'Crawfordjohns'

by Bob Cowan

These curling stones, which date from the late nineteenth century, are a pair of 'Crawfordjohns'. In an article for the Scottish Curler in March 2008 (modified for the Curling History Blog, and put online here), David Smith elaborated 'Some facts about old stones'. In the days before indoor rinks supplied matched stones, if you wanted to go curling, you had to own your own pair. In that article David listed the names of companies which manufactured curling stones, some retailers, and the variety of types of stone from which curling stones were made. Not all curling stones came from Ailsa Craig!

A lot is known about the quarrying operations on Ailsa Craig, whose stone is still used in the manufacture of stones by Kays of Scotland at their factory in Mauchline. Just recently more stone was harvested from the island, see here. Less is known about other sources of named stones back, say, in 1900 when curling stone manufacture was at its height with seven companies advertising their wares. I have always liked 'Crawfordjohns' - their distinctive black crystalline appearance making them easy to identify.

This is a closeup photograph of the surface of a polished 'Crawfordjohn' stone. The stone is distinctive, and really cannot be confused with any other curling stone types of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It comes from Craighead, in Crawfordjohn Parish. This distinctive stone is an Olivine Monzogabbro, commonly known as 'Essexite', the name coming from the location of a similar rock in Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. I have never studied geology, and this article from the Imperial College Rock Library took me to places I've not been before! However, the cross polarized image of the stone is beautiful to view, and I know now that there is a branch of science called 'petrogenesis', which deals with the origin of igneous rocks.

Craighead quarry is a very obvious scar on the north slope of Craighead Hill, on the small road that leads from the B7078 near Abington, signposted to Crawfordjohn village.

Recently I visited the Crawfordjohn Heritage Venture and I discovered that only a little was known about Craighead quarry and its association with curling stones. Where were the distinctive curling stones made, and by whom? This post attempts to answer these questions, and provides other information such as when such stones were first offered for sale, and how they performed in comparison to those obtained from Ailsa Craig.

The British Newspaper Archive is a wonderful research resource! Here are three advertisements which show 'Crawfordjohn' stones for sale over the years.

Advertisements of Crawfordjohn stones for sale begin to appear in the 1850s. Here is an ad from the Dundee, Perth, and Cupar Advertiser in 1858.

I am sure that most curlers who now curl in Scotland's capital city have no idea that Edinburgh once had a 'Curling Stone Depot'. This seems to have been a diversification venture by James Clark, Wine Merchant. Crawfordjohn stones are first to be listed in this advert above, from the Edinburgh Evening News in 1874.

In 1897, a monumental sculptor in Dundee was advertising 'Crawfordjohns' in the Evening Telegraph, 'Guaranteed Two Seasons'!

The main curling stone makers advertised in the Annual of the Royal Caledonian Club. Some of these adverts listed the various sources from which curling stones were obtained. Others did not. In the Annual for 1892-93, D R Gordon, Curling Stone Manufacturer, of Bathgate, advertised both 'Crawfordjohns' and Ailsa Craigs. In the same year, David Beveridge, Curling Stone Manufacturer, of Perth, advertised the sale of 'Crawfordjohn' stones alongside "Red Hone Ailsa, Common Ailsa, Burnock Water, Muthill, etc. etc." 'Crawfordjohns' were highlighted: 'A Special Lot', highly polished, and guaranteed for Two Seasons.'

Note that both Fairweather and Beveridge made mention of a two year guarantee for 'Crawfordjohns'. Did this imply that there was some doubt about the quality of the stone and that there was need of such a guarantee? Or that the stone was of such high quality that it could be guaranteed, whereas stones from other places could not be?  

As late as December 1912, George Stephen and Son of Dundee was advertising 'Crawfordjohn' stones for sale in the Dundee Courier.

Adverts by Thomas Thorburn of Beith describe the company as the 'Largest, Cheapest, and Best' manufacturer of stones. David B Smith, in his book, Curling: An Illustrated History says that Thorburn's factory in Ayrshire was within easy reach of all the favoured sources of the raw material, such as Ailsa Craig, Crawfordjohn and Burnock Water. Thorburn's adverts don't mention 'Crawfordjohns' specifically, but this is not to say that such stones were not made by that company.

The oldest (named) curling stone manufacturer is Andrew Cowan of Barbieston. Cowan's business book, which extends from 1865 to 1889, has survived, and although it notes the purchase of blocks of Ailsa Craig, Burnock Water and Carsphairn, there is no mention or 'Crawfordjohn' or Craighead.

The 'blocks' of stone referred to above represent the earliest stage in the manufacture of curling stones. These roughly hewn cylindrical blocks were shaped in the quarry and sent on to the curling stone manufacturer. There's a photo of this being carried out on Ailsa Craig here. These blocks are often referred to as 'cheeses'. The blocks are then shaped and polished.

I have not (yet) come across a Craighead 'cheese'. More research needs to be done to ascertain where the final stages in the manufacture of 'Crawfordjohn' stones was carried out.

'Crawfordjohn' curling stones are so-called because the stone was found at Craighead, which is in Crawfordjohn Parish. Stones were finished from Craighead blocks as far afield as Bathgate and Perth (as mentioned above), and perhaps at other places. There is no evidence that this process occurred near Craighead quarry itself, nor in Crawfordjohn village.

David Smith has in his collection this early, single-soled stone, which is clearly a 'Crawfordjohn' stone. It dates from the first half of the nineteenth century. This is not necessarily to say that this early stone was made from rock quarried at Craighead. It may have been made from a boulder found on the surface around Craighead, or even in the nearby Duneaton Water. Boulders, rather than quarried rock, made for the best curling stones, see below. In A History of the Old Parishes of the Upper Clyde, compiled by William A Fleming, the author suggests that Craighead is so named because of 'a remarkable craig or rock which overhung the Duneaton Water there but has now been undermined, quarried, or carried away.'

