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Aberdeen University Shinty Club

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Shinty ( Scottish Gaelic : camanachd, iomain ) is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and among Highland migrants to the major cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, and was even played in Northern England into the second half of the 20th century and other areas in the world where Scottish Highlanders migrated.

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73-588: Aberdeen University Shinty Club is a shinty club from Aberdeen , Scotland , that plays in Marine Harvest North Division One. It is the oldest constituted shinty club in Scotland, and therefore the world, dating back to November 9, 1861 in a document held by the University of Aberdeen . The club celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2011. The team is the current champion of North Division Two. Despite

146-702: A legendary history of Ireland, and the Aided Chlainne Lir (" Children of Lir "). The Ulster Cycle consists of heroic legends about the Ulaid . It focuses on the mythical Ulster king Conchobar mac Nessa and his court at Emain Macha , the hero Cú Chulainn , and their conflict with the Connachta and queen Medb . The longest and most important tale is the epic Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). The Fianna Cycle

219-572: A Scotland-wide basis since 1996, the lower leagues are based on geography. Many clubs run second teams that also compete in these leagues against clubs with only one senior side. Shinty was traditionally played through the winter , based around the tradition of the "Iomain Challainn", where New Year was marked by a game between neighbouring parishes. The summer was left free for seasonal work and friendly tournaments. The Winter season always ran over, however, and many teams would find themselves finishing

292-528: A common image stock. The classic entry about the Celtic gods of Gaul is by Julius Caesar 's history of his war in Gaul. In this he names the five principal gods worshiped in Gaul (according to the practice of his time , he gives the names of the closest equivalent Roman gods) and describes their roles: Mercury was the most venerated of all the deities, and numerous representations of him were to be discovered. Mercury

365-554: A complete restructuring of the way in which shinty was organised and managed. That led to the move away from a dependence on volunteers to govern the sport, to the Association's first salaried employees. There are shinty clubs in Aberdeen , Aberdour ( Fife ), Edinburgh , Glasgow , Perth , Cornwall , Oxford and even London . University Shinty is a popular section of the sport, with almost all Scotland's main universities possessing

438-501: A game against Caberfeidh , which resulted in the docking of two points which would have placed them a point ahead of Inverness Shinty Club . In 2008, the club applied for entry into North Division Three and were successful, allowing the club to compete at a higher level of shinty. They eliminated Skye Camanachd from the Strathdearn Cup on May 31, 2008. In 2010, the club finished level in points with Lochaber Camanachd's reserves at

511-466: A hook in it, hence caman , from the Scottish and Irish Gaelic word cam , meaning bent or crooked. It can also be called a stick or club. The slant of the face will vary according to the position that the stick is used for. It can be made according to the player's height. Plastic camans are common in the youth variant "First Shinty". A player can play the ball in the air and is allowed to use both sides of

584-558: A re-vamped Northallerton Shinty Club was formed. The club is hoping to draw in a few former players, but wants to focus on raising awareness of the game in Yorkshire and bringing new local players into the game. Shinty was played widely in England in the 19th century and early 20th century, with teams such as London Scots, Bolton Caledonian and Cottonopolis; Nottingham Forest F.C. was established by shinty players. Since 2012 London has hosted

657-469: A single fixture in the early 1990s. Kingussie's unmatched run of dominance was ended on 2 September 2006 by rivals Newtonmore , who defeated Oban Camanachd 2–0 to ensure that Kingussie could not catch the team at the top of the Premier Division . However, Newtonmore were unable to replace their neighbours as champions, as the first post-Kingussie champions were confirmed as Fort William , who sealed

730-697: A symbol of the strength of his eloquence. The first-century Roman poet Lucan mentions the gods Taranis , Teutates and Esus , but there is little Celtic evidence that these were important deities. A number of objets d'art , coins, and altars may depict scenes from lost myths, such as the representations of Tarvos Trigaranus or of an equestrian ‘ Jupiter ’ surmounting the Anguiped (a snake-legged human-like figure). The Gundestrup cauldron has also been interpreted mythically. Along with dedications giving us god names, there are also deity representations to which no name has yet been attached. Among these are images of

