IN TIMES gone by, and in some places still, communities across Scotland played traditional games on particular holidays or festivals.

Many were predecessors of Association Football – the ba’ games of the Borders burghs come to mind – and others like Edinburgh Academy’s Hailes, or clachan or caman, were shinty variants.

Musselburgh fishwives were no exception and had at least two pastimes which are recorded in the John Gray Centre archives in Haddington.

The first and better known of those was the Fisherrow Fishwives’ Foot Race, which took place on the first Saturday of September each year during the annual fishermen’s walk.

The prize for the winner was a much-coveted new shawl.

Another lesser-known game appears to have been called nobbie and featured in a report of the sport in 1915.

Nobbie, according to the report, had a well-defined set of rules.

Two teams of five competed to score goals on a marked pitch by hurling their nobbies – two pieces of rubber hose linked by a short string – over a five-foot-high bar at each end.

There were rules for players in eash position – goal, back, centre and wings – a fixed playing period and mention of a referee.

Nobbies were picked up, carried, and hurled over the goal bar using nobbie sticks, which were described as metre-long oak staves pointed towards the playing end and enhanced by a headless nail half-driven into that end!

According to the report, “rough play and all striking or tripping with the sticks are absolutely forbidden” – we’re not entirely sure what health and safety would make of the game these days!

The county has a long and honourable sporting tradition. Golf and archery have been established for centuries. The origins of bowling and curling clubs lie deep in the past. Horse racing and field sports were also popular.

Increased leisure time in the 19th century saw a proliferation of clubs representing an increasing number of activities. Rifle shooting, cricket, tennis, football and rugby flourished, and professional sprinting was popular in our mining communities. Press reports, club minutes and county registers held at the John Gray Centre provide an invaluable insight into the membership and activities of clubs past (and present).

The county has produced its share of champions. They include rugby internationalists Finlay Calder, Derek White, Allan Jacobsen and Scott Murray; bowlers Willie Wood and Alex Marshall; golfers Ben Sayers and Open champions Musselburgh’s Park family (Mungo, Willie and Willie Jr), with Catriona Matthew of the present day; sidecar racer Jock Taylor of Pencaitland; Musselburgh’s runner Yvonne Murray; Tranent’s pro sprinter George McNeill; and footballers galore. Even the now-obscure Victorian sport of competitive pedestrianism is represented by Haddington’s Robert Carlisle.

To find out about the county’s sporting past, visit the John Gray Centre (www.johngraycentre.org).

Ruth Fyfe, Archivist, John Gray Centre