Early Years
Early History
Like all areas that were part of the great Gaelic-speaking lands of the Highlands of Scotland, Strathglass was no different in terms of being a hotbed of shinty, or camag as it was more commonly called in the area. It would have been played from time immemorial as an opportunity for warriors to maintain their fitness, and more widely as traditional pastime on festival days, in particular in the winter.
The matches were traditionally scheduled for Christmas, New year and Epiphany. The great collector of Strathglass’ Gaelic traditions, Colin Chisholm recorded that games were held ofn St Stephen’s Day (26th December), St John’s Day (27th of December), New Year’s Day and Epiphany (6th January).
The first recorded match in Strathglass history is from James Barron’s “Northern Highlands in the 19th Century” and a game of “over 150 Chisholms and other natives of Strathglass had their usual match at Shinty. The match was betwixt the Braes and the Strath.”
Somtime later a match was arranged with Glenmoriston and the Strath won easily. In 1841, the Reverend Simon Fraser of Kilmorack testified about the people of his parish “Their favourite amusements are shinty matches and dancing.”
1850 saw a game between Strathglass and the men of the Aird to celebrate the Master of Lovat’s 21st birthday. 40 Strath men with blue ribbons in their bonnets took the day.
The next year saw over a 1,000 people watch a rematch between teams of 20 at Comar with Glenmoriston. The Strath were again victorious with their blue cockades.
In 1858 the Inverness Courier gave an account of the full festive card, with two games on Christmas Day, one at Comar and one at Giusachan. On the New Year, the teams were led by Simon Macdonald, the piper and a banner bearing two “camags” to the field, and this was repeated on the Epiphany with a ball at Wester Invercannich to close the season.
In 1864, the courier again reported that there weer good attendances at these games although emigration had started to take its toll upon the Strath’s population.
Colin Chisholm recorded in the Highlander Newspaper in March 1880 that on the days mentioned above, the people and their priest (because Strathglass was overwhelmingly Roman Catholic at that point) would set out for Balnahaun and Bailen a Bruach. The Braes and Glencannich would unite against the people eo fhte Strath. The ball was thrown up mid way between Allt a’ Bhodaich on the west or Brae Side and Beith ’òg on the East or Strath side. The Braes men would shout “Suas am ball” – Up the ball and the Strath men “Sìos am ball” down the ball.
Cover of Strathglass Shinty Club Constitution 1880
Formation and the Great Game
Colin Chisholm’s recording of the shinty traditions of the Strath came just a few short months after a new tradition was created. The formation of Strathglass Shinty Club, or more properly Comunn Camanachd Straghlais. This was a momentous occasion in the history of the sport of the Gael.
By 1879 a number of clubs had been formed but these were predominantly in urban centres of Britain where exiled Highlanders settled. In that year however the first formally constituted shinty club was formed in the Highlands. The formation of Strathglass Shinty Club marked the beginning of modern shinty in what is considered to be its northern Highland heartland. (‘Shinty, Nationalism and Cultural Identity,
1835. 1939: A Critical Analysis’ – Irene Reid 2000)
After the club was initially formed in 1879, an inaugural meeting was held at the Glen Affric Hotel’ on Tuesday 10th February 1880 after a procession and a vigorous game at Comar. The constitution and rules agreed at this meeting were to have a great impact upon the world of shinty, as did the man who helped steer them through. Captain Archibald MacRa Chisholm of Allt na Glaistig (Glassburn).
Duncan Chisholm, Raonabhraid, was voted in as secretary and treasurer, and 10 Chieftains representing each of the districts in the Strath. were also elected. The club’s first honorary president was The Chisholm, Erchless Castle. Captain Chisholm produced the first constitution, rules and regulations of Strathglass Shinty Club, which were approved at the first general meeting, again held in the Glen Affric Hotel, on Tuesday February 10, 1880. A total of 131 club members were enrolled initially. The Highlander newspaper said of the rule book: “It reflects great credit on all concerned, artist, author, and also testifies to the methodical and business-like way in which the Strathglass men mean to go to work.”
