a tiny insight into highland life in the 19th century. Anyone for sixty aside shinty? Now, I would be very pleased if anyone could throw some light on the history of the Argyll Highland Rifles and if anyone can direct me to a good source for old highland ballads and tunes, both of which, as you might have guessed from the obit. have sparked an interest.

[Mael Coluim]

Thanks for posting the obit, StevieR. My clan is in the Argyll.. A quick Google search came up with these two interesting posts I share with you.

Can any one on the list tell me anything about this unit? [Argyll Highlanders Volunteers]
It was formed in 1861 with HQ at Oban (later moved to Dunoon),
grouping four companies that had been raised in 1860 (Inverary,
Campbelltown, Dunoon, and Cowal). By 1882 there were 8
companies in the county, including two at Campbelltown. In 1908
it became the 8th Battalion of the A&SH in the Territorial Force. It
survives today in the TA as D (A&SH) Company, 51st Highland
Regiment, at Dunoon.


A photo of a Major in the 1st Argyll Highland Rifle Volunteers in the book Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders by William McElwee on a preview on Google Books.

[mookien]

Steve: Interesting obit. Thanks for sharing it with us. It does give a snapshot glimpse into the 19th century. Two sons and five daughters! Good for your G.G. grandfather.

I have a kilt in the Mackellar tartan made by Burnett's and Struth. A couple of not-so-great pictures appear below, but in case you are curious you can get an idea of what the tartan looks like in a Lochcarron Weathered Strome kilt. I don't think they are weaving it at this time. If so, it is a shame, because it is beautiful cloth.

John
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[StevieR]

Steve: Interesting obit. Thanks for sharing it with us. It does give a snapshot glimpse into the 19th century. Two sons and five daughters! Good for your G.G. grandfather.

I have a kilt in the Mackellar tartan made by Burnett's and Struth. A couple of not-so-great pictures appear below, but in case you are curious you can get an idea of what the tartan looks like in a Lochcarron Weathered Strome kilt. I don't think they are weaving it at this time. If so, it is a shame, because it is beautiful cloth.

John
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Actually John, it looks lovely. Nice bonnet as well!

[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.

[Grizzled Ian]

The Irish game, Hurling, looks similar to this very casual observer, except that the hurling stick is shorter and wider. Both games come up on google, so that we don't derail this very interesting thread. But, man, sixty a side!

[StevieR]

Scotland and Ireland play international matches with both shinty and hurling rules combined. As for your explanation of "shinny" Steve, I suspect 60 a side shinty was exactly like that - if you can't play the ball, you've got to hit something! "Severely contested" may have been a wee bit of an understatement!

[Jock Scot]

Rules? Rules? Are we talking about Shinty rules? Now lets get this right and make no mistake here, there was a rule book somewhere for sure, but no one has seen it since it was printed and there is no one alive who knows when that was. So, whilst shinty is laughingly(?) called a game it is regarded as a very serious matter in this part of the Highlands--------particularly by the hospitals!

[Dixiecat]

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.

It was a shinty game in Windsor, Nova Scotia that led to the 'invention' of ice hockey.

[rmccool]

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.

Leave out the sticks (well, mostly), and you've described most of the "informal" football games I've been blessed to participate in. (For those who aren't from the USA, I'm referring to what's elsewhere called American Rules Football... not to what we call soccer.)

Rules? Rules? Are we talking about Shinty rules? Now lets get this right and make no mistake here, there was a rule book somewhere for sure, but no one has seen it since it was printed and there is no one alive who knows when that was. So, whilst shinty is laughingly(?) called a game it is regarded as a very serious matter in this part of the Highlands--------particularly by the hospitals!

Well, it sounds like shinty meets the definition of a "sport." According to a good friend of mine, whose wisdom on the matter I can't really dispute, a sport (as opposed to a mere game) is any activity in which one must either wear body armor, or wield a deadly weapon, or both, in order to participate effectively. At first rugby might appear to be an exception, until one realizes that most of the players are deadly weapons...