Festivals
Highland games are a stone's throw away

By J. Patrick Coolican
Seattle Times staff reporter

FILE PHOTO, 2003 The Bellingham Highland Games will include bagpipe performances and a competition.

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Throw a stane and stank a wee heavy this weekend at Hovander Homestead Park for the Bellingham Highland Games.

Or, throw a stone and drain a strong drink, to those who haven't seen "Trainspotting" and aren't familiar with Scottish dialect.

The 44th Bellingham Highland Games tomorrow will feature traditional Scottish games, bagpiping and dance, and attract 12,000, say organizers.

The 1,000-year-old tradition, testing strength, skill, honor and courage, has spread across the globe as the Scottish have emigrated, and people have seen "Braveheart."

Bob Ham, a tool and die maker whose grandmother was born in Scotland, recently explained the games and what they entail. Usually it's throwing something very heavy as far or as high as you can.

The stone-put is the forerunner of the shot-put. The light stone is 16 pounds, the heavy stone 26 pounds.

Then there's the Braemar Stone, for Braemar, Scotland. And of course the weight-for-distance competition, which involves a 28-pound weight with a short piece of chain and a handle.

Festival preview Bellingham Highland Games, gates open at 6:30 a.m. for fire-department breakfast, athletic games begin at 9 a.m., party at 5 p.m. tomorrow, Hovander Homestead Park, Ferndale. Directions from Seattle: Take I-5 north to exit 260 and follow signs to Highland Games. Tickets are $9 adults, $6 students and seniors, free for 5 and under (360-647-8500 or www.bellinghamhighland.org).

There's also the 16-pound Scottish hammer, and the 56-pound weight, thrown one-handed over a high bar.

Late-night ESPN2 watchers will recognize the Caber Toss, wherein the competitor picks up a telephone poll about 17 feet long and weighing 130 pounds and flips it end over end, accuracy being the key.

It was in a Caber Toss that Ham blew out a knee and turned from participant to organizer.

In the sheath toss, a competitor pitches a 20-pound bag of straw with a pitchfork over a high bar.

Winners will get pewter mugs and qualify to go to the Seattle games. If they win in Seattle, they go to Portland. And if they win there, it's off to Scotland to compete in the world championships.

Man cannot exist on throwing heavy things alone, however.

So, 23 bagpipe bands will compete, as well as 275 Highland-style dancers.

Be sure to be at the games at noon and/or 5:30 p.m., when all the pipers will take the field, playing together, said Noma Winchester, a festival organizer.

"You can't miss that," she said.

Boundary Bay Brewery is brewing a special Scottish-style ale for the event, and vendors will sell traditional Scottish fare like bangers 'n' mash, as well as American standards.

Booths representing different Scottish clans will help attendees determine their genealogy.

Winchester said the event has given her a sense of culture that she never felt before.

"Society is so disjointed today that you need a foundation," she said.

After the games, there'll be a traditional ceilidh, which means party.

Yes, after the all-day party, they'll throw a party.

J. Patrick Coolican: 206-464-3315 or jcoolican@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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