Have you ever been to the Scottish Games?

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This weekend there is a three day festival and while I am not sure which day we are going to atend, we will try to get out there for at least one of the days. I have never been to the Scottish Games before and am really looking forward to it! There is supposed to be piping, dancing and the traditional Heavy Events. Have any of yu ever attended anything like this or do you know much about the Scottish Games? Here is what the programmes lists as the 'Heavy Events'. It should be interesting! THE STONE Was usually picked from a local river bed, where the stone had the rough edges smoothed away with years of the water flowing over. As the games progressed they started to use the shot was used in cannon fire and today is used in the Olympic Games and athletic meetings throughout the world 28lb + 56lb Weight 28lb + 56lb weights were used on the farms for weighing produce grown. The farm hands challenged each other as to who was the strongest and throw the farthest. These became events of strength and agility. THE 16lb HAMMER The hammer was used to break rocks and boulders when making new roads. It was also used by farm hands to hit fence posts in. They then used the hammer to see who could throw it the furthest. First of all they threw it like a pendulum but as time went on they started to throw round their heads to get greater distance. This became a very popular event and was standardised by making a round hammer head and is still thrown the same way today. The wooden handle was changed to a wire and is used in all athletic meetings and in the Olympics today. THE CABER The Caber was an event started by woodsmen trying to prove their strength and agility by tossing the smaller tree trunks into the river, the water was the easiest way of transporting the logs to the sawmills. When tossing the Caber the small end should be clasped in your hands with the heavy end of the caber pointing in the air. Run with the caber, stop, with the heavy end of the caber carrying forward lifts the small end up in the air with the heavy end digging into the ground and going through the perpendicular The perfect caber toss would be when the heavy end hits the ground and the small end goes over and get as close to 12 o clock as possible. The athlete who lands the caber on the 12 o clock is the winner.