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Also known as: camanachd, shinney, shinny
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
shinty, game played outdoors with sticks and a small, hard ball in which two opposing teams attempt to hit the ball through their opponents’ goal (hail); it is similar to the Irish game of hurling and to field hockey. Shinty probably originated in chaotic mass games between Scottish Highland clans at least as early as the 17th century, and it is still played in Scotland under supervision of the Camanachd Association (founded 1893), which considers it the “national game.”
The modern game is played on a field 160 yd (146 m) long and 80 yd (73 m) wide, with goals 10 ft (3 m) high and 12 ft (3.7 m) wide, with a crossbar, at both ends. The sticks (camáns) are curved at the striking end, small enough to pass through a ring of 2.5 in. (6.3 cm) diameter, and somewhat shorter than a field-hockey stick. The ball is 7–8 in. (17.7–20.32 cm) in circumference and weighs 2.5–3 oz (70–85 g). There is no offside rule, but an attacking player may not precede the ball into a marked 10-yd (9.1-m) semicircular area in front of the goal. Teams are 12 on a side.
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Similar games are played less formally in other areas of the world, sometimes on ice with the players wearing skates.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