A few years ago, I climbed up Craighead Hill and took this photo of a vein of Essexite just appearing at the surface. I wondered then just who it was that first realised that the stone poking through the grass on the slopes of Craighead Hill would be worth quarrying for curling stones? Of course, if curling stones were already being made from boulders found locally, it is perhaps not surprising that someone might have been looking from where these boulders had come, and from where more such stone might be obtained by quarrying.

It is possible to put a name to that 'someone'! Census records in 1841 show that Thomas Milligan (35) with his wife Ann (35), son William (6) and twins Andrew and Robert (2) were living near Craighead. Thomas was an 'agricultural labourer'. Ten years later Thomas and his family, now including Elizabeth (9), Agnes (7) and Jessy (3) were living at Craighead Cottage. Thomas described himself as a 'stone quarrier', and William, now 16, was similarly identified. William died ten years later, just before the next census, aged just 26. In 1861, Thomas was a 'quarryman - stone'.

Craighead Cottage can be found on old OS 6 inch maps. The image above is a composite - the cottage and the main quarry are on different maps. These maps were surveyed in 1858 and 1859, and can be found online at the National Library of Scotland's maps website here. In the late 1850s the quarry on the hill (to the south east of the cottage, and shown in the photos above and below) was very small. In later maps, it can be seen clearly that this quarry has increased in size, and two other quarries on the hillside can now be identified. But what was taken from the quarry marked just north of the cottage on the map above is uncertain. Just a trace of that quarry can be seen on the ground today.

The trees on the right of this photo indicate where Craighead Cottage once stood. It seems to have been demolished in the 1960s.

Thomas Milligan died in 1862. His widow, Ann, remained at Craighead Cottage. The Dumfries and Galloway Standard of January 3, 1866, recorded the marriage of son Robert Milligan (curling-stone maker, Craighead) to Mary Shankie, at West Port, Lanark, on December 29, 1865, and the pair were living with Ann at Craighead in 1871.

Robert's brother Andrew also found a wife, Grace, from Tongue, in Sutherland. They were living in 1871 at Bridgend, just north of Craighead Cottage, on the main Carlisle to Glasgow road where it bridged the Duneaton Water. Andrew is described as a 'labourer'.

The Post Office Directory in 1878 has an entry for Andrew and Robert Milligan, curling stone manufacturers, Craighead Quarry, near Abington.

It would seem that sometime in the 1870s the two brothers and their families made a 'house swap'.

In 1881, Andrew, aged 42, was now living at Craighead Cottage with Grace and their five children. The census records describe him as a 'curling stone maker'. His mother Ann (77) was also still living at Craighead and was described as a 'curling stone maker's widow'. Robert and Mary were now at Bridgend. Robert is a 'general labourer'.

Andrew and Robert Milligan carried on the quarrying of rock at Craighead to make curling stones for the next twenty years or so. Andrew is listed as a 'curling stone maker' at Craighead Cottage in the census records of 1891 and 1901. He died in 1902. Robert outlived his brother and is listed in the census records at Bridgend in 1901 and 1911 as a 'curling stone maker'. He died in 1918.

Thomas Milligan is buried in the graveyard of Crawfordjohn Parish Church, now the home to the Crawfordjohn Heritage Venture. The headstone says, "Erected in memory of Thomas Milligan, Craighead Cottage, who died 5th Feby, 1862, aged 53. Ann Campbell his wife who died 5th May 1887 aged 83 years. Elisabeth their daughter who died 10th August 1855 aged 14 years. William their son died 10th Decr 1860 aged 26 years. Barbara Marchbanks wife of William who died 20th Oct 1861 aged 24 years."

Andrew and Robert Milligan are buried nearby. Andrew's headstone says, "Erected by Andrew Milligan, Craighead Cottage, in memory of his daughter Elisabeth who died 11 Feb 1880 aged 8 yr, son Archibald Edward Robertson, died 16 Jan 1895 aged 21 yr, the above Andrew Milligan died 12 March 1902 aged 63. Also Grace Roberson his widow died at Netherlee, 25 Jan 1919, aged 74."

Robert's headstone is inscribed, "Erected by Robert Milligan in memory of Mary Shankley, his wife, who died at Duneaton Bridge, 1st May, 1913, aged 73 years. The above Robert Milligan, died 4th May, 1918, aged 78 years. Jane their daughter died at Innerleithen 27th Oct 1928 aged 59 years. Ann their daughter wife of John Davis died Sheffield 14th Aug 1934. Also Mary daughter of the above Robert and Mary Milligan died at Buxton 9th Aug 1964 aged 91 years interred Chinley Chapel, Derbyshire 12th August 1964."

The Milligan family then is synonymous with the quarrying of the stone from which so many 'Crawfordjohn' curling stones were made.

It should be emphasized that even though various members of the family were described as 'curling stone makers' this does not imply that they produced completed curling stones. It is more likely that they supplied just the crude blocks which were finished by others, elsewhere in the country.

There is one other name that is associated with the making of curling stones. John Stevenson is mentioned in the curling exhibit at the Crawfordjohn Heritage Venture. In the census records for 1891 John Stevenson is aged 26, and listed as 'stonebreaker '. In 1901, he is 35, unmarried, and is now working as a 'road metal contractor'. William Fleming, in his book about Crawfordjohn Parish (mentioned above), notes that John Stevenson worked the whinstone quarry at Crofthead producing whinstone chips for the road. Fleming writes, "He made fine curling stones using only a chisel and mallet, the finished product being highly polished." Crofthead is to the south west of Crawfordjohn village, and some distance from Craighead. Whether Stevenson made stones from Craighead rock, rather than the local whinstone, is not known.

So, how well did 'Crawfordjohn' stones perform on the ice?