Among the most interesting clauses was Rule 15: Reputation of the Club. It read – As the Club must be careful of its character and reputation, any member who shall, unfortunately, be guilty of unbecoming conduct, improper language, insobriety, and such like, shall be liable, for a first offence, to be admonished by his Chieftain, by order of the Committee of Management. For a second offence to be warned and reprimanded by the Committee of Management, and also liable to a fine not exceeding one shilling. For a third offence he shall be liable to have his name erased from the List of Members, and to be expelled from the Club, as the next General Meeting shall determine. A revised edition of the rules was published by Captain Chisholm in 1888. The club adopted as its motto Vi aut Virtute – “By strength or rather by skill” which still appears on the club badge. Less well known these days, but appropriate for a place at the historic heart of Gaeldom was the original Gaelic “Le neart ‘us dùrachd” – “With strength and diligence”
Captain Archibald MacRa Chisholm – First Chief of the Camanachd Association 1893-1897
Captain Archibald MacRa Chisholm’s Memorial Stone at Beauly Priory
Captain Chisholm
Archibald MacRa Chisholm was born on the banks of the River Glass in 1824. He received his education at the College of St Sulpice in Montreal where his father, Dr Stewart Chisholm, was stationed on military service.
The young Archibald had a great daring spirit which set him apart from others even from a young age. When his father was ordered back from Canada in 1840 they had to negotiate the rapids of the St Lawrence river from Lake Ontario by barges guided by First Nation guides. Archibald procured a grand canoe from the natives and on the voyage home convinced the captain of the ship the “Amy Robsart” to allow him to go rowing in the middle of the Atlantic on a calm day. He was almost a mile from the boat when a breeze got up and the ship, with his worried parents on board, tacked back to pick him up.
At the age of 17 in 1841, he received a commission in the Black Watch in recognition of his own father’s service. Sent to Malta in July 1843, as an imposing figure for the time at six foot two, he was appointed to the Grenadiers.
In 1846, he became a Lieutenant and then in 1847 he took a leave of absence which allowed him to not just do his own version of the Grand Tour around Greece and Sicily but to travel the Gàidhealtachd, Ardintoul, Raasay and Uist.
Despite his time abroad, Chisholm was a proud Gaelic speaker, and one of the finest pipers of his age. He would receive via his MacRa uncle, Sir John MacRa of Ardintoul, Feadan Dubh Chinntaile, the Black Chanter of Kintail, which had been a mighty heirloom of the MacKenzies. He would play these pipes almost up until the day he died, before giving them to his nephew Colin MacRa
He rejoined the Black Watch when they were based in Bermuda in 1848, before heading to Nova Scotia, which allowed him from time to time to visit his sister Madame J.M. Rolland who had settled in Montreal. He caused a stir by baring his legs with his Highland dress which he wore at all times.
He met his wife, Maria Frances Lynch when stationed in Perthshire with the Black Watch. They were both renowned for their attractiveness, and both being from Roman Catholic families the match was one made in Heaven. The story of their courtship was one of intrigue and derring-do of the most romantic kind.
Whilst Maria’s parents were supportive of the match, her brothers and an aunt dubbed “aunt vinegar” by Maria were not amused, and even though many members of Archie’s family were gathered at Murthly Castle, it was made clear that many of the Lynch family would not accept “a penniless subaltern”.
On hearing of the refusal Archie declared that “We will have a Scotch marriage in the middle of the night”, Maria was summoned to the tapestry room where a priest married them, with Archie’s sister Mary, and the priest’s housekeeper acting as witnesses. They then retired to their own chambers.
Archie left in the morning with Mary, heading to Glasgow, then on to London to check with Bishop Gillies and Cardinal Wiseman that his marriage was legitimate. Duly satisfied that it was in the eyes of the Church, Archie would return to Murthly and through subterfuge, he and friends commandeered a fine carriage that arrived at Murthly just as Maria and her father left in another carriage heading for Paris. Maria stated that she must go with her husband. Her father went for his pistols, and her brother, Captain Lynch, who’d caused all the trouble on behalf of his aunt, got into a fight with Archie. For the rest of his days, the Captain Chisholm would talk of the “Lochaber Hug” he gave his erstwhile brother-in-law to end the struggle.
The MacRa Chisholms would have a happy married life, although very soon after Lieutenant MacRa Chisholm was sent to the Crimean War. He would return as Captain Chisholm before selling out and leaving the service in 1855. He and Maria would settle first at Ratagan in Lochalsh, before a move to Hartfield House in Applecross.
