Can I run an older version of OSX on a Yosemite machine with Parallels or Boot Camp?

Context:

I just upgraded to Yosemite and noticed that Shake is no longer supported. I had Mavericks before and my early 2008 MacBook Pro was extremely slow since that update. Yosemite seems much faster, so far, on the old hardware, than Mavericks was...but, I don't want to give up Shake just yet.

Question:

Can I install a version of OSX using Parallels or Boot Camp that is compatible with Shake and runs reasonably fast on my old hardware (Mountain Lion was fine)?

Parenthetical request:

(I've never used Parallels or Boot Camp, so pardon me if it's a dumb question.)

tom

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