James Taylor in Curling: An Ancient Scottish Game (2nd edition, 1887) quotes from James Brown's History of the Sanquar Curling Society which contains information on which curling stones had been used at different times by that club. This refers to the stones as 'Craigheads' from near the village of Crawfordjohn, rather than as 'Crawfordjohns' which was the name adopted later. "Craigheads are likewise good stones. Their peculiar excellence is the property they have of being very keen on soft ice and in water. A great drawback to their general adoption is their great brittleness. Some do stand well, and any curler is fortunate who has a pair of that sort; but as a rule they are easily broken."

The Reverend John Kerr includes a chapter on 'The science of curling' in his book, History of Curling; and fifty years of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, published in 1890. Examples of different types of stone were submitted to Professor Forster-Heddle, an eminent geologist, for his assessment of how good curling stones could be made from the material. In 'adjudicating relative total merits', Forster-Heddle rated the stone in this table:

It is interesting that the Forster-Heddle makes the point that curling stones made from boulders (rounded by ice, or weathered on the surface) are better than those made from quarried stone.

Kerr, incidentally, had earlier written about his own preference in curling stones in his chapter 'Curling' in The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes: Skating, Figure-skating, Curling etc, 1892. Kerr writes, "Personally, we prefer Burnock Water to any other, and accordingly have always played with that variety of stone. We have also the testimony of many brethren of the rink in its favour. A great many Scottish curlers, however, unhesitatingly give first place to the Crawfordjohn variety. As a true stone, it is certainly worthy of highest praise. If it can be secured as a boulder or kernel, and got into shape, it is perhaps of all stones the best, and its beauty is undeniable. But blocked in the quarry as it generally is, it is more liable to break than Burnock, and the stone-makers have so many 'failures' in grinding this particular kind of stone that it does not 'pay' them to work it."

Bertram Smith, in The 'Shilling' Curler published around 1912, describes the merits of various stone types. He says, "The Crawfordjohn. This stone is rapidly becoming scarce. It is like the Burnock Water, but of a mottled 'plum-pudding' appearance and not quite so heavy. It has been found, especially in severe frost, somewhat liable to crack. But it is nevertheless a beautiful and sympathetic stone."

There's further evidence that 'Crawfordjohns' ran well when conditions were poor. Even though new stones were no longer being made, 'Crawfordjohn' stones remained in use on outside ice through the twentieth century (and indeed still may be seen today when the opportunity to play on natural ice arises). The Grand Match in 1929 was played under difficult conditions. The ice was soft, sleet had fallen overnight, some rinks were inches deep in water, and others rinks had to be marked a second time towards the end of the game, so soft had the ice surface become! It was reported in the Dundee Courier of Wednesday, January 30, 1929, "During a pause in the game some old curlers discussed the relative merits of Crawfordjohns, Ailsa Craigs Red and Grey Hones, and other technical points, and some said that those using Crawfordjohns were having the best of the luck as these were best on dull ice. The Ailsa Craig, it appears, has few rivals on keen ice."

Others commented on the scarcity of the stone in the early years of the twentieth century. In the Pictorial Guide to Upper Clydesdale, published in 1907, George Haddow writes, "For several years these stones have not been much in evidence in the market. There has always been a steady demand for them but it is asserted that the manufacturers had difficulty in making them to sell at a remunerative price because of the large percentage of waste. It is quite admitted by competent judges that the real Craighead stone is not inferior to the popular Ailsa, and it is to be hoped that the new lessees of the quarry are doing all in their power to secure on a lasting basis the prestige of Crawfordjohns."

In 1910, Craighead quarry was let to Messrs Anderson and Sons for £13 per annum. There is no evidence to suggest that stone from the quarry was supplied to make curling stones beyond this time, although it was certainly used as road metal and even for house walls. Craighead ceased to be a working quarry sometime in the first quarter of the twentieth century, and has been abandoned for many years.

What remains to be seen today?

The main quarry is really much larger than it looks from the roadside. Such is the size of the 'hole', it is quite apparent that the rock removed from the quarry was used for purposes other than just for curling stones!

Here and there is still evidence of the 'Crawfordjohn' stone.

However, further up on the hillside is a smaller quarry with a large heap of spoil all with the classic appearance of the 'Crawfordjohn' curling stone. On seeing these small blocks I did wonder if they could be used to make 'wee curling stones' ie small curling stone replicas, as paperweights or trophies.

I was not the first to think of this idea! Here is a 'wee stone' from the David B Smith collection, made from Craighead rock. (That's a £2 coin to give size.) The handle is engraved:

"Mrs A C Young's Prize

Murren

2nd Feb 1912

Won by

A B Hepburn"

My thanks go to the volunteers at the Crawfordjohn Heritage Centre for much help in my research for this post, and to my co-blogger David Smith for his encouragement and for allowing me to photograph items from his collection. The photographs of Craighead Quarry are my own. Please contact me if you have any further information on the topic.

Original version of this post was updated on September 30, 2013.

The Prisoners of War who curled in Oflag IX A/H

by Bob Cowan

Many years ago, when I first heard the story that WW2 prisoners of war had been sent curling stones so that they could play during their captivity, I was somewhat skeptical. But in 2007 I decided to follow it up, and contacted the National Ex-Prisoner of War Association, who distributed my query for more information. A couple of years later a response was posted in the 'guest book' from family of Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) R K Montgomery to say he remembered that some POWs in Oflag IX A/H in 1943 and 1944 'flooded the dry moat and then it froze so that they could go curling on the moat. It was a popular pastime'.

The story stayed in the back of my mind until recently when Ian Seath brought to my attention the above photo, captioned 'Curling Match at Oflag IX A/H'! The photo had been used as part of an AV display in the historical curling exhibition in Thomson's Tower at Duddingston, see here. I also found that a book containing information about Oflag IX A/H had been published in 2012, written by Peter Green, who had also made available online the names of some of the POWs who had been in the camp towards the end of the war. I decided to piece together all that I could find about the curling and the curlers in this German POW camp for a post on the Curling History blog. (There's more about the photograph and the book below.) 

