Curling
It was not until the late 18th century that players organised
themselves into formal clubs. Some of these are still in existence,
including Coupar Angus and Ketting, Perthshire, 1772; Sanquar,
Dumfriesshire, 1774; Blairgowrie, Perthshire, 1784; Douglas,
Lanarkshire, 1792; and Sorn, Ayrshire, 1795.
One of the most influential clubs was the Duddingston Curling
Society, founded in 1795 in the outskirts of Edinburgh. Its rules,
established in 1804, served as a model for many other clubs and had
a strong influence on the conduct of the game all over Scotland.
The club numbered among its members James Hogg, 'The Ettrick
Shepard', and the Reverend John Ramsay, who wrote the first
pamphlet on the game - 'An Account of the Game of Curling', in
1811. In 1802 Duddingston produced the first curling club badge 'to
distinguish its members from any other gentlemen'. It also
instituted the game of points, a trial of individual skill in the
various shots of the game.
In the 19th century a few clubs distinguished themselves by
wearing uniforms. In 1834 it was agreed that members of Abdie
Curling Club in Fife should wear a blue coat embellished with
sixteen large and eight small embossed brass buttons, and a buff
vest. So important was the uniform to them that fines were imposed
upon members who failed to wear it on the ice and at social
gatherings. As well as the new uniforms players also adopted soft
or 'carpet' boots, which replaced the metal crampons that were
originally used but which badly cut up the playing
surface.
The Grand Game
When the Grand (later Royal Caledonian) Curling Club was formed in
1838 one of its purposes was to unite curlers throughout the land
into 'one brotherhood of the rink'. This objective was made
possible when the introduction of railways and improved roads made
travel much easier. The first Grand Curling match between the North
and South of Scotland took place on the High Pond at Penicuik in
1847). The second Grand Match was held in 1848 on Linlithgow Loch,
below the ancient royal palace. This attracted 6000 curlers and
spectators onto the ice and the Royal Club feared a disaster and
set about looking for a safer venue. They chose Carsebreck, near
Blackford in Perthshire. It afforded 6 acres of ice and the water
was no more than six feet deep. Between 1853 and 1935, 25 Grand
Matches were played there. The importance of the Grand Match was
marked in 1886 by the gift of a magnificent silver trophy for
presentation to the leading club.
The Scottish climate no longer affords spells of frost hard enough
or long enough to create the six-inch depth of the ice deemed
necessary to support safely 'a whole nation at play'. Since 1935
Grand Matches have taken place on only a few occasions.
Curling Ponds
Curling began as an outdoor game, played on frozen loch, river or
pond. Its other title 'the roaring game', comes not from the shouts
of the players, but from the low muffled roar that a stone makes as
it travels over natural, outdoor, water-borne ice.
Deep lochs ice over sufficiently for curling only after prolonged
periods of severe cold. The Penicuik Club, founded in 1815, was
fortunate in having two artificial deep-water ponds in the grounds
of Penicuik house, the home of the Clarks of Penicuik. These
artificial ponds froze more readily. To construct such ponds an
area of ground was levelled and surrounded by an embankment.
Sluices were constructed to control the flow of water from a
convenient nearby loch or burn. Water was allowed into the pond to
fill it to the required depth. In the Spring the water could be
released, the pond cleared of rushes and the surrounding grass
mown.
In 1845 the 4 curling clubs in
Kilmarnock (which represented over 300 players), Townhead,
Kilmarnock Senior, Kilmarnock Junior and Kilmarnock Union,
persuaded the Duke of Portland's factor to create a large
artificial shallow pond for their use. In the summer months the
pond was drained for use as grazing land.
New Farm Loch, as it was called, served as a venue for curlers
and skaters for over a hundred years. Players also enjoyed the game
at the Kilmarnock Water beneath the Black Rocks in the Kay Park and
on other artificial ponds at Bellfield and London Road. Nowadays,
however, curling has largely moved indoors, where machine-made ice
has made enjoyment of the game a practicality throughout the
year.
Curling today
From the early 19th century Scots emigrants took their stones and
their game to the cooler parts of the globe, principally Canada and
the USA. There are now about one million curlers in Canada alone.
Curling has also found favour in Switzerland, Sweden and elsewhere
in Europe, and is now played in places as far apart as Japan,
Israel and Brazil. In 1998 curling became a competitive event in
the Winter Olympics, having been a demonstration sport since 1924.
In 2002 it the all-woman (all-Scottish) British team, led by Rhona
Martin from Dunlop in Ayrshire, won a Gold Medal at the Winter
Olympics at Salt Lake City. The stones were supplied by Kays of
Mauchline.
