Camanachd
or SHINTY. This is undoubtedly one of the oldest games still played in the British Isles, although if the dictum of antiquaries of sport that games played with the ball alone are older than those played with ball and stick is to be credited, the Cornish game of hurling can boast a greater antiquity. There were, until the middle of last century, many points in common between the two games, and it is probable that they were originally one, and that the stick is a later introduction, linking the purer Celtic form as it still obtains in Cornwall with the Irish variation known as Hurley or Caman. James Logan, in Volume II. of his Clans of the Scottish Highlands, published by Ackermann in 1847, writes, under "Na Grantaich-the Grants of Glenmoriston " :- "The game of Camanachd, or Shinnie as it is named in the low country, is very popular among the Highlanders: two opposing parties endeavour by means of the camac or club to drive the ball to a certain spot on either side, and the distance is sometimes so great that a whole day's exertion is required to play out the game. A vigorous runner, it is obvious, has a great advantage; but agility is not the only requisite; great skill in preventing the ball being driven to the desired goal is necessary, and many awkward blows and falls take place during the contest. Different parishes frequently turn out to try their abilities at this exciting game, and no better exercise could be enjoyed in a winter day. When there is a numerous meeting, the field has much the appearance of a battle-scene; there are banners flying, bag-pipes pealing, and a CAMANACHD] keen mêléc around the ball. Young and old, rich and poor, join in this athletic sport, and though it is usually engaged in con amore, prizes are frequently contended for."
Camanachd has changed a little since those days, in accordance with the inevitable process of development that occurs when a spontaneous athletic exercise becomes amenable to the tendency towards organised effort. To-day it differs as much from English Hockey (which is derived from Shinty), on the one hand, as it does from Irish Hurley on the other, though there remains a family likeness between the three.
The game-the national one of Highland Scotland is now under the auspices of the