Playing for Scotland: The Making of Modern Sport

Playing for Scotland: The Making of Modern Sport is an exhibition in Gallery 10 on the second floor of the recently refurbished National Portrait Gallery in Queen Street, Edinburgh. It is set to run until December 31, 2014. The exhibition traces the transformation of sport during the nineteenth century when traditional games flourished and new sports were invented. Our sport of curling is well represented.

The exhibition has paintings and curling artifacts. The paintings include Sir George Harvey's The Curlers, oil on panel, 1835, see here. This takes centre stage, and you can study the detail of the painting at close quarters.

There is a steel engraving of Charles Lees's The Grand Match at Linlithgow Loch, the original of which the Royal Caledonian Curling Club has been raising funds to restore, see here.

It was a real thrill to see the John E Maguire painting of Thomas Thorburn's curling stone workshop in Beith. Restored, and beautifully framed, the painting provides a fascinating insight into how curling stones were made in the nineteenth century. In the Scottish Curler of December 2007 David B Smith wrote about how he had found this painting in an East Renfrewshire Council store as a flat canvas with no stretcher and no frame. It was heartening to see that the painting is now treasured and on display for all to enjoy.

A film, Scotland: A Sporting History, was specially commissioned to accompany and introduce the exhibition. It was directed by Derek Lodge and combines expert interviews and archive footage to explore the history of organised sport in Scotland. It is available to watch online here. The curling content starts at just over five minutes in, after a chapter on golf.

David B Smith is the curling expert in the film.

There is some wonderful archive footage of the sport being played indoors and out. I believe these scenes are from the Haymarket Rink in Edinburgh, but I may be wrong. (Added later. I am wrong. The footage is of curling at the old rink in Ayr. Thanks to Jim Fraser for identifying it correctly.)

The photos are screenshots from Scotland: A Sporting History.

This post is by Bob Cowan, April 2012.

Curling Memorabilia on Flog It

BBC's Flog It programme broadcast a segment in 2005 with presenter Paul Martin being shown some of David B Smith's collection of curling memorabilia. Click here, or on the image above, to watch. The YouTube clip is around six minutes only.

The screenshot shows David explaining to Paul what a loofie is!

Curling's history celebrated in restored Thomson's Tower

Thomson's Tower, here seen from across Duddingston Loch, was built by the Duddingston Curling Society whose members first penned the rules of curling. It was their 'curling house' where they met and kept their stones. It was constructed in 1825.

The Tower is an octagonal building designed by William Henry Playfair (1789-1857), a famous Edinburgh architect. Duddingston Curling Society was one of the foremost societies of its time, having a membership of eminent men of the day including peers, baronets, judges, and lawyers. In 1804 the society drew up a Code of Laws by which play was to be regulated. These eventually formed the basis for the rules of curling.

The Tower is within Dr Neil's Garden. More on the history of the club and of the curling house is on the the website of Dr Neil's Garden Trust here.

The Tower was completely derelict until 1978 when it was re-roofed by the Duddingston Village Conservation Society, thanks to donations received from various sources, including Rotarian curlers from Canada.

Over the last two years, Dr Neil's Garden Trust has completely restored the Tower with grant aid from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Trust for Scotland and Historic Scotland. Ian Seath, pictured above, has been instrumental in making the project happen.

The restored building was officially opened on Friday, July 31, 2009. That story is here.

The walls of the curling room have colourful, accurate and informative story boards, such as this one. (Click to view larger size)

The centre of the room has a display case with a variety of treasures!

A number of stones are on display and can be examined closely.

Archive video footage can be watched, bringing curling's history to life. Of particular note, is a film of the 1935 Grand Match on Carsebreck.

Ian Seath with curling historian David B Smith at the official opening of the restored Thomson's Tower.

For details of when Thomson's Tower with the curling exhibit is open, see here. And there's a related history blog post about the Rev John Ramsay, a member of the Duddingston Curling Society, here.