It was during this time in 1860, that Chisholm renewed his bond with his native Strath, playing a key role in welcoming the new Chief of Clan Chisholm back to Strathglass. The Chisholm (Duncan Macdonell Chisholm) had died without issue and was succeeded by a Canadian exile, James Sutherland Chisholm. Dr Stewart Chisholm had known the new Chisholm chief in Montreal, so it was apt that his son would welcome the new chief.
There was a great day on the 17th July 1860 as The Chisholm returned “home” to Erchless Castle. Captain Chisholm delivered a solemn but celebratory address to the new Chief at Teanassie Bridge, before they headed to Erchless Castle for the investiture. He was greeted by the clan’s cannons, which had been used at Culloden.
This event must have sparked an urge to return home in Archie, as he and Maria first moved to Balblair House, near Beauly from Lord Lovat, before purchasing the handsome Glassburn House, which became their home for the rest of their days and for Captain Chisholm would become the epithet by which many knew him far and wide.
In 1879 he founded Strathglass Shinty Club and was instrumental in not just drawing up the club’s constitution but also the rules and regulations of play. This was the first attempt to truly formalise shinty as a sport.
“Glassburn” would be at the forefront of shinty in the Strath for the rest of his life. He led out the men of Strathglass in both games against Glen Urquhart in 1887 and 1888. He was such a big character, he was in fact namechecked in several Gaelic songs about those games. There was no more fitting an individual to be named the first chief of the Camanachd Association on its formation in 1893.
Away from shinty he was the ultimate example of a Gael. He was a judge of pipe music at the Northern Meeting Games for thirty years, but was also an accomplished fiddler. He was one of the first members of the Gaelic Society of Inverness (Comunn Gàidhlig Inbhir Nis) and was chairman of their annual dinner in 1878. He even received a song in his honour by famous Gaelic poet Mary MacKellar.
Captain Chisholm was a man of deep and pious faith in Roman Catholicism. He in had a cross dug out of the hill on the far side of the Strath so that “the first thing his eyes should behold would be the emblem of our Christian faith.” In 1868, Captain Chisholm even raised a band of volunteers to go to Rome for the Pope. Upon his death at the age of 74 on the 19th October 1897, it was his wish to be buried in the Catholic cemetery at the old Priory of Beauly. His gravestone was recently refurbished by Jon “Hearach” MacLeod with support from the shinty clubs of the Aird.
Glassburn is now a private residence, but Captain Archibald MacRa Chisholm is remembered as organised shinty’s pioneering spirit in Strathglass and beyond. Since 2023, the Captain Archibald MacRa Chisholm Award had been presented by Strathglass Shinty Club to the Balliemore Cup Final man of the match.
Article below reproduced courtesy of the Camanachd Association 1 January 2024
A memorial stone commemorating the life and achievements of one of shinty’s most iconic figures has been renovated in Beauly in time for the Annual Lovat Cup Challenge match which takes place tomorrow, Tuesday, January 2nd at Balgate, Lovat (throw-up 1pm).
The memorial stone has been requiring some attention in the last few years and now Shinty Memories Scotland, in collaboration with Archibald Macra Chisholm’s home club Strathglass, Beauly, Glen Urquhart and Lovat have ensured that the stone, in St Mary’s Cemetery, near Beauly Priory on the A862, has been returned to his former glory. The outstanding renovation has been carried out by gravestone carver John Hearach MacDonald who is himself a well-known figure in shinty circles.
David Calder of the Beauly Club, who led the organisation of the memorial renovation said: “We have for some time being working towards this and it’s a great achievement for all the clubs concerned to mark the presence of such an important figure as “Glassburn” in the Catholic Cemetery near the Old Priory grounds. He was the first shinty person to have his profile included in the National Dictionary of Biography and his contribution to shinty through the Strathglass club should never be forgotten. We would not be where we are today without his work setting up the Camanachd Association in 1893 and it is very fitting that Strathglass and the Aird clubs have joined forces to raise the funding required along with Shinty Memories Scotland. None of it would have been achieved, of course, without the contribution of John Hearach who went the extra mile to ensure that a challenging job would reach such a wonderful outcome. I would encourage anyone with spare time on Tuesday to make a visit to the Old Priory to admire John’s work. It’s another good reason to visit Beauly!”
