Caisteal Maol

THE MACKINNONS OF MACKINNON

The Caisteal Maol stands near Kyleakin, a picturesque seaside village on the east coast of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. Till the Battle of Largs in 1263, this quaint Scottish hamlet was ruled by the Norwegian monarchy.

Legend has it that Caisteal Maol, or the castle of Dunakin, was built by a Norwegian princess known as ‘Saucy Mary’. This Nordic lady ruthlessly collected toll from ships that had to pass through the narrow stretch between the castle and the mainland. Only Norse vessels were exempted. She married Findanus, the man who is considered the forefather of the Mackinnon clan. And Casisteal Maol became the original seat of the Mackinnons.

According to the Scottish mythology, the McKinnon clan is supposed to have defeated the Vikings at Goir a’ Bhlair, on the eastern slopes of Beinn na Cailleach, above Broadford. Down the years, in recorded history, the clan played a major role in the Wars of Scottish independence. The early Mackinnons supposedly provided shelter to Robert the Bruce during his escape to Carrick. After Bruce triumphed in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Mackinnons were rewarded with land on the Isle of Skye.

By the early 19th century, the chieftainship of the clan had passed to William Alexander Mackinnon, the 33rd Mackinnon of Mackinnon. And it was during the time of this patriarch that his grandson Francis Alexander Mackinnon was born on April 9, 1848, three months before the birth of WG Grace. And by the time Francis Alexander Mackinnon passed away on February 27, 1947, he had almost outlasted the career of Don Bradman.

At the time of his death, Francis Alexander Mackinnon, the 35th Mackinnon of Mackinnon, had lived through an eventful 98 years and 324 days, which made him the oldest Test cricketer ever till that time. The record lasted 62 years until Eric Tindill went past him by spending 99 years and 226 days on earth before passing away in 2010. Of course, both these venerable gentlemen have been left behind now by South African fast bowler Norman Gordon, who is still going strong on 102 years and 246 days as we celebrate Mackinnon’s 164th birthday.

Francis Alexander Mackinnon. Photo Courtesy of kentcricket.co.uk

MACKINNON THE CRICKETER

Mackinnon the cricketer was not quite born in the ancient islands of Scotland. He saw the light of day at Acryse Place, Kent and was schooled in Harrow.

As a Harrovian, he did not quite manage to get into the playing eleven. But, by the time he was in St John’s College, Cambridge, he was a good enough player to get his Blues.

In 1870, he was a member of the Cambridge side during their historic encounter with Oxford. That was the match at Lord’s in which Frank Cobden, the Cambridge fast bowler, claimed the last three wickets with a hat-trick to win the match by two runs.

Years later, Mackinnon recalled the game with a sense of mock-vanity, “I really won the match, for I scored two.” Yes, his score in the second innings amounted to the margin of victory. However, he always omitted to say that in the first knock he had scored a very useful unbeaten 17, the second highest score of the innings.

Later, Mackinnon’s only Test match went down to be associated with another famous hat-trick. He played for Kent for a decade from 1875, and was one of the members of the side of Lord Harris that went to Australia in the winter of 1878.

It was not a very happy tour for the batsman. The only decent runs he made were in the matches against the odds teams put together by the local sides. In the Test match at Melbourne, Mackinnon scored a duck and five and on both occasions had his stumps flattened by the demon bowler Fred Spofforth.

In the first innings, on the first day of the Test, he walked in to bat at 26 for five after Spofforth had whisked one past Reverend Vernon Royle. The ball that greeted him was too good for Mackinnon and his stumps were rearranged as well. And then Tom Emmett, one of the two professionals, came in and lofted the first ball down the throat of the long stop. It resulted in the first hat-trick in Test cricket.

Mackinnon continued to play for Kent till 1885, and in his penultimate year he enjoyed his most prolific season. When Australia played Kent that year, he opened the innings and scored 28 and 29 in a fantastic victory, earned mainly through the memorable bowling of Alec Hearne. That same summer he hit 115 against Hampshire and 102 against Yorkhsire, the only two hundreds of his career. He was second in Kent’s averages that year, his 33 following the 41 of Lord Harris.

He ended his career with 2310 runs from 88 matches with two hundreds and an average of 15.71. He never bowled.

THE LONG LIFE

After giving up cricket, Mackinnon was made the President of the Kent County Club in 1889. A Captain in the Royal Kent Yeomanry from 1871 to 1893, he was promoted to Honorary Major in 1886. He was later appointed a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Kent from 1900 to 1902.

