Shinty’s Heroes, a play that commemorates sportsmen who played shinty and who were killed in World War I, will be part of September’s Blas festival 2013 at the Nevis Centre in Fort William.

The Herald reports that the show will focus in particular on the teams of Skye Camanachd, Kyles Athletic from Tighnabruaich – both of which lost the equivalent of two teams each – and Beauly, which had 25 players killed.

It will also tell the tale of the ‘missing five’ of Kingussie, men who never received their commemorative cup-winning caps from 1914 because they had already been killed in action in France.

Another area of attention will be the story of Dr Johnnie Cattanach, a lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps, attached to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, who was killed at Gallipoli.

The best shinty player of his era and a man who also played hockey for Scotland, Cattanach died of wounds in July 1915, aged 30 and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial.

Beauly player Donald Paterson was a lance-corporal piper in D Company, 4th Battalion Cameron Highlanders and was killed at Festubert in 1915. His blood-stained pipes were returned home to his family and a pipe tune of his called The Beauly Shinty Club will be played as part of the show. Paterson is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial.

To read the original story, click here.