In with the New-but let's hang on to the Old for a wee bit longer.

It’s not possible to keep walking with your legs cut off, so how can you write about shinty when there isn’t any? With some difficulty!  What happens at this time of the year to the Wing Centre is that he begins to fret, to look at old pictures of shinty teams, make lists of the best players he’s ever seen and at one point he even fell to wondering what the inheritance tracks of Ronald Ross might be. Have to say it was not a topic that detained him much. Nor did the thought that he might run an article in which shinty managers were induced to pose in artistic photos with their favourite clubs and their favourite cats-say James Perlich with his Kyles Caman and Tiddles; Norman Macarthur with a Munro special and Smudge; or more appropriately Drew MacNeil, his old battered Tanera and Tigger. Well, it was an idea. In actual fact, for a little while the concept developed a half-life of its own and plans were even made to contact Neil Paterson to take the snaps though when a call to set up the deal was made to Lovat manager Alan Macrae the matter died on the spot. He insisted that any animal involvement had to be either a working Collie or nothing. Nothing it was-(the Club made out of an old whin bush was also not suitable) but there’s a true Crofter for you,  though the thought did occur that, given the dog was probably naturally endowed  in the Lovat colours of black and white a little bit of corporate branding could have gone on over the hill.

 

 

The very mention of Lovat did depress because of the fact that early in December news came through to the Chairman that the MacAulay Association had made the draw for their cup- and apparently the Glen have been drawn away to Lovat. That short trip will at least save us a bus hire but should Glen get through then they are away again to Kingussie. At first the Wing Centre was suspicious about the draw - it appeared to be very similar to one which he was involved in back in 1982- but when he looked again at the files he found he had not kept any record which implies that the cup run was on that occasion somewhat brief.

This year’s draw he has retained as the screensaver on his i-phone replacing Neil Reid’s Usain Bolt celebration when he almost burst the Mossfield net back on that day.  Why so? Well first of all you have to be reassured by an organisation which, in this day and age, posts the draw in the form of a hand written work of art. Beyond that it is a work of art which promises either glory or disaster. Time will tell what the outcome will be for the Glen. For that reason it will remain the screensaver until the Lovat match at least.

 

Back in the Glen and still on the subject of the MacAulay, last week the Chairman splashed out on a trophy cabinet of the highest quality. Top class wood (mahogany from an old table) toughened, indeed probably  bullet proof glass , a lock (of which he alone knows the combination - the Wing Centre’s guess is 6-0-2012-but it’s only a guess based on the season’s most significant figures) There are also three moveable shelves. To be fair in order to fill it we had to find an old fishing trophy and the Cup from the Games Tug o’War but the Camanachd Cup will definitely fit in it. It was formally unveiled on the night of Friday 21^st December in the presence of the Chairman, Mr Reid and assorted players and officials including one of the managers.  As was appropriate the Chairman spoke warmly on the occasion, recalling the glory of the victory and  the many wonderful memories which had been stored up thanks to the countless pictures that had been taken on that incomparable day and afterwards. Then he  called for a round of drinks to be served to the company and, as has now become customary in the Glen, toasted the health of the MacAulay Association.

 

Beyond that little has occurred except in as much as the Wing Centre has come upon a store of old Glen photos and references to games of yore which have helped him pass the tedious hours of perma-darkness and which from time to time might well be worth reminding ourselves about.

The one that particularly caught the eye, particularly now that there is concern about the away match in the cup we hold, occurred in February 1995 when Glen defeated Camanachd Cup holders Kyles Athletic 5-2 at Blairbeg. Everyone in the Glen knows that Kyles got to that final the previous  year after squeezing past the Glen at Oban in what was described in the press as “one of their legendary Houdini acts with an extra time win carrying them into the final after Glen had appeared home and dry”

Anyway according to Bill McAllister (Yep-it’s the same guy-no wonder he can write a history column in the Courier: he was probably there))

“Glenurquhart ace Davie MacVicar helped end the grip of his brother Ronnie’s Kyles Athletic team on the Camanachd Cup by firing the Glen ahead in five minutes, though Neil Nicholson levelled a minute later. Matthew Sloggie restored the Glen’s lead but Peter Mobeck (how all the young Glen girls swooned at his blonde locks the year before-N.B. Bill did not write that!!)  the hero of last June’s final in Inverness levelled by half-time. But Stuart Morrison and Colin Maclean gave Glen a flying start to the second half and Morrison’s last minute goal set the seal on a stirring performance by Glen.”

