Dashboards and Saddlebags the Destination Magazine™ Issue 048 March 2015 | Page 16

The History Of
Scottish Games

M

odern Scottish Festivals
have their roots in the middle ages. We have reports
of athletic competition (“Games”) at
many times and places when people
gathered together; fairs, military
musters (“wapenschaws”), even
funerals! Games which now feature
track and field events, music, and
dance have been held in the village
of Ceres (in Fife) since shortly after
the battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

Scottish Games as we know them
today began to develop in 1781 when
the Highland Society of Falkirk
sponsored prize money and trophies
for competitions in dancing, piping,
and athletics during the town’s Fall
Fair. In 1818 a Games was presented
in St. Fillan’s with piping, athletics,
and dancing (including the Sword
Dance for the first time). Within a
few years Gatherings were being held
at many towns throughou B66