For the Irish sport of hurling, see Hurling For the Cornish sport of hurling, see Hurling the Silver Ball. ...

Hurling the silver ball (Cornish: Hurlian) is an old sport found still in some parts of Cornwall, England. It resembles other sports in the British Isles, such as bandy in England and Wales, Border Football, hurling in Ireland, shinty in Scotland, and Uppies and Doonies in Orkney Islands, Scotland. Hurling played by women is also known as camogie. The Cornish language (in Cornish: Kernowek, Kernewek, Curnoack) is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages that includes Welsh, Breton, the extinct Cumbric and perhaps the hypothetical Ivernic. ... Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow or occasionally Curnow) is an administrative county of England, the part of Great Britains south-west peninsula that is west of the River Tamar, often known as the Cornish peninsula or plateau. ... The British Isles consist of Great Britain, Ireland and a number of much smaller surrounding islands. ... Bandy is a winter sport, where a ball is hit with a stick. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Waless location within the UK Official languages English(100%), Welsh(20. ... Shinty, also known as camanachd, or iomain, is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. ... Scotland (Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is a country and constituent nation of the United Kingdom. ... The Orkney Islands form one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland, and are a Lieutenancy Area. ... Camogie (in Irish, Camógaíocht) is a Celtic team sport, the female variant of hurling. ...

Game

Old and New Balls, 1999

A silver hurling ball which is the size of an orange, made from applewood and coated with silver flies through the village streets of St_Ives,_Cornwall on Feast Monday in February (the feast is on the Sunday nearest to February 3), and at St Columb on Shrove Tuesday and the Saturday of the following week. At St Columb, the struggle is a physical battle between "Town" and "Country" with the shops in the town barricading their windows and doors for the start of the scrum at 4:30 p.m. The ball is thrown to the crowd at the market square and the objective of the game is to control it through the town or country goals set about two miles apart or, if this isn't possible, the ball may be carried over the Parish boundary. At 8:00 p.m., a winner returns to declare victory for Town or Country. Image File history File links Hurling balls old and new 1999. ... Location within the British Isles. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... In the Christian calendar, Shrove Tuesday is the English name for the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which in turn marks the beginning of Lent. ... A parish is a subdivision. ...

History

The Silver Ball Pub Sign

There was a time when the silver ball was part of the tradition of many Cornish villages; sadly now, only two continue the practice. The large style motto was reintroduced in 1999 and encourages Image File history File links Silver Ball pub sign This is an actual photograph of the pub in St. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

'Town and Country, Do Your Best'

Historian Richard Carew wrote about Cornish hurling: Richard Carew (1555 - 1620) was a Cornish translator and antiquary. ...

Two bushes are pitched in the ground eight or twelve feet asunder, directly against which at a distance ten or twelve yards apart two more bushes, in like manner, which are called goals.The hurlers to goals are bound to observe these orders or Laws:

ln contending for the ball, if a man's body touches the ground, and he cries `Hold' and delivers the ball, he is not to be further pressed.

That the hurler must deal no foreball, or throw it to any partner standing nearer the goal than himself. In dealing the ball, if any of the adverse party can catch it flying ... the property of it is thereby transferred to the catching party; and so assailants become defendants, and defendant assailants.

References

"Hurling at St Columb and in Cornwall" by Ivan Rabey, 1972, Lodenek P, ISBN 0902899112 Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow or occasionally Curnow) is an administrative county of England, the part of Great Britains south-west peninsula that is west of the River Tamar, often known as the Cornish peninsula or plateau. ...

"Survey of Cornwall" by Sir Richard Carew, 1602, New York, 1969, pp. 147-149 Richard Carew (1555 - 1620) was a Cornish translator and antiquary. ...

External Link

• Images of Richard Carew's work on hurling