In 1903, his father William Alexander Mackinnon, the 34th head of the clan, passed away. Francis Alexander Mackinnon succeeded him to become the 35th Mackinnon of Mackinnon.

Till ripe old age, Mackinnon remained in close contact with the game. He could be seen meeting old cricketing cronies in the Kent grounds, even after his legs had long called it a day, venturing around the ground leaning on two sticks. Occasionally, he could be glimpsed at Lord’s as well. Generally the I Zingari tie would be proudly worn around his neck. From time to time, he would take peeks at his watch, dangling from a chain decorated with a gold medallion bearing the insignia of crossed bats — a memento from the Australian tour, presented by Lord Harris. He used to regale the audience with hilariously narrated reminiscences of his happy days.

During the Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week in 1946, at the age of 98, Mackinnon watched the cricket from the pavilion, as also the Band of Brothers’ tent. One afternoon during the week, he visited the Rose Hill School, with his daughter and the Marchioness of Abergavenny in tow. It was here that he had sat as a pupil 89 years ago. Now, he embarked on a search for his old desk where he used to sit. He followed it up by inspecting the Sea Scout Troop before giving a talk to the whole school.

A few days later, he presented a picture of a Kent and Sussex match at Hove to the Canterbury pavilion — the painting depicting a century-old match, with Alfred Mynn and Fuller Pilch wearing tall hats.

When a few days later he was called on telephone and asked about his health, Mackinnon cheerfully responded, “I am going into hospital tomorrow — but only for the annual meeting at which I shall preside. I am very well in health — very well indeed. I still do a lot of work in the garden: weeds don’t like me at all.”

On February 27, 1947, Francis Alexander Mackinnon passed away at his home, Drumduan, in Forres, Morayshire, Scotland.

————

Arunabha Sengupta is a cricket historian and Chief Cricket Writer at CricketCountry. He writes about the history and the romance of the game, punctuated often by opinions about modern day cricket, while his post-graduate degree in statistics peeps through in occasional analytical pieces. The author of three novels, he can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/senantix

The post Francis Alexander Mackinnon, 35th Chief — A Hat-Trick Victim in his Only Test appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Scotland’s original strongman, Donald Dinnie (1837–1916).

Organisers of the Aboyne Highland Games have issued a plea for help tracking down an elusive Highland Games competitor. The strongman is one of the only known people in the world to complete a historic Highland Games event, described by some as the ‘holy grail’ of weightlifting.

Slovakian muscleman Peter Puszer, a competitive weightlifter who also holds the title of the strongest man in Slovakia, was last known to be working in an Aberdeen hotel kitchen. The 5ft 7ins, 300lbs champion is one of the only people in the world to have successfully completed the Dinnie Stones challenge at last years Scottish Stones of Strength World Challenge. Organisers of the games have since been unable to track him down.

The Dinnie Stones, or Stanes, are named after Donald Dinnie, who is said to be one of the world’s greatest strongmen with 20 Highland Games championships to his name. He was a founding member of the Aboyne Games in 1867 and is famed for carrying the stones more than four metres over Potarch Bridge near Aboyne. Dinnie has been recognised as the 19th century’s greatest athlete with a career spanning over 50 years.

Games chairman Ian Scott said: “We know that Peter Puszer has been successful in carrying the stones unassisted in the past and we would like to invite him to do the same again at the Aboyne Highland Games this year to see if he is still up to the challenge.

“We know that he used to work in a kitchen at an Aberdeen hotel, so someone must know where he is now.

“I would like to urge anyone with information about his whereabouts to please get in touch so that we can extend to him the invitation.”

Anyone who can help trace Mr Puszer is asked to get in touch with organisers via the Aboyne Highland Games Facebook page.

The post Hunt On For Highland Strongman appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

On Thin Ice – Team GB at Sochi Olympic Games 2014

Who could have thought that a sport whose humble beginnings can be traced back five centuries to a frozen Scottish lake, would become one of the biggest hits at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. At almost 500 years old, Curling is one of the oldest official sports of the Winter Games, and is also yet another glorious creation that can be added to the list of great Scottish inventions.

Over the years curling seems to have gone from the quirky cult hit of the games, to a sport that viewers are now legitimately watching in their droves. Of course this is helped by the fact that as of this morning, both of Team GB’s curling teams are through to their respective semi-finals. It’s also interesting to note that all of the 2014 GB Olympic curlers are Scottish, and with the exception of one, are aged in their twenties.

