Originally dance appeared as an interlude within the piping cometitions. Performed by the pipers who were competing on the day and initially the Foursome/Threesome Reel then later the Highland Fling, Seann Triubhas and finally the Sword Dance. Highland Step-Dance has always been second cousin to the Athletic, Cycling and Heavy events where apperance money was common in order to attract top athletes, but not so during the 1960s for Highland Step-Dance.
        Competitions were very different in the days of Open Competition. After the novelty of winning medals wore off my teacher, Pipe Major Peter Quinn, always insisted that his pupils should turn professional competitors in Scotland, so in the early 1960s I started my regular annual pilgrimage from London to Scotland competing in as many Games as possible, driving hundreds of miles, in 16 days. The first couple of years were a "breaking in" time getting to know what the various judges preferred and finding a way of surviving in a rather hostile competitive atmosphere towards the "new boy" with the other competitors!!
        After the breaking in period, when winning was a Spartan event, prize money became a reality rather than a dream. With a pletherer of Games during the summer it was feesable to enter as many as 8 or more competitions within the 16 days leave I had. The 1960s were ideal years for this activity. The constraints of WWll were easing, petrol rationing ended in 1957, petrol costs were beetween 4/- or 5/- a gallon (5 or 4 gallons per £). Given that the average wage was £799.00 p.a. { £14,197.30 /1965 } putting in some serious effort was well worth while considering the prize money available, especially if your home was in Scotland.
    Below are some programmes from the 1960s Highland Games showing the prize money in white and the equivalent value in 2016, according to the Bank of England Inflation Calculator, in red.