Cornish hurling

The ball

The ball for hurling is made of sterling silver which is hammered into two hemispheres and then bound around a core of applewood which is held together with a band of silver. The band hold screws or nails which hold the ball together. In St Columb the ball was crafted for a few years by John Turver, although since the 1990s, the ball has been made by local craftsman Colin Rescorla. The winner of the ball has the right to keep it, but must have a new one made in its place for the next game. The price of a new ball is said to be around £1000, depending on the price of silver at the time. The current inscription on the St Columb ball is "Town and Country, Do your best", which derives from the motto: "Town and Country - do your best -for in this parish - I must rest".

Size and weight

The ball weighs just over a pound but there is no definitive size or weight, as the ball is handmade, but generally the weight is about 19 to 21 ounces and is equal in size to a cricket ball.

Hurling balls on public display

There are examples of hurling balls on public display at Truro Museum, Lanhydrock House, St Ives Museum, St Agnes Museum and St. Columb Major Town Hall. Many are also held in private hands. One held at Penzance Museum is thought to be very old and bears the following inscription in the Cornish language: Paul Tuz whek Gwaro Tek heb ate buz Henwis. 1704 The first two words signify "Men of Paul", i.e., the owners of the ball. The last seven words may be translated literally (retaining the word order of the engraving) into English as "sweet play fair without hate to be called", which may be roughly translated as: "Fair play is good play."

History

Although the origins of hurling are unknown, one theory from Irish mythology is that the game derives from the Irish game of hurling and was brought back to Britain after the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. Another comes from the legend of Setanta, nephew to the King of Ulster, who is said to have played a game of Irish hurling using a bronze stick and silver ball. No evidence exists to support these two theories. In Brittany, Normandy and Picardy a comparable game is known as la soule or choule. The earliest recorded game of Soule comes from Cornwall. Court records from 1283 show an entry in the plea rolls (No. 111) providing details of legal action taken when a man called Roger was accused of killing a fellow Soule player with a stone. (Medieval Cornwall by Leonard Elliott Elliott-Binns). One instance is recorded of a match between twenty-one Irish players from County Wexford and an equal number of Cornish players which was witnessed by George I of Great Britain (1660–1727).

Hurling is very similar to the game of cnapan; a form of medieval football played until the nineteenth century in the southwestern counties of Wales, especially Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. George Owen of Henllys (1552–1613) believed cnapan was played by the Celtic Britons. There is circumstantial evidence to support this claim. The Cornish, Welsh and Bretons of Brittany are historically descended from Romano-Britons who inhabited the Roman province of Britannia before the Anglo-Saxons incursions from the 5th century.

Considering the clear similarities between Hyrlîan, Cnapan and La Soule, the common Brittonic languages, shared culture and ancestry it is likely these three sports evolved from the same game. The Romans are known to have played a ball game containing physical aspects of these sports called Harpastum. There is no hard evidence Harpastum continued to be played in Europe after the Western Roman Empire fell into decline although an alternative form was revived as Calcio Fiorentino during the renaissance in 16th century Tuscany. The Orkney 'Ba' Game', which has been played on Christmas Eve and Hogmanay every year since the mid-19th century, has some similarity to Cornish Hurling.

Little is recorded of the sport until about the 16th century when contests were generally between groups of men from two parishes. At this point there were two forms of the game, according to Carew's Survey of Cornwall (1602). "Hurling to goals" was played on a pitch similar to that of modern-day association football, and had many strict rules, similar to those of football and rugby; this was common in the east of the county. "Hurling to country", however, was often played over large areas of countryside and despite its name also involved goals; this was common in the west of the county. This had few rules and was more similar to the St Columb game of modern times (see below). Inter-parish matches died out towards the end of the 18th century but matches between different sections of the same township continued. At St Ives those named Tom, Will and John formed a team to play against those with other names on the Monday after Quadragesima. At Truro a team of married men played against a team of bachelors, and at Helston the men of two particular streets played against the men of the others. The field of the St Ives game has been changed twice, first to the beach, and in 1939 to the public park.

