The history of the Highland Games has been going on for over a millennium. Even before Christianity, similar gatherings were held among Celtic tribes, as oral tradition has it. These early events were to find out who was the clan's strongest, most skilful warriors. The first official Highland Games in Scotland started in the 11th century when King Malcolm III organized a royal contest to choose the fastest and strongest people to be his messengers during his reign.
The first free Highland Games were in Ceres, Fife, in 1314 after a charter by Robert the Bruce after the villagers helped him win the Battle of Bannockburn. What is remarkable is that these games are still held in Ceres to this day.
Highland Games were celebrated across Scotland for centuries. However, in 1746, the English passed the Act of Proscription, which banned, among other things, Scottish traditions of Highland Games, bagpiping, wearing of kilts, or death. A few decades later, this act was repealed, and as a result, the Highland societies and the modern Highland Games came into existence.
It is believed that the Highland Games were first held in Helensburgh in 1898, although not as old as the first modern Highland Games, which were held in Falkirk in 1781. Over the last few decades, such events have developed and spread across Scotland and worldwide. Scottish immigrants and their descendants started the first American Highland Games in New York in the mid-19th century. They thus helped to preserve and propagate this lively cultural tradition all over the world.
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