Tossing the Caber:
“Desire for strength is greatest where manliness is strongest”
“When you have the caber balanced in the cup of your hand, a
little dancing around can help you keep yourself in control, but
the best advice there is if you feel you are losing it is ‘get out from
under it!'” From an instruction book
Surely the quintessential event at any Highland Games is the tossing of the caber. It has been written about since the 16th Century, yet most people today see it as a bit eccentric, if not quite a mad thing to attempt. It looks
difficult and it is.
What are its origins?
According to David Webster in his book Scottish Highland Games, the most probable is that it was devised by Scottish woodsmen in their leisure time and maybe came from the practice of throwing tree trucks into the river for easy transport. An old saying tells us that the “Desire for strength is greatest where manliness is strongest” so it is more than likely that contests
involving strength and skill were popular with these brawny lads. With logs readily available, caber tossing would be easy to arrange and would appeal to their taste in sport. So foresters most likely brought the sport to
the games. Another theory lays the origin in a military discipline to breach fortifications and barriers — yes Scotland is a harsh country requiring hard men!
The dimensions of the caber (or cabar in Gaelic) can vary but the norm is 18ft (5.3m) long and weighs over 150lbs (68kg).
Contrary to popular belief, the caber is not thrown for distance but as a measurement of strength, accuracy and skill. The idea is to attempt to throw and upturn the caber so that it rests like a hand of a clock at 12 noon.
The winner will be the toss that comes as close as possible to this position. Three tosses are allowed and all three are scored to determine the winner.
As you watch the action on the field see if you can identify the 4 basic steps;
. The ‘pick’ where the competitor lifts the caber off the
group — and the other get well out of the way!
. The ‘approach’ where the athlete get momentum
going by running forward but first performs the little
balancing dance
. The ‘plant’ when both feet take root to provide a good
throwing platform
. The ‘toss’ where the caber is actually flipped end over
end (or at least attempted)
Of course in this era of equal opportunity we welcome young fit lassies to take the challenge and so at Brigadoon we have a women caber tossing championship alongside that of the lads.
Enjoy the spectacle and marvel at the strength and skill!
Tossing the Caber:
“Desire for strength is greatest where manliness is strongest”
