HILARIOUS video captured the moment Scots fired a haggis 100 yards down a football pitch – from a homemade trebuchet.
The group, who are members of the Dalbeattie Men’s Shed in Dumfries and Galloway, built the 3.2 metre-tall bespoke war machine in under two months.
To test the machine’s capabilities, the team fired a series of cricket balls and other projectiles from the catapult.
But on Burns Night they decided it would be appropriate to honour the Bard – whose former house is just 13 miles away – by firing a haggis.
The group tested their siege engine – “The Wiston Warhorse” – at a local football ground and were delighted when the edible missile made it to the 18 yard box.
Local butcher TH Carson supplied the group with a haggis for the occasion last Thursday (JAN 25) .
The group were asked to build the trebuchet as part of a project by Wiston Lodge, a charity for vulnerable children in Lanark, South Lanarkshire.
Men’s Sheds have been growing in popularity, as spaces for men to “connect, converse and create”, and to help fight loneliness and improve wellbeing.
Wiston Lodge contacted the UK Men’s Sheds Association in the hope that they would be able to help them find someone to build a trebuchet for them.
As Dalbeattie had just won “Shed of the Year” in 2017, they got in contact – and the team agreed to take on the mammoth task in two months.
Once the extensive building project was completed, the men had to test the catapult – and what better way that to try it with a haggis.
The hilarious 10-second-clip begins with two men on the pitch at Dalbeattie Star Football Club – beside a 3.2 metre tall bright green trebuchet.
As one of the men pulls on a rope attached to the back of the trebuchet, the man filming jokes: “Ok, ready with a flying haggis.”
As someone shouts “Go!” the trebuchet releases, and the counterweight at the front of the machine drops – projecting the haggis almost 100 yards down the pitch.
The men laugh as the haggis flies through the air, and one man can be heard saying: “That is quite a throw.”
The group, who call themselves “Shedders”, have 38 active members and do a variety of hands on tasks from 3D printing, woodwork, metalwork, picture framing and engraving.
Geoff Allison, Secretary of the Dalbeattie Men’s Shed, said today: “The Men’s Sheds Association contacted us about Dalbeattie making a trebuchet for Wiston Lodge, as part of an Adventure trail they are creating, and they wanted a historical reproduction of a trebuchet as part of that, for the children.
“We looked at a lot of plans and designs, but we pretty much designed it ourselves.
“We decided to try launching a haggis in it because we had tried other projectiles, and the only day the football club could allow us to use the pitch was Burns Night, so we thought – why not.”
Geoff added that the Shed has been a positive addition to many of the men’s lives, and that they are very active in the local community. He added: “It is doing all of us a lot of good, it has really helped the men’s health and wellbeing and allows us to make a useful contribution to the community.
“We do engraving for the local sports clubs, look after the Christmas lights and we even fixed fences at the football club recently.”
“The Wiston Warhorse” is due to be delivered to the lodge next week.
