Scottish athletes are showcasing their unique sporting culture at the Highland Games. The competition comes just ahead of Thursday’s vote on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. (Sept. 15)
SHOTLIST:
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Dunoon, United Kingdom – 29 August, 2014
1. Various Competitors picking up log – or caber – and tossing them into the air
2. Various competitors throwing 56 lb (25 kilogram) weight over bar
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STORYLINE:
Scottish athletes have been showcasing their unique sporting culture at a series of Highland Games events across much of the country.
The annual tradition combines peculiarly Scottish sports such as tossing the caber with pipe bands and Scottish dancing.
At the Cowal Highland Gathering in Dunoon, west of Glasgow, giant men pick up giant logs and throw them into the air, if not quite like matchsticks, then almost.
It’s called tossing the caber, and each caber is close to four metres (yards) long and weighs 60 kilograms (132 pounds).
They’ve been doing this kind of thing since the Cowal Highland Gathering was established in 1894.
It’s one of the iconic images of Scotland, famous all over the world.
But this year is different.
The question this year is whether this celebration of all things Scottish will translate into votes for independence in the referendum on Thursday.
Mandy MacIntyre and Lorna Anderson are big fans of the Highland Games, but that’s not prompting them to say Yes to independence.
“I’m going to vote No because I think we’re better together,” Mandy says.
Lorna adds that although they are Scottish, they’re proud to be British too. “It’s called Great Britain for a reason,” she says.
On the far side of the field, a gentler but equally traditional contest is underway – Scottish dancing.
This draws big crowds, including factory worker Andrew Scobie, 46.
He’s already made up his mind to vote Yes, but adds that the Games makes him even more certain that his decision is right.
“It would certainly bring out the Scottishness in most people to be watching your culture and your history in front of you,” he points out.
“I would be voting Yes anyway, but it does emphasise it to me to vote Yes even more.”
Back on the athletics field, it’s the Scots Hammer event.
Competitors whirl the hammer over their heads and hurl it as far as they can into the field.
It’s all supervised by the convenor of the Cowal Highland Gathering, Alan Pettigrew.
While underlining that the Gathering is independent of politics, Pettigrew doesn’t dispute the latent political power of an event such as this.
“It means everything to anyone from Scotland. There’s so much steeped in history, and of course, if Scotland is going to separate? This is all about Scotland,” he concludes.
