Shinty Horn
Brora Heritage Centre

To celebrate the birth of a son and heir to the Marquis and Marchioness of Stafford, a shinty match was played between a team from Clyne and a team drawn from Golspie on January 12th, 1829.

A large crowd gathered to witness the spectacle which involved teams of twenty men per side. After two windy matches, Golspie won one match, and Clyne the other.

This ram’s horn snuff box, with silver fittings and plates, decorated with Cairngorm crystals, was presented by the men of Clyne to Major Clunes of Crakaig, for his ‘countenance and encouragement’. Quite what he actually did is unrecorded, but the horn certainly provides an unusual memento of the day.