The freshly formed Camanachd Association, constituted in 1893, had early on “decided to provide a trophy to be competed for by the various Clubs within the Association”. As travel in those pre-A9 days was a lengthy and expensive commitment, and it could easily take days to make a return journey to the opposing side, the Association had decided that the best way to arrange the competition was for it to be split into four districts, to help the competing teams to keep costs down. The leaders in each district would then play each other in the final rounds. The districts and teams for the first competition were:
– North (Rogart, Inverness, Caberfeidh, Beauly, Lovat, Nairn, Portree),
– Central (Newtonmore, Grantown, Alvie, Laggan, Kingussie, Insh),
– Western (Glengarry, Spean Bridge, Brae Lochaber, Ballachulish)
– Southern (London and Glasgow) (1)
The rounds were held and teams progressively knocked out, and the first cup final was played on April 25th, 1896 (shinty has only in recent decades become a summer sport – prior to this it was always played throughout the winter months). In the inaugural final, Kingussie beat Glasgow Cowal by 2 goals to nil. The match, held in Inverness, was attended by 1000 spectators, many of whom had travelled on the extra trains that had been laid on for the match by the Highland Railway Company (2).
“The news of the victory of the home team was received with much satisfaction in Kingussie and district, and the players were accorded an ovation on their return, pipers playing lively airs, and others carrying lighted torches, assembling at the station, and marching through the town, while bonfires were lighted above the burgh and two on the farm of Dunachton”. (3)
Although an important shinty team in the early days of the sport, Glasgow Cowal never made it to another Camanachd Cup final, and the club folded in the 1930s.
