Hurling is a sport with its roots in Scottish part of the UK particularly Cornwall. It is played with a silver ball which is about the size of an orange and should not be confused with an Irish game having the same name but permits the use of sticks during the course of the game. It is similar to rugby.

At St. Columb Major in Cornwall, the sport is rougher than the one played at St. Ives. At St. Columb Major there’s a street fight between two opposing teams of townsmen and countrymen. As a matter of fact the sport became so violent at times that the shops usually brought down the shutters to prevent any untoward incident from taking place.

The game kicks off with a big scrum in the evening when the ball is thrown out to the crowd. Once the ball is in possession there is a tremendous amount of deliberate tackling and passing about of the ball and after an hour of play in the town the ball is then taken to one of the goals outside the city. After about four hours the winning team is declared and the ball is dunked into barrels of beer which is then drunk by the hurlers.

The fact that there are no fixed rules, referees or even an organizing committee makes it one of the most interesting sports in the UK and perhaps even in the world. Neither is there a limit to the size of the teams nor are there any goal keepers near the two goals. In the past century of the sport only two balls have been known to have been lost. The ball is returned to the starting spot at the end of the game. Though the sport is not popular throughout the UK it has its own following in Cornwall.