Scottish Blog

The Highland Games are a certain breed of events held throughout the world that are synonymous with Scottish culture.

To countless people around the world the Highland Games bring up two images, firstly the Scottish Highlands and secondly muscle bound individuals manipulating heavy objects. Although in essence this is correct, such a simple explanation is far from an adequate explanation of what the Highland Games are.

I have previously written a brief account about of the history of the Highland Games. In today’s article on the Highland Games, I want to explain the idea behind the most popular Highland Games in the Heavy games section and also cover some of the other things that Highland Games are loved for.

The Caber Toss is probably the most iconic of the Highland Games events. While most believe that the object of the game is to merely throw the caber a great distance, it actually revolves around a higher level of fines than this assumption. The ideal caber toss is not measured by its flight away from the thrower but in fact on his ability to toss it such that it lands with its top end on the ground first the turns on to its other end and falls again, all in a perfectly straight line. The difficulty of this is only increased by the fact that the cabers are not uniform in length, weight and density distribution.

The Stone Put in the Highland Games greatly resembles the modern day shot-put. Although there are some differences, namely the weight which is putted is a stone and not of a uniform weight between competitors, for men it usually rests somewhere between sixteen to twenty six pounds, although this varies between the two throwing styles. This event is further subdivided into a standing, no movement throw, and one which allows any form of movement as long as the stone is resting between the throwers hand and neck during.
The Hammer Throw is also another aspect of the Highland Games which is directly comparable to its modern day equivalent. This event features a weight affixed to a shaft made of wood or plastic, which is thrown over the contestants shoulder.

There are also three more games in the Highland Games which are very similar in their nature. These involve throwing a weight a distance, or over a certain height. The distance and one of the height events utilizes a weight which has an attached handle. The third event uses a hail bail which is pierced by a pitchfork.

Highland Games are not only about the display of strength and agility required for the heavy weights section, they are also about the celebration of Scottish culture and Clan identity. Typically Highland Games feature a bag-pipe band performance, Scottish dancing and a number of Clan's tents and displays. As with any fair or event, authentic Scottish cuisine can also be found.