The story should probably begin with the history of the 51st Highland Division. After serving with distinction in the first World War, the Division was mobilised again in 1939 for deployment to France in January 1940 as part of the British Expeditionary Force. After the initial operations, as the BEF retired on Dunkirk, the Division formed a defensive perimeter around Saint-Valery-en-Caux. In what is described as 'its darkest chapter', the Division was isolated, hoping to be embarked by sea as at Dunkirk. But this was not to happen, the Division was eventually forced to surrender on June 12, 1940, and some 10,000 officers and men became POWs for the duration of the war. The division commander was Major General Victor Fortune. There is a photograph of him beside Erwin Rommel on this page of the official website of the 51st Division describing the events leading up to the surrender at Saint-Valery. General Fortune was one of the most senior British officers taken prisoner in World War II.

There's still lots of controversy about what happened at Saint-Valery, for example see here and here.

General Fortune, with some of the other Scottish officers, eventually found themselves in Oflag IX A/H in Germany. Oflag was an abbreviation for ‘Offizierslager’. This was a camp just for officers. The camp was in ‘Wehrkreis IX’ (military district 9), which explains the number. Oflag IX A/H was the senior camp at Spangenberg; the ‘H’ being an abbreviation for 'Hauptlager' or main camp. To complicate matters a little, there was an 'upper camp' in Schloss Spangenberg, a thirteenth century castle overlooking the town, and a 'lower camp' in a converted farm in the village of Elbersdorf, close to Spangenberg. A few miles further south at Rotenburg an der Fulda, was Oflag IX A/Z. The ‘Z’ is an abbreviation for 'Zweiglager' or sub camp. Kassel in Hesse is the closest main centre to the camps.

It would have been some time in 1942 or early in 1943 when the Royal Caledonian Curling Club received a request from General Fortune for curling stones to be sent to the camp in Schloss Spangenberg. It is a little unclear just how his request for stones reached long-serving Royal Club Secretary Andrew Hamilton in Edinburgh. It would seem to have originated from Eleanor Fortune (who by this time was able to communicate with her husband in Oflag IX A/H) via Sir Colin MacRae of Feoilinn, who had been the Royal Club's President in 1935-36. He had service links with the 51st Highland Division in his past military career, and probably knew General Fortune well.

It should be said at this point that the officer prisoners of war were not required to work. It might seem that this would have made for an easy life, but boredom was a big problem they faced. That General Fortune was behind the request for curling stones to be sent to the camp as a way of relieving such boredom is certainly in line with what is known of the man, according to his daughter-in-law Susan Fortune who, in reminiscences recorded in 2001 (see here) said “He did a tremendous amount for the prisoners of war, writing and making sure they had everything they should have, and so on. He was knighted because of his work for them. The prisoners had all sorts of activities and sports. They had their own paper.”

Andrew Hamilton planned to procure eight pairs of stones and handles in Switzerland, and somehow get them to General Fortune in Germany. This was all organised with the help of Major K M Beaumont of London, a member of the St Moritz Curling Club (and author of Some Finer Points of Swiss Curling, published in 1935). Others involved were Maurice Graham CBE (also a member of the St Moritz Club), and Anton Badrutt of the Kulm Hotel, St Moritz, where curling in Switzerland had begun in 1880 and whose rinks had been home to the St Moritz CC ever since. It was Badrutt who arranged for the despatch of the stones by the International Red Cross Committee, with the involvement of a Mr Vidler, formerly assistant manager of the winter sports department of Thomas Cook and Son Ltd, who in 1942 was with of the Prisoners of War Department of the British Red Cross Society.

Between the wars there were many Swiss resorts which offered the opportunity to curl during the winter months. The Annual of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club for 1937-38 lists thirty-nine affiliated curling clubs, many of whose members were British who could afford a winter trip to curl and take part in competitions. Six of these clubs were in St Moritz where at least three hotels maintained their own outside curling rinks. This activity, at least that which involved visitors, ceased during the war years of course, and one assumes that there were a fair number of curling stones 'in store' during that time. Whether the stones obtained at St Moritz had to be purchased, or were a gift, is not known.

It seems to me quite remarkable that Andrew Hamilton's plan succeeded! At the Annual General meeting of the Royal Club held in the North British Station Hotel, Edinburgh, on Wednesday, July 28, 1943, it was noted that these stones 'had arrived'.

The following year, on May 5, 1944, The Times published a letter from General Fortune's wife, Eleanor:

"CURLING IN A PRISON CAMP
To the Editor of The Times
Sir, - May I through your columns express on behalf of the prisoners of war in Oflag IX A/H their very real gratitude to all those who so kindly sent curling stones. My husband tells me that the officers were able to enjoy during the winter some excellent curling and that some keen competitions were played.
Yours truly
Eleanor Fortune
Aberdalgie House, Perth"

When the war was over, the Annual General Meeting of the Royal Club was again held in the North British Station Hotel in Edinburgh, on July 25, 1945. A letter was read out from General Fortune: 

"Dalswinton, Dumfries
July 2, 1945
Dear Mr Hamilton
I have recently come out of hospital in the south and come north to Scotland. My wife tells me that the Caledonian Curling Club was largely responsible for the curling stones which were sent to Oflag IX A/H two years ago. We actually got them through the British Consul in Geneva and I never knew until I got home actually where they came from, although I realised that they were in response to an appeal made by my wife. Actually sixteen arrived, first four, and a little later another twelve. During the winter of '43-44, we had about 26 days' curling; during the winter of '44-45 we had about 30 days' curling. I can assure you that the curling made all the difference to our life in the camp, and we must have taught over 100 Englishmen to curl."

The General goes on to explain that the stones were all packed up in preparation for liberation, but would likely have been destroyed when the Schloss was bombed.

