Old Photograph Spectators Cowal Highland Games Dunoon Scotland

Old photograph of spectators at the Cowal Highland Games in Dunoon, Scotland. The first Cowal Games was held in Dunoon in 1894, and attracted fewer than 2,000 spectators. By 1901, attendances reached 5,000, and the first overseas competitor, an American athlete, took part. 1906 saw the introduction of a pipe band competition. In 1929, the first approaches from Scottish societies overseas were received, and this has continued as expatriates the world over have turned to Dunoon for advice and practical assistance in setting up their own Gatherings. After a break during the years of World War II, the first post war Gathering, in 1946, attracted attendances of 28,000. However, the record attendance, to date at least, was in 1950 when 30,000 visitors attended, one of whom was then Prime Minister Clement Attlee.



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