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Shinty’s history
goes back
2000 years to Ireland and comes from the same root as the Irish sport of
hurling.
It is thought to have been brought
to Scotland by Irish settlers. Legend has it that St Columba who arrived
in Iona in AD563 was banished from Ireland because he fell out with his
king about a game of Camanachd.
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Newtonmore Shinty
has
been played in the Newtonmore area for centuries, but
more recently, there are records of shinty being played at
the club's present field
Eilean Bheannchair - known as the Eilan - since 1877 and the club was formally constituted in 1890. In 1895 the club was a founding member of the Camanachd Association. |
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Our
record
Since then, the club have won the Camanachd Cup
- the Scottish national shinty trophy no less than twenty nine
times - a record unmatched by any other team in the game. The
club has also won the MacTavish cup a record thirty seven times,
together with a string of other honours.
Rivalries
Many clubs
throughout Scotland have long and friendly rivalries with Newtonmore -
notably, Kyles Athletic have been involved in many well-contested
tussles in the past and have something of a special relationship with
Newtonmore, each having invited the other to take part in their
Centenary celebrations.
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The keenest rivalry, however,
[although sometimes perhaps less than friendly!], is with near
neighbours Kingussie. For about twenty years from the late 1980s Kingussie dominated the sport whilst Newtonmores rebuilding from a period of dominance in the 1970s and early eighties kept stalling. However winning the Premier Division title in 2010, retaining it in 2011 and defeating Kingussie in the Camanachd Cup Final in 2011 announced clearly to the rest of the sport that Newtonmore was back at the top of the game. |
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Interesting facts
A 15th century memorial stone on the
island of Iona depicts not only the owners broadsword, but also a caman
with a ball beside it.
100 years ago there was a huge
debate about whether the kilt or knickerbockers should be compulsory
when playing. The kilt supporters lost the argument.
In olden days the principle shinty
game would be played at New Year between villages. There was no limit to
the number of players and the game could last from dawn till dusk.
Shinty Heritage Project
The Club is delighted to have received a grant through the Cairngorms National Park Authority CNPA to employ a researcher to help realise one of the objects of the club which is to help protect and preserve the history of the sport. The research is being guided by a Steering Group including representatives from the club, Highland Museums, CNPA and Laggan Heritage. The researcher Rosemary Gibson has summarised the aims of the project:
''Camanachd has played a hugely important part in the culture of Badenoch and Strathspey. The aim of the project is to identify the oral history and material culture of shinty throughout the Strath and we are keen that all of the clubs in the area, both current and former, should be included. While the big clubs - Kingussie and Newtonmore - have their own records, material on former clubs such as Laggan and Grantown is hard to find. We hope that there are still people in the area with memories or photographs of clubs like these. Tradition bearers such as Rob Ritchie in Newtonmore are vital to the game’s history. We’d like to record interviews with people with memories of the game in the first half of the twentieth century when the smaller clubs were in existence.”
The Group are asking if those with information on the history of local clubs would be prepared to share this knowledge and help create a comprehensive record of shinty in the area. This would include material on people who were involved in the game; information on artefacts and memorabilia which may be stored away in people’s memories, attics and garden sheds; legends and practices.
If you have any information that you are happy to share contact Rosemary Gibson on 01540 673048 or rosgibson@gmail.com
THIS PROJECT IS BEING PART-FINANCED BY THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT AND THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY [Cairngorms Local Action Group] LEADER 2007-2013 Programme
Shinty is now a summer sport.
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