Revival of shinty in Lewis and Harris marked during festival week

A double celebration is being held this week as both the Hebridean Celtic Festival and shinty in Lewis and Harris reach 20th anniversary milestones.

It is 20 years since the revival of the game by the late Dr Alasdair Barden as a New Year spectacle on the Tong pitch and the local shinty scene remains vibrant with Camanachd Leodhais competing in cup competitions and the North leagues.

Tonight (thurs) ,as part of the 20th HebCelt, an Lanntair arts centre hosts ‘Curaidhean na Camanachd’,  ‘Shinty’s Heroes’ concert, which has been an acclaimed success since it premiered in Fort William in 2013.

Curaidhean na Camanachd will see musical director Gary Innes and writer, broadcaster and shinty historian Hugh Dan MacLennan joined by singer Caitlin Smith from Lewis, acclaimed piper Duncan MacGillivray, and musicians Iain MacFarlane and Allan Henderson.

The programme will revolve around the impact of World War I on shinty-playing areas, including the Hebrides, and detail the early traditions of the game in the islands, from St Kilda to North Uist, Barra, Scarp and Lewis, using a combination of war-time and sporting images, including many previously unseen.

Hugh Dan said: “It’s singularly appropriate that we mark the contributions to the Great War of the shinty player and the shinty community and the impact that had on the game.

“We will look at how the New Year traditions were maintained throughout the islands and bring everything right up to date with a look at how shinty is now a mainstream sport in the islands, with teams participating in national competitions.”

The earliest written reference to shinty in Lewis is made around 1670 and in his famous Description of the Western Isles, Martin Martin refers in 1695 to the game being played on St Kilda with “short clubs and balls of wood” and the players competing for “some eggs, fowls, hooks and tobacco”.

The sport became popular across the islands, with the sticks used were homemade – in Uist they were made from a small patch of woodland at Balranald, while in Lewis they were often manufactured from driftwood or the branch of a tree, with a sheep’s horn sometimes added to achieve the correct shape.

Shinty was played on the machair or on whatever area was available. Often, in Uist, games were played well into the night and shinty was played by moonlight, while it is known of one game that was played on a pitch two miles long.

HebCelt has had its own association with shinty since 2007 when it first provided a trophy for the Hebridean Celtic Festival Cup. The annual cup match between Lewis and Harris on Saturday will be the culmination of the 20th anniversary double celebrations.

This year’s HebCelt will feature acts including Idlewild, Afro Celt Sound System, Treacherous Orchestra, the Karen Matheson Band, Shooglenifty, Chastity Brown, Le Vent du Nord, Raghu Dixit and Salsa Celtica.

Tickets for all events during the festival can be bought at www.hebceltfest.com/booking

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