here’s a new sport sharing space on athletic fields in California. Lacrosse? Australian Rules Football? Good guesses all, but the sport in question has a distinctly Scottish flavor and it goes by the name of Shinty!
While new to the Bay Area, there is nothing new about Shinty. The sport’s origins have been traced back thousands of years, making it older than kilts and bagpipes by far. It is thought that Shinty came, in an early form, to Scotland from Ireland, along with the Gaelic language. While the specific who’s and when’s of this arrival may be hidden from us, there is ample evidence of its lasting impact on Scottish culture.
An ancient stick and ball sport, Shinty is played by two teams whose players attempt to score goals by striking the ball either in the air or on the ground. The sticks (or in Scots Gaelic camans) look a bit like simplified golf clubs, having a wedge shape to their heads, and the sport bears some resemblances to field hockey and hurling, games with related histories.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SHINTY
Being of great age and having had multiple lives, Shinty has several names. In the Scots tongue it is called Camanachd (derived from caman, a hooked or curved stick), or the older name Iomain (from driving or urging slowly, as one might do with cattle). Some theorize that the word Shinty may have evolved from sìnteag (skip, bound, hop, leap), becoming anglicized and corrupted along the way.
