Highland Games: The Making of the Myth

This is an attempt to put the Scottish Highland Games into a sociological, historical and cultural context. Often dismissed as just an eccentric summer spectacle, the Games are shown to have played an important role in Scottish history, and their significance in the past reveals a great deal about modern Scottish culture. The author examines the folk origins of the Highland Games and asks why their popularity exploded after 1840. The problems facing modern Highland Gatherings and the relationships between the Gatherings and other social groups such as the clans, absentee landlords and emigre societies are all described in full. The social history of the sport is then firmly related to Scottish dependency, cultural identity and social development. This is a valuable sociological study of the role of sport in the shaping of a cultural identity.