Harpenden Highland Gathering: Archery & Haggis
The local archery club was at the gathering, and for £3 you could get a quick archery lesson. Neither of us had done any archery since we were kids at camp, so it was a good opportunity to brush up on our skills. My instructor has been an archer since the '70s!
Ellen didn't hesitate to get it on video.
One of the last events was open to the public: Haggis hurling. Haggis is a Scottish "savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver, and lungs), minced with chopped onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and cooked while traditionally encased in the animal's stomach" (Wikipedia). Evidently, you either love it or hate it. I tried it once, and a bite was all I could manage. There is more than one way to hurl a haggis, but I won't go there.
In this event, the contestants threw a frozen haggis, wrapped in some kind of tape, for distance. The contestant must stand on top of barrel, and is disqualified if he falls off while hurling. For the men, the frozen haggis was maybe 5 pounds, and oblong, maybe 4 inches by 6 inches.
"Less is more" as I should know by now. I should have focused more on form and less on power, but I didn't, and the result was more a shank than a hurl. Ellen preserved it for posterity: Haggis shanking
Cobie
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