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SHOTTS HIGHLAND GAMES
Hugh McLernon took me to Shotts on Saturday morning , where we met up with his wife Anne and Chic and Bridget Hodgson. I was also treated to my first taste of Irn Bru. That stuff could be addictive! |
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I love the pageantry that accompanies these games as festivals. |
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The dimensions of a caber can vary
enormously but the norm weighs about 150lbs (68kg), 18feet (5.5m) long and
about 9inches (23cm) thick at one end, tapering to about 5 inches (13cm)
at the other. |
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Malcolm Cleghorn's attempt |
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The caber is not thrown for distance but for style. It is set on its end with the thickest portion in the air. The athlete picks the caber up...balancing it.....runs forward and flips it. If by chance you think that sounds easy...try it...just once. The competition is judged with the aid of an imaginary clock-face on the ground spread out in front of the thrower That invisible clock-face keeps pace with him as he runs and when he has reached the desired speed he will stop abruptly at what becomes the 6 o'clock position and heave the caber up so that its heavy end lands in the middle of the clock and the whole caber turns right over, ending up with the narrow end pointing exactly towards tile 12 o'clock position.
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Malcolm Cleghorn
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RESULTS |
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