Lieutenant Colonel Ian Barclay of the Seaforth Highlanders actually attended the RCCC AGM in Edinburgh in 1945 and spoke on behalf of General Fortune and the officers of Oflag IX A/H. Barclay had served in the 51st Division and had been captured at Saint-Valery. (His name is mentioned in passing in the detailed report of Captain DB Laing's escape to Syria after his capture in France which has been printed in this forum thread.) Lieutenant Colonel Barclay provides a detailed account of the curling at Spangenberg. He tells about being able to obtain in the winter of 1942-43 'some rather queer kind of stones, made of wood' that the Bavarians used for a game like curling. These were probably the 'stocks' used in the sport of eisstockschiessen, or 'Bavarian curling', which is still played today, see here and here.

Then he goes on:
"Two years ago we were able to make a start with the curling stones. Our curling, of course, was carried out in a very restricted area in the moat of this old castle in which we lived. You will wonder how we managed that. There was no water in the moat and we had to beat down the snow to make a surface and water it every day and every evening until finally we got a skin of ice on it, and that was where we curled. Unfortunately, one end of the rink was about 2 feet lower than the other end, so you had to keep your hand in when curling down the hill. However, that worked quite well and we had some very good sport indeed. We used to be curling from half-past eight in the morning – that was when we were allowed out of our rooms – and it just went on all day, with a few battles with the people who wanted to skate, until nightfall."

The camp contained officers from many countries, not just from Scotland. No official records seem to have survived, but it is likely that the upper camp in the Schloss held more than 200 prisoners. That other POWs had been grateful for the curling stones is backed up by a letter sent in 1946 to RCCC Secretary Andrew Hamilton from the Secretary of the Canadian Branch of the Royal Club thanking those individuals who had sent the stones which had been used by 'some of the men from Canada who had been prisoners of war'.

Some years later, the Scottish Curler of December 1954 ran an article about Lieutenant Colonel T Harris Hunter telling the POWs' story at a dinner of the Kilgraston and Moncrieffe Curling Club. (Harris Hunter, a former chairman of the Perth branch of the Scottish Country Dance Society, is one of those credited with devising the 'Reel of the 51st Division' with Jimmy Atkinson when they were in Oflag VII B in 1941, see here, and watch a recreation of this dance performed by soldiers here.)  At some point he too was imprisoned in Oflag IX A/H, and in the magazine article is quoted as saying, "Scots of the 51st Highland Division found themselves resigned to a somewhat prolonged continental holiday as the reluctant guests of Adolf Hitler." He confirmed that the prisoners had initially played with what he called 'skittles with a broad base covered in tin which the Germans apparently used for some kind of game on snow'. Undoubtedly these were the 'stocks' of eissstockchiessen. This was before the Royal Club arranged for sixteen real curling stones to be delivered to the camp. An important extract from this 1954 article is that Harris Hunter said, "It provided an outlet for the boredom which is the worst feature in the life of the 'Kreigie'." (Kriegies were what the POWs called themselves. It is short for 'Kriegsgefangenen', the German word for prisoner of war.)

The article concluded, "This is a story which is not just as well known as it ought to be. It is a fine example of the interest taken by the RCCC in the ordinary curler and the trouble that the Royal Club will take to assist curlers, wherever they may be, to enjoy their traditional game. Today, there are enthusiasts south of the border who will look back to their first game behind the barbed wire in a foreign land."

So what about the photograph which heads this article? Below the main caption, (already noted which reads 'Curling Match at Oflag IX A/H') is the following information: 'Officers in a German prison camp played a curling match, Britain v The Dominions, won by the Dominions with last stone. Players seen in this picture are: Major Painchaud (Canada), Captain James (Wales), Major Merton (England), Major Rattray (New Zealand), Lieutenant the Hon J Macdonnell (Ireland), Brigadier Haytor (South Africa), General Fortune (Scotland), Brigadier Cooper (South Africa), Padre Forrest (Australia), Lieutenant Acton (England). The spot where the players are standing serves as a cricket pitch during the summer.'

There are ten persons pictured. General Fortune is easily identified as the tallest of the group, fourth from the right. Perhaps General Fortune and Brigadier Cooper were the two non-playing captains of the two teams? Close examination of the photo shows that rudimentary brooms had been obtained or perhaps made. One wonders whether they played off hacks or crampits. 

The picture had been found loose in a minute book of the Duddingston Curling Club. Ian Seath suggests a reason for this. Andrew Hamilton, the Royal Club Secretary, who had been instrumental in arranging for the stones to be obtained and sent from Switzerland to Germany, had previously been secretary of the Duddingston Club for eleven years. It can be assumed that he would have been interested in any report of the curling at Spangenberg.

But who had taken the photo, and when and where had it been published? Peter Green provides the best answers. He suggests that the most probable source is The Prisoner of War magazine (see an example here). This was published and distributed by the International Red Cross, issued monthly and sent to prisoners’ families. It has been criticised because the Red Cross portrayed a false impression of conditions at the camps and tended not to mention the hardship faced by the prisoners. An 'international curling match' would have been ideal 'feel good' subject matter for the magazine. I have been unable to find if a complete archive of these magazines has been preserved anywhere, so that the inclusion of the curling photo in this publication can be confirmed.

Peter also informs me that General Fortune and Brigadier Cooper were transferred away from the Spangenberg camp, with other senior officers, in 1944. This means that the photo was taken sometime during the first winter that the stones were available for play, the winter of 1943-44, presumably by a Red Cross photographer during an inspection visit to the camp.

General Fortune suffered a stroke sometime in late 1944 (whilst playing badminton it seems) but refused to be repatriated, preferring to remain a prisoner alongside those he had commanded, see here. He was liberated in 1945 from a hospital in Limburg by a US First Army tank column, that story being told by war correspondent James McDowall in the Aberdeen Journal, Wednesday, March 28, 1945. McDowall writes, "When the Americans entered it (the hospital) he was walking about with the aid of a cane, dressed in battledress, and already in command of the establishment." His batman, Private McAllister, who had served with him for ten years, was still at his side.