The women’s team are world champions, having lifted the crown in Latvia last March when captain Eve Muirhead, at 22, became the youngest captain to win the title. Her Sochi team includes Anna Sloan, 22, Vicki Adams, 24, and Claire Hamilton, 24. The men’s team finished fourth and fifth in the past two Winter Games. David Murdoch, 35, captains the team of Michael Goodfellow, 25, Scott Andrews, 24, and Greg Drummond, 25.

The Stirling Stone

Nicknamed ‘chess on ice’, for centuries curling has been a favourite game in Scotland. In fact, during the first two thirds of the nineteenth century it can be said that it was the Scottish game, before the mighty football began to dominate. Evidence of curling’s early days first start to appear around the beginning of the 16th century, when what is thought to be the earliest known curling stone was found when and old pond was drained just outside of Dunblane, inscribed ‘Stirling, 1511′. The first written account of curling was in 1541, when the notary John McQuhin recorded in his protocol book a challenge between John Sclater, a monk in Paisley Abbey and Gavin Hamilton, a representative of the Abbot. The report indicated that Sclater threw a stone along the ice three times and asserted that he was ready for the agreed contest.

Over the coming centuries curling became one of the most popular amusements during the long Scottish winters. Kilsyth Curling Club in North Lanarkshire claims to be the first club in the world, having been formally constituted in 1716. (And yes, it’s still around to this day). Curling was even a popular topic in poetry – although there was no evidence that Rabbie Burns was a curler, he certainly knew all about it, as these two stanzas from his Tam Samson’s Elegy clearly demonstrate:

When Winter muffles up his cloak,
And binds the mire like a rock;
When to the loughs the curlers flock,
Wi’ gleesome speed,
Wha will they station at the cock,
Tam Samson’s dead?

He was the king of a’ the Core.
To guard, or draw, or wick a bore,
Or up the rink like Jehu roar
In time o’ need;
But now he lags on Death’s hog-score,
Tam Samson’s dead.

(The “cock” was the “tee”, to “wick abore” was to wick through a port; the other technical terms are still intelligible to curlers wherever the game is played.)

A curling match at Eglinton castle estate, North Ayrshire, Scotland. 2 February 1860

By the mid 19th century, the popularity of the game had exploded, and demand rose for a governing body. Founded in 1838, the Grand Caledonian Curling Club’s purpose was to regulate “the ancient Scottish game of Curling by general laws”. The club obtained royal patronage in 1842, and since then has been known as the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. As Scots immigrated throughout the 18th and 19th century, they took curling with them to all (cold) corners of the world. Today curling is mostly played in Canada, introduced by Scottish migrants in the 19th century.

In the last decades of the nineteenth century every county in Scotland had at least one club affiliated with the Royal Club, and almost every parish in the land had its custom-made curling pond. Originally curlers played on natural lochs and specially constructed ponds. However some seasons were barren when the winters were too mild. In 1907 the first indoor rink was built in Glasgow, with others popping up shortly after in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. While the game soon after experienced a decline in popularity, interest in curling is well and truly on the increase – today there are at least 26 purpose-built rinks in Scotland for the game.

The post Romancing the Stone: Curling’s Scottish Heritage appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Repeated swearing is set to be outlawed during events such as the Tug O’ War

The Scottish Highland Games Association has for the first time published a universal Code of Conduct to be used by competitors and judges. The 15-page document aims to impose identical rules at more than 60 Highland games across Scotland, endeavouring to do away with an alternative form of events and disciplines.

One rule strictly forbids the removal of kilts during competition and states tug o’ war participants may swear only twice before being disqualified.

The guide also states: “The practice of throwing a light caber for distance is not tossing the caber. It should be discontinued.” Over centuries the discipline, which began as a way for clan chieftains to test their warriors, has evolved, with different Highland games issuing their own codes of conduct.

The code also enforces rules that participants must dress traditionally and preserve modesty, stating: “All competitors must appear and compete while wearing a kilt. No competitor will be permitted to dress or undress in the Games arena.”

Cyclists must “present a neat and tidy appearance”, while wrestlers “shall take hold where they please, subject to the following restrictions – the hair, flesh, ears, private parts or clothes”.

The post Kilts On and No Swearing – New Highland Games Rules Announced appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

England’s version of this top prize, the FA Cup founded in 1871, is the oldest soccer competition of them all; but the actual silver cup itself has gone through several incarnations and the first few versions are long gone. However, the trophy that the winners on the 19^th will lift at Hampden is the game’s oldest and goes right back to the dawn of the sport itself. The competition was first held in the season 1873/74 and the final was played at a field close to the modern stadium and was won by Queens Park, Scotland’s oldest team and one of the co-authors in the formation of the rules. Hampden Park is still the home stadium for Queens Park; and throughout the formative years of football’s development they were the nation’s most successful team. The dominance of Celtic and Rangers, the so called Old Firm was yet to come.