And the moral of the tale is? For young Beanz, James and Alexander - the old guys could play. For the rest of us who knew that anyway, let’s cherish the MacAulay while we still have it- and so this piece contains some pics of the great day and its aftermath that have not hit the headlines before. The only surprise was that none of the guys made it into the New Year’s Honours list-wonder why?
The focus however is on pictures of the MacAulay and the pleasure it has brought to the Glen and all who live in it. There are snaps of the Primary kids in both Glen schools, along with their teachers. Dolly Fraser , widow of the late Danny Fraser, Shewglie who was instrumental in the rebirth of Glen Shinty in the late 1940s is featured along with former President/Chairman Alan Bell and the staff of the Glenurquhart Care Centre Care . So does Lally English , sister of the late Prof  Peter English who was synonymous for so many years with shinty in the Glen. Mrs Josie Mackenzie retired Deputy Head of Glenurquhart High School is also pictured with the trophy as is Vice-Chieftain Ken Fraser and former Club secretary Hazel Stewart. Happy memories to hold on to-events conspired to make us appreciate the day and the victory. Let whoever wins it next enjoy it as much as the Glen did.

The focus however is on pictures of the MacAulay and the pleasure it has brought to the Glen and all who live in it. There are snaps of the Primary kids in both Glen schools, along with their teachers. Dolly Fraser , widow of the late Danny Fraser, Shewglie who was instrumental in the rebirth of Glen Shinty in the late 1940s is featured along with former President/Chairman Alan Bell and the staff of the Glenurquhart Care Centre Care . So does Lally English , sister of the late Prof  Peter English who was synonymous for so many years with shinty in the Glen. Mrs Josie Mackenzie retired Deputy Head of Glenurquhart High School is also pictured with the trophy as is Vice-Chairman Ken Fraser and former Club secretary Hazel Stewart. Happy memories to hold on to-events conspired to make us appreciate the day and the victory. Let whoever wins it next enjoy it as much as the Glen did

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Leap of Faith

They have all finally gone and done it. After an abortive attempt as a result of a broken-down winch and a first run at the void which saw a clutch of the lads jump off the cliff, the rest of the bold boys leapt the good leap on Saturday 2^nd December.  There was a little bit of extra pressure this time because the tribe were on their way back up the A9 from Andrew Fraser’s wedding and so there were more than a few with fragile heads when it came to the “have I got the bottle to do it “bit.
Leading the lemmings over the side was Captain Smack and as the pics show he was ably backed up by JB, Andrew Corrigan, Player of the Year David “Chips” Smart, Andrew Macdonald, Ruaraidh Cameron, Ross MacAulay and of course Eddie Tembo who dived out into nothingness with a certain panache and style to the extent that the boys now call him “The Birdman of Balmacaan”.

Also there was Billy Urquhart now firmly back onshore. Bill has had a year filled with incidents and he’s been the subject of some seriously good snaps and one particular picture surely destined to become iconic. He has been on the front page of the Games programme; he’s been in the P & J and on the BBC and finally as the final picture reveals, in true Drum fashion, he jamp.

The Cup it can be revealed here, did not go off to accompany him on his bungee jump: all may be reassured that it is now back hidden in the thatch at Shewglie along with the claymores and muskets secreted there after the debacle that was Culloden.

Tuesday’s Courier (5^th December) carried the story of the jump pointing out that the “fearless “players of Glenurquhart Shinty Club took the plunge from the 40 metre high Highland Fling bungee platform in Killiecrankie on behalf of the Highland Hospice. It’s comforting to know that the Glen Shinty Team is still full of headers! The very same qualities which took the Glen up to promotion in the Premier, won and broke the MacAulay are the very same ones which raised a huge amount to help those suffering incurable life-limiting diseases who require palliative care.