803-430: A team. Historically, Glasgow University , Aberdeen University and Edinburgh University have vied for supremacy, but in recent years, Strathclyde University , Robert Gordon University , Dundee University , and the University of St. Andrews have risen to prominence. Clubs compete in various competitions, both cup and league, on a national and also North/South basis. While the top Premier Division has been played on

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876-524: A three-headed or three-faced god, a squatting god, a god with a snake, a god with a wheel, and a horseman with a kneeling giant. Some of these images can be found in Late Bronze Age peat bogs in Britain, indicating the symbols were both pre-Roman and widely spread across Celtic culture. The distribution of some of the images has been mapped and shows a pattern of central concentration of an image along with

949-658: A triple goddess associated with war, fate and sovereignty; Lugh ; Nuada ; Aengus ; Brigid ; Manannán ; Dian Cecht the healer; and Goibniu the smith, one of the Trí Dé Dána ("three gods of craft"). Their traditional rivals are the monstrous Fomorians (Fomoire), whom the Tuath Dé defeated in the Cath Maige Tuired ("Battle of Moytura"). Other important works in the cycle are the Lebor Gabála Érenn ("Book of Invasions"),

1022-589: A wide scatter, indicating these images were most likely attached to specific tribes and were distributed from some central point of tribal concentration outward along the lines of trade. The image of the three-headed god is centrally concentrated among the Belgae, between the Oise, Marne, and Moselle rivers. The horseman with the kneeling giant is centered on either side of the Rhine. These examples seem to indicate regional preferences for

1095-473: Is bandy , which is played on ice. In Scottish Gaelic the name for bandy is "ice shinty" ( camanachd-deighe ) and in the past bandy and shinty (and shinney ) could be used interchangeably in the English language. Hurling , an Irish pastime for at least 2,000 years similar to shinty, is derived from the historic game common to both peoples. Shinty/hurling appears prominently in the legend of Cúchulainn ,

1168-692: Is a shinty club first established in the Victorian era , competing in English and Scottish competitions such as the English League, the Bullough Cup and most recently in the Camanachd Cup in 1994. They went into abeyance in 1995, but were reconstituted in 2005. They played the first officially recognised shinty match outside Scotland in 80 years on 22 July 2006 against the Highlanders . They compete annually in

1241-413: Is a synonym for street hockey , pond hockey or any informal game of hockey. It derives its name from shinty, although a myth there perpetuates that it came from children tying Eaton's catalogues around their legs to protect their shins from flying pucks or slashing. The English Shinty Association (ESA) is the main body for promoting and encouraging the sport of shinty in England. London Camanachd

1314-523: Is about the exploits of the mythical hero Finn and his warrior band the Fianna , including the lengthy Acallam na Senórach ("Tales of the Elders"). The Kings' Cycle comprises legends about historical and semi-historical kings of Ireland (such as Buile Shuibhne , "The Madness of King Sweeny"), and tales about the origins of dynasties and peoples. There are also mythical texts that do not fit into any of

1387-580: Is believed to be based on the main Celtic gods of Ireland, while many Welsh characters belong either to the Plant Dôn ("Children of Dôn ") and the Plant Llŷr ("Children of Llŷr "). Some figures in Insular Celtic myth have ancient continental parallels: Irish Lugh and Welsh Lleu are cognate with Lugus , Goibniu and Gofannon with Gobannos , Macán and Mabon with Maponos , and so on. One common figure

1460-402: Is between seven and a half and eight inches (19 and 20 cm) and weight between two and a half and three ounces (71 and 85 g). The ball is usually white, but there is no statutory colour, black being a common colour for Kyles Athletic, and fluorescent balls now being available. Plastic balls or soft balls are often used in youth competitions such as the variant "First Shinty". The ball