General Fortune received a knighthood in 1945 particularly because of his efforts on behalf of fellow prisoners during his captivity.

Major General Sir Victor Morven Fortune KBE, CB, DSO died on January 2, 1949, aged 65, at his home in Dalswinton, near Dumfries. He is buried in Auchencairn Cemetery (on the Solway Coast between Dalbeattie and Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway), alongside his wife Eleanor (see here).

The fate of the prisoners in Oflag IX A/H and A/Z is told in Peter Green's book, The March East 1945: The Final Days of Oflag IX A/H and A/Z, published by Spellmount in 2012. Peter's father had been imprisoned in the latter camp. The evacuation of the camps as the American army approached and the subsequent marches is told in detail and makes fascinating reading. Buy it here.

Peter has produced a partial list of those who were in Oflag IX A/H when Schloss Spangenberg was abandoned in 1945 and the POWs marched out, see here. Three of those mentioned in the story above, Lieutenant Colonel Ian Barclay, Captain Montgomery and Lieutenant Colonel Harris Hunter are all on this list.

Peter also supplies this further eye witness statement about the curling from his files. It is from Lieutenant Ron Johnson, Glider Pilot Regiment, Spangenberg Upper Camp, "Tried ice–skating and curling. I found curling better, because my skates fell off." This was during the winter of 1944-45.

Schloss Spangenberg was bombed by the USAAF and remained a burned out shell until rebuilt in the late 1950s to become a hotel. The photo above, taken in 2010 by Ingmar Runge, shows the view from the Melsunger Strasse in Spangenberg, looking towards Schloss Spangenberg on the hill. The original image is here.  Many other images of the renovated building can be found online, see here.

But I was excited to find this one, taken by Dave Black in 2005, which shows the moat, and could indeed be the area in which the POWs are standing in the photo of the curling above. Compare it for yourself!

My thanks go to Ian Seath for bringing the Oflag IX A/H curling photo to my attention, and for his encouragement in helping me to unravel this story, and to Peter Green for much help and advice. If anyone reading this can add any further information, please get in touch.

However trivial an article about POWs curling might seem to some, it is not my intention to detract from the hardships that so many suffered in POW camps during WW2. "Lest we forget."

Postscript: In 1945 and 1946 no fewer than 130 pairs of curling stones were sent out to Germany for use by troops stationed there after the war. But that's another story!

A Pouch for Your Handles

David B Smith writes:

When the handle came to be a necessary part of the curling stone it was at first permanently fixed to the top surface of the stone. This meant that only one sole of the stone could be run on, hence the name 'single-soled' stone. If the ice conditions meant that this stone did not run too well, another stone had to be used in its place and for the whole of the game. The handle was generally permanently fixed by lead or plaster into an eccentrically placed hole chiselled into the top of the stone.

This expedient did not, however, prevent the use of the stone by a non-owner if the owner was absent. The solution to that problem, if it was a problem, was solved by permanently fixing a metal post or peg into the top of stone, and attaching the handle to that. Such posts were generally triangular or square in cross section. When the proud curler left his beautiful stones in the curling house he could remove the handles, place them in his pocket, and be safe from fear that they might be misused in his absence.

These handles, because they were usually attached to the post by screws of a wide variety of design, have attracted the name of 'front screw handles'.

Examples of this kind of handle occur in brass with wooden grips, in a mixture of brass and iron with wooden grips, in iron with wooden grips and brass trimmings, in solid iron, and, very occasionally, in pure brass.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the 'double-soled' stone was becoming universal. The handle was attached by being screwed onto a bolt which passed right through the centre of the stone.

By enabling the use of both soles it was possible to configure each sole differently. The most notable difference, which can be easily seen on most surviving outdoor stones, is that one sole was more highly polished than the other, hence the common way of referring to them as 'the keen side' and 'the dull side'. But the manufacturer could also create different widths of running surface, deeper cups, and, in fact, any particular difference which the owner desired.

Since the bolt could vary in diameter, and since the thread on it could also vary, it was important to keep handle and bolt together. The handle plus the bolt made an uncomfortable load for a pocket. The solution to this problem was the creation of the curling stone handle pouch.

My researches have thrown up so far only two references to such devices. Both are from The Scotsman newspaper.

The Scotsman, Jan 8, 1864.
“This Club played for their club medal yesterday, and a handsome curling-stone handle pouch, presented by Mr Davidson as a second prize.”

The Scotsman, December 31, 1871.
“The Holyrood curlers competed on Dunsappie yesterday for two prizes presented by the president, Mr Thomas Anderson; a silver medal, the property of the club; and a curling stone handle pouch, presented by Mr Thomas M. Berry, saddler, Leith...”

(Dunsappie is, of course, Dunsappie Loch, the highest of the three in the Queen's Park, an artificial reservoir made when the road through the Park was first constructed.)

It was only in the month of July 2013 that I first saw two such pouches. The were brought to me by the widow of the grandson of Ebenezer Dawson of Dalkeith CC along with some old-fashioned handles. Suffice it to say that one pouch and the handles are now in my collection awaiting the establishment of a permanent museum of curling, and I am extremely grateful to the donor.

The pouch, which was made of fine leather, cleaned up nicely, as can be seen in the photographs. The largest part was a container for a pair of conventional handles, in my case a fine brass pair inscribed: EBEN DAWSON DALKEITH. On each side is a vertical space for holding one bolt. At the back is a pocket for holding the leather washers which secure the handle.

The interior of the pouch bears the maker's stamp: BERRY SADDLER LEITH. The Edinburgh Post Office Directory shows that Thomas M Berry had business premises in Constitution Street, Leith.

