CAMANACHD ASSOCIATION PRESERVES THE MEMORY OF PAST PRESIDENT
Arm and Aaoom Thomson with case and caman alongside Camanachd Association President Keith Loades
A silver mounted Caman owned by Past President, Ken Thomson, gifted to the Association one week before he passed away at the age of 65 has been utilised to preserve his memory in perpetuity.
Ken is warmly remembered in Shinty circles for his dedication to the sport and for the innovations he introduced during his term in office from 1990 to 1994 and for leading on the celebrations surrounding the one hundredth anniversary of the formation of the Governing Body of the sport.
Current President and former teammate, Keith Loades, announced that he was tasked by Ken to find an appropriate use for his much coveted Caman. At a small ceremony held last week at Bught Park, Inverness Keith stated that it was considered very important to find a fitting use for the Caman and to award it the prestige it deserved.
He went on to express his satisfaction that The Ken Thomson Centenary Caman , in its beautifully crafted case, made by local craftsman Roddy Maclennan, will serve as a lasting memorial to a man who did so much for the sport he so much enjoyed during his lifetime. Brass plates on the case bear his name and the names of all Presidents of the Association since 1994 together with the motto of his beloved Strathglass Shinty Club ” VI AUT VIRTUTE” (By Strength and Valour) and a Gaelic inscription “LEAN GU DLÙTH RI CLIÙ BHUR SINNSRE” (Follow Faithfully Your Forebear’s Example).
The Caman and the case will be housed at the Newtonmore Folk Museum and passed down from President to President at the end of their three year term.
It is a fitting way in which to remind us all of a great friend and the service he provided to the sport of shinty – a sentiment which was express by Ken’s daughter Aaoom and son Arm when she said: “It’s wonderful that shinty is keeping alive my father’s memory in this way in the sport which was such a huge part of his life.