1533-589: Is governed by the Camanachd Association ( Scottish Gaelic : Comann na Camanachd ). The association came into being in the late Victorian era as a means of formulating common rules to unite the various different codes and rules which differed between neighbouring glens. Its first meeting was held in Kingussie in 1893. The Camanachd Association maintained its initial structure for much of its first century. The 'Future of Shinty' Report published in 1981 led to

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1606-409: Is not allowed to catch it. Playing the ball with the head constitutes a foul whether intentional or not, as it is considered dangerous play. Other examples of dangerous play, which will be penalised, are a player, while grounded, playing the ball, or a player recklessly swinging the caman in the air in a way which might endanger another player. Fouls are penalised by a free-hit, which is indirect unless

1679-483: Is of the Camanachd Cup final. Regional newspaper The Press and Journal runs shinty coverage twice a week (Mondays and Fridays). The first-ever shinty match broadcast live on television was the 1964 Celtic Society Cup Final. Although Camanachd Cup finals and internationals have been shown over the years, 2006 marked the first-ever regular TV deal for shinty with matches being shown on the BBC Sports show Spòrs . This

1752-707: Is played in the British Army , with The Scots Shinty Club keeping alive the tradition of the game being played in the Forces. Shinty is also being revived among the Scottish diaspora in North America , where it was originally played in the 18th and 19th century by Scottish immigrants, but died out. More recent teams such as Northern California Camanachd Club (NCCC), Central California Cammanchd (CCC), and Oregon Shinty-Camanachd (OSC) play at Highland games and other venues across

1825-576: Is played using a caman , which is a stick about 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 feet (1.1 m) long with two slanted faces. The stick has a wedge shaped head, roughly triangular in cross section, which must be able to pass through a ring two and a half inches (6.4 cm) in diameter. Unlike the Irish camán , it has no blade. The caman is traditionally made of wood, traditionally ash but now more commonly hickory , and must not have any plate or metal attached to it. The caman would be made from any piece of wood with

1898-474: Is possible to discern commonalities that hint at a more unified pantheon than is often given credit. The nature and functions of these ancient gods can be deduced from their names, the location of their inscriptions, their iconography , the Roman gods they are equated with, and similar figures from later bodies of Celtic mythology. Celtic mythology is found in distinct if related, subgroups, largely corresponding to

1971-507: Is shoulder-to-shoulder. The game was derived from the same root as the Irish game of hurling / camogie and the Welsh game of bando , but has developed unique rules and features. These rules are governed by the Camanachd Association . A composite rules shinty–hurling game has been developed, which allows Scotland and Ireland to play annual international matches. Another sport with common ancestry

2044-400: Is the sovereignty goddess , who represents the land and bestows sovereignty on a king by marrying him. The Otherworld is also a common motif, a parallel realm of the supernatural races, which is visited by some mythical heroes. Celtic myth influenced later Arthurian legend . Though the Celtic world at its height covered much of western and central Europe, it was not politically unified, nor

2117-401: Is traditionally played on grass, although as of 2009 the sport may be played on artificial turf. The pitch also has marks indicating a 10-yard (10 m) area around the goals, the penalty and centre spots (along with their associated arcs/circles of 5 yards or 5 metres radius), and corner arcs at the corners of the rectangular pitch of 2 yards or 2 metres radius. The goals, at opposite ends of

2190-606: The Celtic mythology hero. A similar game is played on the Isle of Man known as cammag , a name cognate with camanachd. The old form of hurling played in the northern half of Ireland, called "commons", resembled shinty more closely than the standardised form of hurling of today. Like shinty, it was commonly known as camánacht and was traditionally played in winter. It is still played regularly on St Stephen's Day in St John's . The origins of