Archibald Macra Chisholm, (1825-1897), military officer, musician, sportsman and Justice of the Peace, was born on 6 July 1824 at Taewig on the banks of the river Glass, in Strathglass, Inverness-shire, the eldest son of Dr Stuart Chisholm, Deputy Inspector General of Army Hospitals, who served at Waterloo at the age of 21 years, and his wife Mary Macra of Ardintoul, Kintail, sister of Sir John Macra K.C.H., Colonel of the Cameron Highlanders, who served at Corunna and many other engagements in the Peninsular War.
At the age of 16, having studied in the French College of St Sulpice, Montreal, Archibald Chisholm was ensigned into “Scotia’s darling corps” – the 42nd Royal Highlanders, the famous Black Watch. His first posting was to Malta and he was made a lieutenant by the age of 21. Indeed, Chisholm claimed (in a speech reported in the Inverness Courier, 19 February, 1880), that he had played shinty there “with our cousins and relations in Canada, during the winter, on skates, with a splendid field of ice, 300 miles long, 200 miles wide, and the ice at least 10 feet thick.”!
The Black Watch regiment returned home from overseas in 1852. A year later, Captain Chisholm married Maria Frances Lynch in St Andrews Catholic Cathedral, Glasgow. On war being declared in 1854, he went with the Black Watch to the Crimea. Returning home on promotion in 1855, he retired from the service, then acted for a time as factor for the Duchess of Leeds at Applecross. Captain Chisholm and his wife first rented Balblair House in Kirkhill Parish but after a few years they moved to Glassburn House (Allt na Glaislig), Strathglass, making their home there for the rest their days.
For all his travelling world-wide, there is no doubt that Captain Chisholm was most at home in Strathglass. At Glassburn House, we are told, in the history of the Strathglass Shinty Club by Hugh Barron and John W. Campbell, Captain Chisholm and his wife “passed a quiet Highland life, interested themselves in all their dependants, and in the farmers and people generally throughout the Strath”. A devout Roman Catholic, he became known as “Glassburn”. A white cross was painted on the hill-side opposite Glassburn House, so that Captain Chisholm could see it when he woke up. He also led a party of volunteers to Rome to protect the Pope against the threatened attack of Garribaldi.
Captain Chisholm excelled in all sports, and loved all aspects of the Gaelic language – its song and music, sports and pastimes. An enthusiastic supporter of the game of shinty, its development in the Highlands owed much to his encouragement. In 1879 the famous Strathglass Shinty Club was formed, with Glassburn as Chief. Chisholm published the first formal set of written rules, regulations and diagrams for the sport, issuing a revised edition in 1888. He was elected the first Chief of the ruling body of shinty, the Camanachd Association, which was constituted in October, 1893, a position he held for four years. He also acted as club-bearer for the Highland Camanachd Club of London.
Captain Chisholm was 6 feet 2 inches tall and of splendid appearance. A courteous gentleman of humour and great integrity, he was considered by many contemporaries to be the best amateur piper of his time. He once played at the Dinner of the Highland Society of London and is said to have so electrified the company that he was at once elected a member. He was an active and influential member of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, involved in its earliest years, playing at its Annual Assembly on several occasions. He also judged piping at the Northern Meetings (established 1788), for 30 years.
Captain Chisholm died on 19 October, 1897 at Glassburn House, having suffered a lengthy illness, and was buried in St Mary’s Cemetery near the Old Priory of Beauly. He was survived by his widow, only daughter of William Dominic Lynch, Devonshire Place, London, grand-daughter of Lewis Farquharson Innes, of Balmoral and Ballogie, Aberdeen-shire. The book ‘A Day that is Dead’ by the Rev. Dr. John Stirton, contains a fine account of the life of Captain Chisholm and he was the subject of a number of poems in Gaelic and English.
