The Annual Shrove Tuesday Hurling of the Silver Ball takes place in St Columb Major. This is a time old tradition where the townsmen go up against the countrymen in a battle for victory and also local bragging rights.
Hurling or Hurling the Silver Ball (Cornish: Hyrlîan), is an outdoor team game of Celtic origin played only in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is played with a small silver ball. Cornish Hurling is a ball throwing carrying game akin to Rugby Football.
The traditional St. Columb hurling takes place on Shrove Tuesday and the second Saturday following. The usually rough game is played on the streets and in the surrounding countryside, between the Townsmen and Countrymen of the parish, with the shops in the town barricading their windows and doors to protect from accidental damage, which sometimes occurs.
The ‘winner of the ball’ (that is, the hurler that goals the ball or carries it over the boundary) is carried on the shoulders of two team-mates back to Market Square, to strains of the hurling song. Here he calls up the ball, declaring “Town Ball” or “Country Ball”, depending on the side to which he belongs.
At 8:00 pm, the winner returns to Market Square to call up the ball again. This is followed by a visit to each of the public houses of the town, where the ball is immersed in gallon jugs filled with beer. Each gallon will be called up and the ‘silver beer’ (as it is known), is shared amongst all those present.