2263-631: The Celtic peoples . Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed a polytheistic religion , having many gods and goddesses. The mythologies of continental Celtic peoples, such as the Gauls and Celtiberians , did not survive their conquest by the Roman Empire , the loss of their Celtic languages and their subsequent conversion to Christianity . Only remnants are found in Greco-Roman sources and archaeology. Most surviving Celtic mythology belongs to

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2336-669: The Insular Celtic peoples (the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland ; the Celtic Britons of western Britain and Brittany ). They preserved some of their myths in oral lore , which were eventually written down by Christian scribes in the Middle Ages . Irish mythology has the largest written body of myths, followed by Welsh mythology . The supernatural race called the Tuatha Dé Danann

2409-487: The Scottish Lowlands , where it was formerly referred to as hailes , common / cammon ( caman ), cammock (from Scottish Gaelic camag ), knotty , carrick and various other names, as well as the terms still used to refer to it in modern Gaelic, camanachd or iomain . Shinty was once a popular game in lowland Scotland, as shown by its name shintie , a term which took that form around 1700, displacing

2482-466: The 1960s, progressively expanding to allow a maximum of three substitutions per game. As of 2011, a rule change allowed for rolling substitutions to be made at the senior level. In common with many sports, it became formalised in the Victorian Era and the first organised clubs were established in cities such as Glasgow and London where there were thousands of Gaels resident. In 1887, a historic game

2555-564: The Blessed ( Bendigeidfran , "Bran [Crow] the Blessed"). Other characters, in all likelihood, derive from mythological sources, and various episodes, such as the appearance of Arawn , a king of the Otherworld seeking the aid of a mortal in his own feuds, and the tale of the hero who cannot be killed except under seemingly contradictory circumstances, can be traced throughout Proto-Indo-European mythology . The children of Llŷr ("Sea" = Irish Ler ) in

2628-521: The Divine Mother"), and in the collected Welsh Triads , not enough is known of the British mythological background to reconstruct either a narrative of creation or a coherent pantheon of British deities. Indeed, though there is much in common with Irish myth, there may have been no unified British mythological tradition per se . Whatever its ultimate origins, the surviving material has been put to good use in

2701-614: The English Shinty Championships against Cornwall, Oxford, Devon and Bristol as well as playing shinty–hurling matches and organising sporadic friendlies against visiting teams. On 28 December 2010 Ireland held its first dedicated shinty match in Westmeath, with players who have played the Compromise rules Shinty/Hurling . A Cornwall Shinty Club was established in 2012, playing their first game on 21 April 2012 against London;

2774-506: The Gods, consists of tales and poems about the god-like Túatha Dé Danann and other mythical races. Many of the Tuath Dé are thought to represent Irish deities. They are often depicted as kings, queens, druids, bards, warriors, heroes, healers and craftsmen who have supernatural powers. Prominent members of the Tuath Dé include The Dagda ("the great god"), who seems to have been the chief god; The Morrígan ("the great queen" or "phantom queen"),

2847-670: The National Intermediate Indoor six-a-side competition in Perth, the North Division 2 Title and the Sutherland Cup, only the fourth time the club had won the trophy. By 2006, the club was still predominantly made up of Highland exiles, although there are increasing numbers of newcomers taking up the game as they study at Aberdeen University. In 2007, the club finished at bottom of North Division One, although they failed to play

2920-567: The Second and Third Branches, and the children of Dôn ( Danu in Irish and earlier Indo-European tradition) in the Fourth Branch are major figures, but the tales themselves are not primary mythology. While further mythological names and references appear elsewhere in Welsh narrative and tradition, especially in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen , where we find, for example, Mabon ap Modron ("Divine Son of

2993-503: The South. In recognition of shinty's shared roots with hurling, an annual international between the two codes from Scotland and Ireland is played on a home and away basis using composite rules . In recent years, the Irish have had the upper hand, but the Scots won the fixture narrowly in 2005 and again in 2006, this time at Croke Park , Dublin , albeit with the Irish fielding weaker players from

