My first Highland Games

You can’t settle in Scotland without visiting a Highland Games so today I visited my first one, at Dundonald – the location of the castle I visited earlier on (A castle and a band (or two)). So a fifteen minute drive later, I was at the Games.

At the Games, there were all sort of things going on in different places so you could wander around, have look at something, then move on. The main thing, of course, were the pipers. Many groups of pipers from all around the world, practising in corners before doing their turn on the main ground where they were marked. As well as the local bands, there was one from the Royal Air Force of Oman, and another from Australia.

Happening at the other end of the field from the pipe bands was the actual games: throwing the hammer, tossing the caber, throwing the weight over the bar. It involved the same four contestants and was great fun to watch. The caber tossing kept failing and not turning over so there was a great cheer when someone managed to achieve it. The photograph below was a fortunate piece of timing with the weight caught just at it reached the top of its climb. No retouching here.

Also present were the Scottish dancers. I wasn’t there long enough to see the older contestants but it was charming to see the youngest class with their enthusiasm.

So my first Highland Games, not the largest but maybe I could go to one of the grander ones next year. Definitely worth a visit.