Two of the washers have the stamp: J. VANCE EDINBURGH. John Vance, Brassfounder and Curling Stone Handle Maker, 79 Grassmarket, Edinburgh, had an advert in the Annual for 1888-9: for 'Curling Stone Handles in Brass, Gun Metal'. Although the washers bore Vance's stamp, there is no maker's mark on Eben Dawson's handles.

It remains to tell a little about the owner of the handles and presumably the pouch. He was a native of Dalkeith, who lived in Glenesk, Eskbank, and carried on business as a currier and tanner, supplying leather to bootmakers, saddlers and the leather trade generally. He followed his father, the first secretary of Dalkeith Curling Club, into the club and was a highly enthusiatic member for over sixty-two years.

Nationally, he became a Council member of the RCCC in 1906. He had two years of office as Vice-President of the Royal Club - in 1886-7 and 1910-11; and he followed Sir James Gibson Craig in 1911 as President of the Midlothian Province, an office he held for ten years. In 1909 he was selected to skip a Midlothian rink in a test match against one of the first Canadian touring rinks to visit Scotland, and was one of the very few Scots rinks to win.

Top: The pouch beside a stone of common Ailsa on a rug of Ancient Buchanan tartan. Above: The pouch and its contents. The images are © the author.

More Uniroyal: Megeve, 1981

Following the success of the Andrew McQuistin team at the 1980 Uniroyal World Junior Curling Championship, see here, Scotland's representatives at the 1981 competition in Megeve, France, came again from Stranraer. Wilson's team had beaten the McQuistin side to get to the Scottish Junior Championship finals. And in Megeve, Scotland came out on top of the world, for the second year in a row. That's the winners on the podium: (L-R) John Parker (lead), Roger McIntyre (2nd), Jim Cannon (3rd) and Peter Wilson (skip).

Thanks to Norman Brown who preserved a VHS tape of a BBC Television broadcast of the official Uniroyal promotional film, we have a visual record of the event. The first part of the film was a summary of the first six years of the World Junior Championship, which has already been mentioned on the Curling History blog. That link is here.

In the semifinals, Scotland beat the USA, skipped by Ted Purvis, but most of the film is about the matchup between Canada (Denis Marchand, skip) and Sweden (Thomas Norgren, skip). Watch this here.

Part 3 is the Scotland v Canada final. To watch a thirteen minute summary, go here.

Bob Picken narrates in each clip.

All the details about the competition, including the names of the competitors and the results, can be found in the World Curling Federation's Historical Results site, here.

The result was well received back in Scotland, coming as it did on the back of the 1980 success. There was even an open topped bus for the team at the airport!

The Scottish Curler magazine in September 1981 featured the team on the cover, Marlene Dawson making a special presentation to the four Stranraer curlers at the Annual Meeting of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club.

The top photo is from the April 1981 Scottish Curler. The photographer is not named.

The Origins of World Junior Curling

Anyone interested in researching the origins of the World Junior Curling Championships will easily find the records which say that the first event, for junior men, was held in Toronto's East York Curling Club in 1975. The World Curling Federation's 'historical results' pages give the names of the nine competing teams, and the results of all the games, see here.

But a competition like a world junior championship does not 'just happen'. That first event went ahead as a consequence of a number of significant things that took place in the preceding years. I can find nothing online which describes these events, so this post is an attempt to provide some of the information, and expand a little on this summary: "A bonspiel for young curlers at the East York Curling Club was inaugurated in 1968 'to provide curlers under 21 years of age with a highly competitive competition of meaningful stature'. It grew thereafter, as the organisers sought to improve the event each year until it evolved into the Uniroyal World Junior Men's Curling Championship in 1975."

The above is a simple and politically correct statement. Yet it hides a stormy adolescence!

Canadian Bob Picken tells some of the story in chapter 33 of Doug Maxwell's book 'Tales of a Curling Hack', 2006, Whitecap Books, North Vancouver. Bob describes how he was asked by the East York organisers to see if he could get teams from abroad to take part in the competition which had already been running as a local bonspiel for a few years. He was initially 'politely rebuffed' by Robin Welsh, the secretary of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. He went then to Chuck Hay, who got in touch with Norman Smith, the chairman of Glasgow Young Curlers Club. Through Chuck's and Norman's efforts a Scottish team travelled to Canada to compete in 1971. At East York, the team was looked after by the organising committee. The Canadian bonspiel now had the wished for international component!

The photo above shows the Scottish team that took part in the 1971 International Junior Masters: (L-R) David Kelly, Jim Stirling, David Manson and Alfie Cron. They were all members of Glasgow Young Curlers Club and competed under the title of 'University of Glasgow Champions'. Norman Smith accompanied the team.

The programme for the event was a simple folded sheet of A4 paper. The competition took place April 9-11, 1971, and was sponsored by Thorn Press.

The programme comes from David Kelly's own collection of memorabilia, and I am grateful to him for sharing this, and for lending the photos of the team to be included here. (Alfie Cron, one of the great characters of the sport sadly left us far too early. David and Jim are still competing in the senior ranks. If anyone has an update on David Manson please let me know.)

Who were the other competitors? The rear page of the programme (above) shows that the event had a team from West Germany and two from the USA amongst the ten taking part. Where are all these competitors today? And who won this 1971 competition?

The members of the organising committee are also listed.

Here is the Scottish team in action at East York in 1971. Manson is in the head and Kelly and Stirling are the sweepers. It is noted on the back of this photo that it was from the first game the Scots played against the local East York team. The skip and third of that team are listed as Barry Mitchell and Steve Wroblewski, and that could be them watching behind.

The following year there was a playoff at Crossmyloof to see who would go from Scotland. Alfie Cron, Dave Manson, Philip Moore and David Kelly beat Jim Stirling, Ronnie Peat, Kerr Graham and John Halley in a best of three series. Sweden also sent a team that year.

In 1973 Alfie Cron again skipped a Scottish team with Colin Baxter, David Halkerston and David Kelly. Norway and Switzerland became involved.