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3066-682: The Southern League, for clubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh and the surrounding areas. Over time, there have been moves to amalgamate leagues and, since the 1980s, a push for national competition at the highest levels. In the modern era of league shinty, Kingussie have been unsurpassed in their domination of the sport; according to the Guinness Book of Records 2005, Kingussie is world sport's most successful sporting team of all time, winning 20 consecutive league championships and going four years without losing

3139-733: The USA. Local papers, such as the West Highland Free Press , The Buteman , the Oban Times and the Dunoon Observer and Argyllshire Standard , have in-depth shinty reports. The Inverness-based media reduce shinty coverage to one summary of the whole weekend's action, as do national newspapers, such as the Sunday Herald and the Sunday Post . The only significant national press coverage

3212-523: The advent of Christianity . Indeed, many Gaelic myths were first recorded by Christian monks, albeit without most of their original religious meanings. Irish mythology is the largest surviving branch of Celtic mythology. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era . Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by Christian scribes, who modified and Christianized them to some extent. The myths are conventionally grouped into ' cycles '. The Mythological Cycle , or Cycle of

3285-558: The annual "London Shinty Festival", which has been attended by Cornwall, London, Oxford Shinty Club , St Andrews university ladies team, and the Scots. It is an open tournament held in late September after the Shinty season is finished to allow any travelling teams the opportunity to attend. Since 2013, a combined English Shinty Association side has entered the Bullough cup, being beaten in 2013 by Tayforth and then in 2014 by Ballachulish. Shinty

3358-597: The areas it conquered; in fact, most inscriptions to deities discovered in Gaul (modern France and Northern Italy ), Britain and other formerly (or presently) Celtic-speaking areas post-date the Roman conquest. Though early Gaels in Ireland and parts of Wales used Ogham script to record short inscriptions (largely personal names), more sophisticated literacy was not introduced to Celtic areas that had not been conquered by Rome until

3431-508: The attacking side." A goal cannot be scored directly from a free-hit. Teams consist of 12 players (men) or 10 players (women), including a goalkeeper. A match is played over two halves of 45 minutes. With the exception of the goalkeeper, no player is allowed to play the ball with his hands. There are also variants with smaller sides, with some adjustments in the field size and duration of play. As with sports such as football , shinty originally did not have substitutes. These were introduced in

3504-399: The ball with the shaft of the caman, and the ball must be directly overhead when struck. The winner of a game is the team that scores the most goals. A team scores a goal "when the whole of the ball has passed over the goal-line and under the cross-bar". A goal can only be scored with the caman; there is no goal when the ball "has been kicked, carried or propelled by hand or arm by a player of

3577-556: The branches of the Celtic languages : As a result of the scarcity of surviving materials bearing written Gaulish , it is surmised that most of the Celtic writings were destroyed by the Romans, though a written form of Gaulish using Greek , Latin and Old Italic alphabets was used (as evidenced by votive items bearing inscriptions in Gaulish and the Coligny calendar ). Julius Caesar attests to

3650-476: The club's name, it is not a University club and participates at a senior level with students, non-students and former students in the team. However, there is a student team that competes in University competitions under the same name. See University Shinty . The club was established in 1861 through the merger of Kings College and Marischal College shinty clubs. In 2005, the club had its best season ever, winning

3723-628: The competition was designed to ensure the final was between the North and South. The Macaulay Cup still preserves a guaranteed North/South Final. There are national equivalents for the Camanachd Cup for intermediate and junior teams. There are regional cups for both senior and junior teams; the MacTavish Cup is the senior cup for the North and the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup is the one for

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3796-428: The cycles; these include the echtrai tales of journeys to the Otherworld (such as The Voyage of Bran ), and the Dindsenchas ("lore of places"). Some written material has not survived, and many more myths were probably never written down. Important reflexes of British mythology appear in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi , especially in the names of several characters, such as Rhiannon , Teyrnon , and Brân

