Highland Games and Gathering of Scottish Clans
A bit of Scotland
Tossing the caber takes a lot of strength.
Highland games are contests in athletics, dancing, and music. Events of
this kind were first held in the rugged Highlands of northern Scotland.
Today, you can see these games all over the United States, in Canada,
and in some other countries.
The largest and most popular festival of this kind in the United States
is held on the second weekend in July. It takes place at Grandfather
Mountain, near Linville, North Carolina, and is called Highland Games
and Gathering of Scottish Clans.
A clan is a large group of related families with the same last name. You
can tell one Scottish clan from another by their tartan— the plaid
design on their clothes.
Each year, a hundred or more clans gather at Grandfather Mountain. There
are all kinds of track and field events—foot races, high jumping,
broad jumping—even a tug-of-war.
Meanwhile, men and women in colorful kilts (pleated skirts) perform the
sword dance, the Scottish Reel, and the Highland Fling. And the
mountains echo with the wail of bagpipes and the thunder of drums.
There are also contests of strength, such as tossing the caber. A caber
looks like a short telephone pole. It may be 20 feet (6 meters) long and
weigh as much as 150 pounds (68 kilograms).
Scottish dancing is one of the many contests held at all Highland
Games.
The contestant picks the caber up by the narrow end. Holding it upright,
he staggers off to a running start. Then he tosses the caber so that it
falls end over end.
But the best comes on Sunday afternoon. First, the Massed Bands pass in
review. Then, banners blowing in the breeze, comes the Parade of
Tartans.
