Hurling the Silver Ball
St Ives, Cornwall
First Monday after Candlemas (2nd February)
It is the children of St Ives who compete for the silver ball on their patron saints day, and the mayor who starts the gams by throwing the ball into play. This takes place about 10.30 in the morning, after the ball has been traditionally blessed at the saints holy well. The ball, made of wood and covered with silver, about the size of a tennis ball, is fought for on the beach at a place depending on the tide. The winner is the one who has it in his possession at noon, and he is entitled to a small cash prize on returning the ball to the mayor.
This is a genteel survival of a hurling contest that was once general throughout Cornwall, a much rougher adult version taking place to this day at St Columb Major on Shrove Tuesday. St Ia, the patron saint of St Ives, is said to have floated over from Ireland on a leaf, and it would seem that the reason the hurling takes place on her feast day is a contribution to the celebration of her name.
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