3869-416: The earlier shinnie – of which there is a written record about 100 years earlier. Shinnie may also derive from shin in English, with the affix -ie , a common termination to the name of many games in Scotland. The objective of the game is to play a small ball into a goal, or "hail", erected at the ends of a 140-to-170-yard-long (128 to 155 m) by 70-to-80-yard-wide (64 to 73 m) pitch. The game

3942-467: The field, measure 12 feet (3.66 m) wide and 10 feet (3.05 m) high and a net is affixed to catch the ball when a goal is scored. The ball is a hard solid sphere of around half the diameter of a tennis ball, consisting of a cork core covered by two pieces of leather stitched together. The seam is raised. It is very similar to a hurling sliotar in that it resembles an American baseball with more pronounced stitching. The permitted circumference

4015-426: The foul is committed in the penalty area, commonly referred to as "The D". This results in a penalty hit from 20 yards (18 m). A ball played by a team over the opposing bye line results in a goal hit from the edge of the D, while a ball played by a team over their own line results in a corner. A ball hit over the sideline results in a shy: a shinty shy involves the taker tossing the ball above his head and hitting

4088-401: The literacy of the Gauls, but also wrote that their priests, the druids , were forbidden to use writing to record certain verses of religious significance (Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 6.14) while also noting that the Helvetii had a written census (Caesar, De Bello Gallico 1.29). Rome introduced a more widespread habit of public inscriptions and broke the power of the druids in

4161-427: The match finished a draw. They also entered the St Andrew's Sixes tournament in 2012. Following this, in December 2012, two more Cornish clubs were created; the first being the Combined Universities of Cornwall and the second being Mabe. These two teams put forward their best players to play for the Cornwall Shinty Club. There was a team in Northallerton in the 1970s, which competed in six-a-sides; and on 1 August 2012

4234-463: The name shinty are uncertain. There is a theory that the name was derived from the cries used in the game; "shin ye", "shin you" and "shin t'ye", other dialect names were shinnins , shinnack and shinnup , or as Hugh Dan MacLennan proposes from the Scottish Gaelic sìnteag . However, there was never one all-encompassing name for the game, as it held different names from glen to glen, including cluich-bhall ('play-ball' in English ) and in

4307-440: The previous season only weeks before the next one would start. In 2003, shinty clubs voted for a trial period of two years of a summer season from March to October, with a view to moving permanently to summer shinty if the experiment was judged to be a success. Despite opposition from the "Big Two", Kingussie and Newtonmore , and other small groups in the game, an EGM in November 2005 voted by an overwhelming majority (well over

4380-452: The required two thirds) to make summer shinty the basis upon which the game would proceed. There have been teething problems since the move to summer shinty, with a couple of teams being culpable for the season running over into November and December. Season 2010 saw the league season finished by the first weekend in October, almost on schedule. Shinty does still get played during the winter, in University Shinty which has teams compete for

4453-419: The second most valuable trophy in Scottish sport – the Littlejohn Vase – and in New Year fixtures, the most prestigious of which is the Lovat Cup , played between Beauly and Lovat. For more information, see Shinty league system League shinty was originally organised on a regional basis, with distinct competitions for the North District and at one time, two separate leagues for Argyll (the Dunn League) and

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4526-404: The second tier Christy Ring Cup . Scotland made it four in a row when they won in 2008. Canadian Gaelic -speaking pioneers in Nova Scotia adapted shinty, which was traditionally a winter sport , to the much colder Canadian climate by wearing ice skates while playing on frozen lakes. This led to the creation of the modern winter sport known as ice hockey . The game of shinny in Canada

4599-439: The service of literary masterpieces that address the cultural concerns of Wales in the early and later Middle Ages. The Celts also worshiped a number of deities of which little more is known than their names . Classical writers preserve a few fragments of legends or myths that may possibly be Celtic. According to the Syrian rhetorician Lucian , Ogmios was supposed to lead a band of men chained by their ears to his tongue as

