1808 - The Kilmarnock and Troon Railway was the first railway in Scotland authorised by Act of Parliament and the first in Scotland to use a steam locomotive.
...which would of course need rails, spikes and ties. So the timing is about right. Huh. Interesting.
Hm... a railway hammer. I didn't know about them, nor did I know that they were different from a two-handled blacksmiths hammer or a "regular" sledgehammer.
Jock, I think I would really like to see your farm/estate when I am over there! It sounds pretty interesting! I am wondering if there were ever any events held, like holding one hundredweight in each hand, and walking along a course. The man who goes the farthest, wins.
There are events done like that with large stones that have rings and handles set in them. See the "Smiddy Stone" event done at the Airth Games... Here's a picture and video.
Stones like that were apparently used to tie horses to...the smiddy stane lived in front of a blacksmiths shop, and the smith would tie the horses to it, while he worked on their shoes.
I have not seen a hammer like those thin railway hammers, but perhaps American ones are different?
In my youth on the farm no one lifted anything unless they had to, and they had to very often! So I can't see many actually wanting to carry 1cwt weights about for fun! I have seen more than a few blacksmiths in my time and as far as I can remember the horses were tied up to metal rings let into the wall. I have never seen anything like the stone with a ring on it at a blacksmiths, but just because I have not seen one does not mean that they don't exist!
The farming enterprise is some 450 miles from the pad in Scotland. Not much grows up here in this part of the Highlands other than heather, bog myrtle, bracken and granite!
Last edited by Jock Scot; 8th February 13 at 04:33 AM.
" Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the adherence of idle minds and minor tyrants". Field Marshal Lord Slim.
Now there is a question I have always wondered about. Do you know how did a hundred weight came to equal 112 lbs.?
Yes. It used to be 100 lb up until the Victorian era, but this doesn't line up with a whole number of stones. One stone is 14 lb. People complained of getting short measure in coal, for example, because they paid for 1 cwt and often ended up receiving only 7 st, which is only 98 lb. So, a law was passed making 1 cwt equal to 8 st, which is 112 lb.
One wonders if early athletes only had to throw 50 lb, rather than 56 lb, or whether the weight they threw was actually defined atall as a specific number. I suspect it wasn't.
PS: This also explains why an imperial ton is 2,240 lb, but a US ton is only 2,000 lb, because one ton is 20 cwt, but the law changing 1 cwt to be 8 st instead of 100 lb was passed after the American colonies revolted.
Last edited by O'Callaghan; 8th February 13 at 02:30 AM.
My take is that this thing we do is called the "Scottish" or "Highland" games and as such we should respect the traditions.
While Phil's Clan MacMoo kilt is humorous, I don't think it conveys the message properly to the spectators who have paid admission to see burly Scotsmen tossing "telephone poles". This is particularly obvious in the professional classes where one rarely sees true highland hose or a games t-shirt.
I think we need to recognize that we are the entertainment that most spectators have come to see. The Clans are always appreciative of seeing their tartan being worn correctly on the field and as Alan has already noted, the ancestors are well pleased.
Kit
'As a trainer my objective is not make you a version of me. My objective is to make you better than me.' - Paul Sharp
An hour drive from here is the Cherokee Indian Reservation. During the tourist season the main road through town is lined with gentlemen from the tribe, dressed in buckskins and eagle-feather bonnets, standing in front of teepees, charging $5 to pose with little Johnny and little Debbie.
When I first started going to Cherokee as a graduate student I was outraged by this. I thought it was demeaning, and since the Cherokee never used buckskins, teepees, or feather bonnets, I though it was an outrageous affront to their heritage. Why don't they dress in traditional Cherokee fabrics, and have historically accurate homes where the gaudy concrete teepees stand?
Then I got to know the natives on the reservation and had the privilege of becoming a trusted "white man". I spent time talking to them about the "old ways" and saw that they were perfectly OK with "pretending" to be what the tourists expected. At the end of the day, in the privacy of their homes, or around their campfires, their traditions were perfectly intact, and embraced with fierce pride.
But come the next day, they again donned the feather bonnets and sat in front of the concrete teepee with the big, hand-lettered sign reading "Have your photo made with Chief Running Deer."
If the folks who pay to attend a Highland Games expect to see tartan kilts, which is clearly the case, I think that this is not something that should be dismissed flippantly. Without paying spectators, would there be Highland Games at all?
Kilted Teacher and Wilderness Ranger and proud member of Clan Donald, USA
Happy patron of Jack of the Wood Celtic Pub and Highland Brewery in beautiful, walkable, and very kilt-friendly Asheville, NC.
New home of Sierra Nevada AND New Belgium breweries!
Hummm, on balance I think as people are competing in a Highland Games and at specifically Highland Games type events then I think tartan kilts really ought to be the way to go. If nothing else and at a guess, I suspect the spectators might expect it.
***
Traditional tartan (or tweed, I suppose but that might confused the spectators in many ways [to riff off of Tobus' post about those phoney Irish kilts]).
Even as a non competing spectator, I lean heavily toward wearing tartan if in the kilt. It's a gala event and helps set the "normal" for the casual spectators as to what is Scottish - on or off the field. Will be in my "Isle of Skye" kilt this weekend whether I make it to the Rio Grande Games or not.
slàinte mhath, Chuck
Originally Posted by MeghanWalker,In answer to Goodgirlgoneplaids challenge:
"My sporran is bigger and hairier than your sporran"
Pants is only a present tense verb here. I once panted, but it's all cool now.
Originally Posted by Alan H
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