 

How much? If all the cash which has been promised comes in then £10,000 is a reasonable estimate so now it is all down to the lads to call in the pledges. It would be nice to think that those newspapers and media outlets including the BBC who used the “broken cup” picture on the assumption that it was out there free to use would feel obliged to fork out a token tenner for the privilege of printing it. The Treasurer had originally come up with the idea of sending out bills to all the papers where the snap appeared offering them the opportunity to pay up but wiser counsels prevailed and so  for the moment the matter has been left to lie. It would however be a magnanimous gesture for such organisations to give a little to the Hospice in this connection since, as is the case with Starbucks a moral approach is becoming more fashionable.
With shinty locked away in the cupboard for a while passing the time in a profitable way has become a little more difficult for the Wing Centre. Not being particularly attracted to his good lady’s suggestion that he stop wasting his time on the “D” and instead turn his somewhat dubious talent for penmanship to something  useful like writing a few Christmas Cards, he has taken to going out to local ceilidhs and school productions which seem to proliferate at this time of the year.
One of these occasions saw him present at the local High School production of “Narnia” which appeared to describe a frozen land populated by small deer, squirrels, wolves, children and a big cat. He was reminded strongly of Strathglass.
Also interesting was the manner in which the raffle prizes were distributed. Amongst the many goodies on the table were a couple of bottles of wine and one of whisky: yet the winners appeared not to wish to take either the wine or the whisky but instead chose chocolates, cosmetics and jars of jam. The alcohol had almost to be forced upon the last one or two holders of winning tickets as the drawn drew to its conclusion. Strangely enough at shinty raffles you may observe the very opposite in play with the proceedings dragging on interminably as the boys keep putting the jam back to be drawn again while the booze disappears with the first winning ticket… what different Glens we all live in!
The ceilidh that stood out amongst the rest however was up at the Castle on behalf of the Glenurquhart Rural Community Association an independent local group which has outlasted various re-organisations of local government – and is keen to help rescue Blairbeg Park from the clutches of the Highland Council and return it to local ownership where it had originally resided up until 1975. In that year it was gifted gratis to the then Highland Regional Council by the Community Association: now the hope is it will come back though as with all things bureaucratic there will be a financial implication,  in anticipation of which and to raise general funds the ceilidh went ahead.
Amongst the pipers and reciters and Smack on the Box was a wonderful recital from three of the Glens finest singers, not the Three Tenors but the Three Glenners. Immaculate in white shirts and bow ties with black and red silk cummerbunds they entertained an entranced company with a range of songs local and international. Amongst those best received were a lively version of “The Rattling Bog” and another specially penned number lamenting the poor state of the A82.

 

Who could these superstars be? No clue-then the wee one in the middle stepped forward and said “Sorry if you can’t hear too well at the back: it’s because we have only one Mike”. Then the penny dropped- because the entertainers turned out to be, Big Mike Cameron, Big Ron Fraser and ordinary sized Richard Collis. The first two haven’t sang so well since they both scored goals in the ‘88 Camanachd Cup Final and isn’t it good to see that neither the psalmody classes nor the years of singing in the back of the shinty bus have been wasted.
“Fed up without the shinty, Mr Chairman “said the Wing Centre at the back of the hall to the man who pulls the strings and controls the destiny of all that happens in, at, to, by, with and from Glenurquhart Shinty Club,
“Certainly am.”
“You could always go and turn the water off at the pavilion if you are stuck for something shinty related to do”
“Already done,” said the Chairman and off he went leaving the Wing Centre to assess the situation.  The pavilion drained and shut down before the shortest day. It was never like this in the days of Alan Bell and Jim Barr. The Wing Centre was impressed by the quiet efficiency of the younger generation but acutely aware at the same time that somehow, something indefinable and peculiarly Highland was also being lost - the joy of a crisis.

Photographs-thanks to Muzza and the guys at  http://www.bungeejumpscotland.co.uk for the ones of the jumpers. The pic of the Three Glenners comes from one of their own publicity flyers

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