There were traditionally two kinds of hurling. Hurling to goal is an organised form of the game, which is more like the modern game of rugby. Hurling to country involves the two teams competing to take the ball out of the parish, or to a nearby landmark like a church tower. Hurling was often dangerous and in one game between the men of Camborne and Redruth a man was actually killed.
There are three hurling games left in Cornwall: one in St Ives, a very famous one in St Columb, and a little-known one that happens every five years in Bodmin. This game is different to many others and starts when the Mayor of Bodmin throws the silver ball into a pond, known as the salting pool. The players compete to find the ball and carry it to the town’s turret clock. The person who has the ball when it arrives at the clock receives a reward of £10 from the mayor.
