The Views of Scotland Website

Picture #13: Caber Tossing at Lesmahagow Highland Games.

A strong and fit young "Heavies" athlete tries his hand at this most entertaining of all the Scottish games events. After a short run keeping the pole held vertical, he attempts to lift and nudge the top part over into the ground in such a way as to encourage the now rising trailing part of the caber up high enough to momentarily reach the point of perpendicular alignment. A perfect "12 o'clock" toss occurrs when caber has enough momentum to continue tracing out the same  arc directly beyond its rising path. The trajectory is judged by an official running directly behind the athlete. Perfect tosses are quite rarely seen due to the tendency of cabers to deviate from the hoped for straight over path, when not given enough impetus to maintain their intended course.  However, "eleven" or "one" o'clock tosses can be impressive spectacles too.