West take honours in football match marking knotty heritage
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Four teams from Farr High School took to the field to contest a commemorative football match marking the ancient sport of knotty, once played by their ancestors on Farr beach and other strands around the far north.
The last games locally took place before World War I with large teams drawn from a wide area east and west of the River Borgie engaged in a day-long battle akin to modern shinty but with fewer rules.
The players in those days were often fuelled by whisky – a report in the Caithess Courier in the 1880s quoted a player who claimed that he had seen more drink consumed on Old New Year’s Day at the knotty than was taken in the inn at Clachan in an entire year.
However, last Friday’s encounter was a more civilised affair as, after several years of shinty on the beach, the school had changed over to football and, unlike the knotty of old, had also employed a referee.
The girls were first to do battle and, after a closely fought encounter, the West’s Erin Gunn had notched up two goals while Louise Findlay scored one for the East.
The boys’ match was more one-sided with the East failing to score while the West’s Logan Young, Alex Campbell, Keiran Dooner and Cameron Charlton each found the net.
Former Gaelic teacher Angus Millar, who initiated a shinty revival at Farr and the commemorative football matches, was back to spectate while science teacher Iain Broughton refereed both games. This was the 14th year of competition and the second on the pitch rather than the beach.
Following a run of success for the West teams, the overall tally lies 9-5 in their favour.
Despite the frosty morning there was a good turnout of parent and friends.
