Beautiful pictures of a great Manx tradition

Beautiful pictures of a great Manx tradition

Tue, 10 Dec 2024

A series of stunning photographs of the Manx sporting tradition of cammag has been released online.

Commissioned by Culture Vannin and captured in St John’s last year by Brook Wassall, the photographs offer a startling presentation of an ancient Manx custom thriving in the Island today.

On St. Stephen's Day (26 December) communities come together from across the Isle of Man, to play the Island’s traditional national sport, cammag. A famously anarchic but good-natured game played between the North and the South each year at St. John’s, there has been an unprecedented growth in popularity in recent years, with more people both playing and watching year on year.

James Franklin, Online & Educational Resources Officer at Culture Vannin, says:

“Cammag is a very old sport which is not only still played, but is growing in the Isle of Man today. It is something which no one could possibly forget. Brook’s photographs beautifully encapsulate the community spirit which runs right through to the game’s heart.”

Although many films and other resources have been made available in recent years covering the custom, Culture Vannin took the step last year of commissioning Brook Wassall to create timeless images to communicate this joyful community activity at the centre of many people’s Christmas holidays.

Hockey sticks or otherwise are distinctively discouraged for the game. Rather, sticks cut from fallen trees or hedgerows are the prized and the equipment of choice for this sport. The array of sticks on the field on 26 December is a joyful sight to behold.

If you cannot manage to get your own stick before the day, don’t worry – ask for John Dog when you get there, as he normally has some spare in his van!

Dr Breesha Maddrell, Director of Culture Vannin, says:

“This is a tradition which allows people to come together as communities and connect, not just with each other, but with the passing seasons, the traditions of our Island, and our own sense of identity as people who call this place our home. Brook’s beautiful images communicate this perfectly and we hope that it will inspire others to join in this year!”

The practice dates to a time long before the formalisation of modern sports as we know them today. An early form of the game that later developed into hurling in Ireland and shinty in Scotland, cammag bears obvious relations to hockey, but with very important differences.

Famously, the game is said to have no rules.

However, of course, there are informal ways to behave, first and foremost of which is that players are safe and enjoy themselves. Beyond that, as long as the spirit of the game is maintained, anything goes!

Attempts were made to create a formalised set of rules and a league of teams in the past, but that fell by the wayside when that new imported game, football, appeared in the Island and soon established itself in Manx hearts.

This left cammag resolutely informal in a way so wonderfully genuine and so rarely found elsewhere that many people are shocked and delighted upon joining the game for the first time. The game is enjoyable, and everyone is there to have fun. – Surely, sport as it is supposed to be!

Cammag will take place at 2pm this year, on 26 December 2024 on the Fairfield by Tynwald Hill in St John’s. The game will finish at 3pm, after which everyone will head to the Tynwald Inn for Manx music and friendly post-match analysis, where all are welcome.

All of Brook Wassall’s 50+ photographs are available on the Culture Vannin website or on our Flickr page.

Additional Photos