4672-468: The stick. The stick may also be used to block and to tackle, although a player may not bring their stick down on an opponent's stick, which is defined as hacking. A player may tackle an opponent using the body as long as it is shoulder-to-shoulder as in association football (soccer) . A player may only stop the ball with the stick, the chest, two feet together or one foot on the ground. Only the goalkeeper may use his hands, but only with an open palm since he

4745-404: The title on 30 September 2006, having won their games in hand over Newtonmore. Kingussie regained the title in 2007. Since 2010, Newtonmore have been the dominant league force. Cup shinty has always been seen as being more important than league shinty, and the premier national competition remains the Scottish Cup or the Camanachd Association Challenge Cup, the Camanachd Cup for short. Until 1983

4818-544: The top of North Division Three . A playoff ensued at Castle Leod, Strathpeffer . Lochaber defeated the University 3–2 with a goal in the final minute. In 2011, the club won the third division, finishing undefeated. They also lost to Kingussie (eventual winners) in the Sutherland cup quarter finals. The Sutherland cup final was held at the Aberdeen University in celebration of its 150th season. The club welcomed Alex Salmond MSP, First Minister of Scotland as patron. The club finished bottom of North Division Two in 2014, but

4891-409: The two games have several important differences. In shinty a player is allowed to play the ball in the air and is allowed to use both sides of the stick, called a caman , which is wooden and slanted on both sides. The stick may also be used to block and to tackle, although a player may not come down on an opponent's stick, a practice called hacking. Players may also tackle using the body as long as it

4964-426: The usual games, but 2012 saw several games filmed live on BBC Alba. The sport is featured on BBC Radio nan Gaidheal by the programme, Spòrs na Seachdain, although English-language radio interest is usually restricted to the big events in the year. Commentary on the Camanachd Cup Final is provided in both English and Gaelic. Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to

5037-407: Was played between Glenurquhart Shinty Club and Strathglass Shinty Club in Inverness . This game was attended by thousands of people and was a major milestone in developing a set of common rules. This fixture was to be repeated on 12 January 2007 in Inverness as the opening centrepiece of the Highland 2007 celebrations in Scotland, but was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. The modern sport

5110-425: Was saved from relegation by league reconstruction. They won the reconstructed North Two in 2016, finishing undefeated with over 100 goals scored. There was also an Aberdeen Camanachd side in existence through the 1960s and 1970 founded by Peter English , which drew on the large Highland community living in the area for working in North Sea oil . Shinty While comparisons are often made with field hockey ,

5183-439: Was seen as the originator of all the arts (and is often taken to refer to Lugus for this reason), the supporter of adventurers and of traders, and the mightiest power concerning trade and profit. Next the Gauls revered Apollo , Mars , Jupiter , and Minerva . Among these divinities, Caesar described the Gauls as holding roughly equal views as other populations: Apollo dispels sickness, Minerva encourages skills, Jupiter governs

5256-615: Was then followed by the STV show An Caman . 2009 saw the Camanachd Association sign a deal with BBC Alba to broadcast all national finals as well as the Marine Harvest Festival. The MacAulay Cup and Camanachd Cup final were also shown on BBC Two . There is also an increasing amount of shinty on the internet, with various clips garnering attention on video sites such as YouTube . 2011 was a sparse year for TV coverage outside of

5329-551: Was there any substantial central source of cultural influence or homogeneity; as a result, there was a great deal of variation in local practices of Celtic religion (although certain motifs, for example, the god Lugh , appear to have diffused throughout the Celtic world). Inscriptions of more than three hundred deities, often equated with their Roman counterparts, have survived, but of these most appear to have been genii locorum , local or tribal gods, and few were widely worshiped. However, from what has survived of Celtic mythology, it

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