Properly the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, the current trophy was first held aloft in 1885; and to date Celtic have won it 35 times, and Rangers 33 times, with the rest a long way behind. Since 2001, the winning team only gets to hold and show off the prize for around half an hour as they do the lap of honour and pose for the press. Then, due to its fragility it gets taken back to the cabinet at the Scottish Football Museum, which is inside the stadium. The team then get a replica to display in their own cabinet; which should Hibs win will be for the first time in over a hundred years.

The superlatives of the day don’t end there. Hampden Park, one of the longest continually used international grounds, was when it was built in 1905 the largest stadium in the world with a capacity of around 100,000 (the second and third largest were Ibrox and Celtic Park – also in Glasgow). That capacity would rise to nearly 150,000 by 1937; and it holds the record for the largest crowd at an international match in Europe. It was an intimidating place for visiting teams, greeted as they were by the famous Hampden Roar while walking up onto the pitch. Ironically, the stadium is named after an Englishman, John Hampden, a key player during the civil wars of the 17th century, who had a nearby street named for him.

The first international match in the world was held at a nearby cricket ground in 1872 when Scotland hosted the old enemy England (Scotland was essentially Queens Park). It finished 0-0 – an inauspicious start to the oldest rivalry in world football. England played at the current Hampden for the first time in 1906 (Scotland won 2-1); and this cemented its position as the home of Scottish football. In a way I think this is right and to the benefit of the game in Scotland as a whole; that the national stadium, and the ground where the Cup is contested, is neutral from Celtic or Rangers.

 Football is very much part of the Scottish psyche; and as we settle down to watch the showcase event in the calendar it is worth remembering the history, the memories, the highs and lows that have taken place in this great cathedral of sport in the battle for this most venerated and priceless of cups.

 This article was written by David McNicoll who runs Vacation Scotland; a travel company specialising in Scottish travel packages. For more information – http://www.vacationscotland.biz/

The post The Scottish Cup & Hampden Park appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Stirling Highland Games

The recession has bitten again, this time causing Stirling’s annual Highland Games to be cancelled. Organisers blamed “economic uncertainties created by the credit crunch” and successive changes of venue. This popular annual event was due to take place at Kings Park on 12 July.

Each year the games attract thousands of visitors to the city, including hundreds of performers taking part in piping and traditional dancing competitions.

A notice on the committee’s website read: “Regrettably, due to economic uncertainties created by the credit crunch and successive changes of venue, the committee of Stirling Tourism Association have decided to cancel the Stirling Highland Games due to be held on 12 July 2009.

“We look forward to welcoming our friends and visitors to next year’s games due to be held on 11 July.”

The post Credit crunch hits Highland Games appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Scotland Football Team

In November last year our long serving band of usual suspects crammed into a pub in Stirling that we would normally not be seen dead in, In fact the reason we were in Stirling in the first place was to avoid the mayhem of Edinburgh or Glasgow. The rollercoaster ride of the Euro 2008 qualifiers had come down to one last 90 minutes and the relatively simple task of beating the world champions!

We all dared to dream – we all expected the worst – we we not dissapointed, in cruel fashion a battling brave Scotland were put to the sword by the ruthless Italians. Mons Graupius all over again!

As we sat in the aftermath and drowned our collective sorrows we had no mind to go through this again but here we are starting the whole process once more. Tommorow we start our world cup campaign with a game against Macedonia. Under the new stewardship of George Burley we have the same scenes being played out – the same old firm players with suspect ‘injuries’ calling off for the so called ‘non glamour’ ties. The same bravado in the bars at these footballing minnows. mmm been here before havent we? Costa Rica, Zaire, Peru, Faroe Islands.

Macedona are possibly the worst team to start a campaign against – they have held England to home draws twice and also against Poland – underestimate at your peril. These are the teams we frequently trip up against – sure we pull off great performances against France, Holland (at home) etc but then the ‘who are these eedjits’ attitude kicks in and were in for a ‘pasting’.

Its a tough one to call – so I guess it will be that time again to button up my jacket and head up into the stag weekend infested streets of Edinburgh – find a safe haven with a smattering of TV;s and decent bar service and go through the whole thing over again – but you know what? I wouldn’t change it for the world!

The post Here We Go, Here We Go, Here We Go (again) appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.