Terminology

Modern survival of the game

Up until the 19th century the game was still relatively common, with many Cornish towns and villages holding a match on feast and fair days, and games between St Columb Major and Newquay survived into the early 1900s. The town of Helston used to hold a hurl following the 'beating of the bounds', but the tradition there died out in the early 20th century.

The matches at St Columb and St Ives, and the game played as part of the beating the bounds ceremony at Bodmin are the only instances of the sport today.

St. Columb Major (twice yearly)

The traditional St. Columb hurling matches take place on Shrove Tuesday and the second Saturday following. The usually rough game is played on the streets and in the surrounding countryside, between the Townsmen and Countrymen of the parish, with the shops in the town barricading their windows and doors to protect from accidental damage, which sometimes occurs. The aim of the game is to place the ball in respective goals that are set about two miles (3 km) apart, or take it across the Parish boundary. The objective is to control possession by running with the ball, passing, throwing, snatching and tackling.

The game starts with the throw-up in Market Square at 4:30 pm: a person chosen by the previous 'winner of the ball' climbs a stepladder and throws the ball to the crowd, usually followed by a large scrum.

Game play in the town normally lasts no longer than one hour; this period is non-competitive and the two teams are largely irrelevant: townsmen 'deal' the ball to countrymen and vice versa, whilst the tackles and scrums that occur are generally for amusement only. Play often stops for spectators to touch the ball, said to bring luck or fertility, or slows to allow younger players to participate.

At some point, usually after 45–60 minutes, a hurler or group of team-mates make a 'break' towards their goal or part of the parish boundary. The ball might go anywhere in the parish: sometimes play keeps to roads, though often hurlers go through fields, rivers, woods and farmyards, scrambling over hedges and ditches. In this latter stage of the match the two sides strive for possession, and the actual "Town against Country" hurling takes place. Sometimes hurls are won by a team effort, but occasionally a single hurler may attain the ball in the town and manage to run all the way to the goal or boundary without being caught by any of the opposition.

The 'winner of the ball' (the hurler that goals the ball or carries it over the boundary) is carried on the shoulders of two team-mates back to Market Square, while the victorious side sing the traditional hurling song. Here he declares "Town Ball" or "Country Ball".

At 8:00 pm, the winner returns to Market Square to call up the ball again. This is followed by a visit to each of the public houses of the town, where the ball is immersed in gallon jugs filled with beer. Each gallon will be called up and the 'silver beer' (as it is known), is shared amongst all those present.

Gameplay

St. Ives (annually)

The annual St. Ives hurling match happens on Feast Monday each February (the feast is on the Sunday nearest to February 3). The game starts at 10.30am when the silver ball is thrown from the wall of the Parish Church by the Mayor to the crowd below on the beach. The ball is passed from one to another on the beach and then up into the streets of St. Ives. The person in possession of the ball when the clock strikes noon takes it to the Mayor at the Guildhall and receives the traditional reward of five shillings. At one time the game was played by the men of the village. These days it is played by the children.

Bodmin (roughly every 5 years)

Hurling survives as a traditional as part of Beating the bounds at Bodmin, commencing at the close of the 'Beat'. The game is organised by the Rotary Club of Bodmin. The game is started by the Mayor of Bodmin throwing a silver ball into a body of water known as the "Salting Pool". There are no teams and the hurl follows a set route. The aim is to carry the ball from the "Salting Pool" via the old A30, along Callywith Road, then through Castle Street, Church Square and Honey Street, to finish at the Turret Clock in Fore Street. The participant carrying the ball when it reaches the turret clock receives a £10 reward from the Mayor. The last Bodmin Hurl took place in March, 2015 following the beating the bounds, and is unlikely to take place again until 2020.

The Hurlers stone circles

On Craddock Moor, near Minions, are "The Hurlers". These consist of three separate Bronze Age stone circles with thirteen, seventeen and nine surviving stones. Local tradition maintains that they are men turned to stone for profaning the Lords Day by taking part in a hurling match. The arrangement of the stones led to the name and was recorded as far back as 1584 by John Norden.

Early written evidence of hurling in Cornwall

According to the law, or when the ball to throw;
And drive it to the gole, in squadrons forth they goe;
And to avoid the troupes (their forces that forlay);
Through dykes and rivers make, in the rubustious play;