The Great Game
The date February 13, 1887, stands out in shinty history – this was the day that Strathglass and Glenurquhart met in a match which was to play an important role in the shaping of the sport. At that time there was no organised governing body or standardised rules, so officials of the two clubs had met in Drumnadrochit on January 22, 1887, to agree on regulations for the match. The game was played on a pitch measuring some 300 yards long and 200 yards wide at the Bught Park, Inverness, on an area which is now bordered by Glenurquhart Road and the Inverness Ice Rink. The match lasted for 60 minutes each half and was played 22-a-side. The Strathglass team featured 10 Chisholms and the Glenurquhart side contained 15 MacDonalds. A crowd of around 3,000 people watched the game, in which Glenurquhart’s younger side prevailed. The Strathglass team was noted as wearing “white shirts, ’42nd’ (black watch) tartan knickerbockers and hose, Prince Charlie Glengarry bonnets with rosettes, and the Chisholm crest and badge. The Glen wore blue shirts and “An Curachd Ruadh”, the red cap, about which a Gaelic song was created.
This was the first match on record where the players wore numbers, and the referee Mr Gillespie of Tulloch used a small hand bell rather than a whistle. The teams met again the following year in a furiously contested game which remained level until near the end when Glenurquhart scored the only hail (goal). The rivalry between the teams was resumed 60 years later in 1948 when they played for the MacDonald Cup donated by James MacDonald of Tomich, Strathglass, the last survivor from the Strath team of 1887. Strathglass gained a measure of revenge with a 5-2 victory.
The clubs’ first teams now play each year for the MacDonald Cup, usually as a curtain-raiser to the new season. The venue for the match alternates annually between Cannich and Drumnadrochit. On the same day, the Strathglass and Glenurquhart second teams play for the Ali Bàn Cup, named after Alexander MacDonald “The White Hare” who scored the only goal of the 1888 match.
Early 20th Century
It seems that although the club was instrumental in leading to the establishment of the Camanachd Association, that it made little impact on the new competitions formed in the wake of the Association’s founding up until 1900. Games were played, but the minute books for the club were lost.
What is certain is that very little competitive shinty was played between the turn of the century and the Great War. The club is first recorded as entering the Strathdearn Cup in season 1924-25 with a game against Conon Bridge who went on to the final. After a few years of first round defeats, in season 1927-28, the club reached the final where they were defeated by Caberfeidh. However, in season 1928-29 the Strath brought home its first silverware with a 7-5 win over Strathdearn itself at the Bught Park in Inverness on April 20th. Margaret Gordon of Struy recalled the team being borne home on the Erchless estate lorry. Just weeks prior the team had also been losing finalists in the Sir William Sutherland Cup against Lochside Rovers at Spean Bridge.
This was evidently a purple patch for the Strath, as the following year they reached the Strathdearn final again but lost by the odd goal in 5 to Strathdearn. However, they did not any competitions for the next few years until a team, rechristened Kilmorack took part in the competition of 1933-34. They defeated Lovat in the first round. They did not enter the following year, before Kilmorack made their final stand in 1935-36, reaching the final versus Lovat who defeated them handsomely 10-2 on their own patch of Balgate. This would be the last competitive fixtures by teams representing the Strath before the second war.
The club restarted in 1946 with James Grant as secretary. Six-a-side teams were entered into tournaments held at Kiltarlity and Glenurquhart, and the club entered the Junior Section of the MacGillvray League. The club again reached the final of the Strathdearn losing 5-2 to Kilmallie in May 1948, and won the Lochcarron Cup at Lochcarron in 1950. It was also around this time that the Macdonald Cup was established for competition between Strathglass and Glenurquhart. Surprisingly, these two near neighbours had not played each other since that fateful second game in 1888. This handsome trophy was donated by James Macdonald, the last surviving player from the 1887 game. Strath would win the cup in 1948, 1949 and 1950.
For the next few years the club entered the Strathdearn and MacGilllvray competitions before abeyance between 1954 and 1956, resuming again for the 1956-57 season when they won the Macdonald Cup.
The turn of the decade saw the club entering competitions but in 1958-59 only played three games in the League and with the MacTavish Camanachd Association, MacGilllvray Camanachd League and Strathdearn Camanachd Association all amalgamating in 1960 to form the North of Scotland Shinty Association, the once innovative Strathglass Club found itself in abeyance and out of competition.
It would not be until 1964, on the initiative of Murdo MacKenzie, a local hotelier, new to the area, that the club would be revived and set the foundations for the success of the modern Strathglass Shinty Club.
(Information taken from A History of Strathglass Shinty Club – John Willie Campbell and Hugh Barron, 1979)
Can you Help with the above Image?
If you can identify the players and the year this photograph was taken, please email details to info@strathglassshintyclub.co.uk