By 1974 the competition was recognised in the Scottish Curler magazine, which records that the Royal Club was taking an interest in the event. The February 1974 issue had this to say:

"The Royal Club staged a Scottish playdown for the Uniroyal Junior International Championship - in the East York Curling Club, Toronto, from 12th to 14th April. Norman Smith, member of the Royal Club's Scottish Young Curlers Committee, supervised the two-day event in the Scottish Ice Rink, Glasgow, this month. The winners of the five-rink round-robin were Colin Baxter (skip), Robert Kelly, David Halkerston and Gordon Muirhead. They finished ahead of rinks from Edinburgh, Aviemore-Inverness, Falkirk and Stranraer."

In the summer of 1973, Bob Picken recalls how he was approached by David Prentice, who had been chair of the organising committee in 1971 as that year's programme shows, to see if he could help persuade the International Curling Federation to endorse the competition as a world junior championship. The competition had already attracted Uniroyal as a sponsor. Bob's description of the the international curling politics of the time makes interesting reading. After much lobbying in 'back rooms', the proposal came in front of the ICF assembly in Bern, Switzerland, in April 1974. The proposal was favourably received by all but the Royal Club representatives. Their view at the time is stated in the Annual of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club for 1974-75 in the record of the AGM in July, 1974. The President, Adam Cockburn, was in the Chair, and he reported on the activities of the International Curling Federation, as he was one of the reps.

"A proposal to stage a Junior World Championship sponsored by Uniroyal was sanctioned. The Royal Club made representations against the title on the following grounds: (1) that the title 'World' should be limited to the existing World Championships for the Air Canada Silver Broom, and, possibly, to a World Championship for the Ladies, which, I believe, may take place some time in the near future. (2) That the approval of the World Junior title would open the way to future applications for a variety of world titles. We could have under 40's, schoolboys, over 60's and so on, which would tend, we think, to demean the World title itself. We voted against the new title but were outvoted on this occasion and accepted the democratic vote."

There was the matter of participants' age to be decided. This is noted in a further section of Adam Cockburn's report which continues, "After the new title was granted, the Federation's Advisory Committee, on which I myself was represented with Robin Welsh, had a long meeting with Uniroyal representatives and the difficulties of meeting an agreement on age qualifications became apparent."

One can only speculate on what these 'difficulties' were. Of course, the Royal Club's main junior competition was for the TB Murray Trophy which had run from 1959 for young curlers 25 years and under. It began to be called officially the 'Scottish Junior Championship' in the 1970-71 season.
However, the International Curling Federation in 1971 sought views on what the age limits for international junior play should be, and the Royal Club's Scottish Young Curlers' Committee was consulted. In 1972, at the ICF meeting in Garmisch, it was agreed that the standard rule for international junior play should be less than 21 years at July 1, prior to the season in which the competition would be played. This fitted in with the entry requirements for the East York competitions already in force.

Why there should still have been difficulties in 1974 in discussions with the sponsors remains to be explained. Did Uniroyal want an age cutoff different from 21 years? Surely not.

In any case, at the AGM on July 1974, the RCCC Competitions' Committee announced that the Scottish Junior Championship age regulations would be changed 'to conform with the international standard of 21 years for international tournaments to which the winners of our Championship, we hope, will go forward in future years'. The competition for the Murray Trophy was held earlier in the 1974-75 season than it had been in previous years, in December. The first Bank of Scotland Scottish Junior Championship was won by Peter Wilson (skip), Andrew McQuistin (3rd), Neale McQuistin (2nd) and John Sharp (lead). The rink's average age was just 16.

The Wilson team did indeed participate in the first official World Junior Championship in 1975 held at East York. Dave Prentice, mentioned above, headed up the organisation. The history page of the East York club's website (here) records his influence, "A significant highlight of the Club occurred in 1974. Under the direction of Dave Prentice, the East York Curling Club hosted the first Junior World Championships, sponsored by Uniroyal. We are proud to be known as the birthplace of the Junior World Championships. Even today, our most valuable Club member is awarded the Dave Prentice Award; in recognition of the tremendous efforts that Dave took to bring the Juniors to East York."

Note that the impression given here is that the first 'official' World Juniors was held in 1974. This may just be a typo, although Uniroyal did certainly sponsor the Junior Masters in 1973 and 1974, the competition becoming the Uniroyal International Junior Championship.

As already noted, nine countries participated in the first Uniroyal World Junior Curling Championship 1975: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and USA. The trophy was won by Sweden.

Winnipeg's Bob Picken was the distinctive voice of the Uniroyal promotional films of the world junior championships over the years. This was appropriate as he had been made 'honorary chair' of the International Masters in 1972 in recognition of his support for the event. According to this reference, Picken provided radio commentary on thirty-two men's and sixteen women's world curling championships, fifteen world junior championships, thirty-one Canadian men's and twelve Canadian women's championships. He served as the first media relations officer for the World Curling Federation from 1992-94. I first met him when I was a rookie reporter at the Royal Bank Ladies World Championship in Perth in 1980, and I had the privilege to work for him at the World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1994.

Bob Picken won the World Curling Freytag Award in 1987.

You can listen to Bob Picken's narration on this video covering the history of the first six years, 1975-1980, of the Uniroyal World Junior Championship. Click on the image above, or go to the link here. The recording is originally from the 1981 promotional film, which was then broadcast by BBC Television. It has been rescued from a VHS tape of that broadcast, now in the possession of Norman Brown. The quality is not the best, but it does give a flavour of what international junior curling was all about in its earliest years. I particularly like the trousers worn by the Robb King team in 1975, the brooms - both corn and synthetic, the Paul Gowsell sequences, and of course seeing Norman Brown's triple takeout in 1980, in colour this time!

This post has been all about the junior men. What about the girls? Their first official world junior championship did not take place until 1988 in Chamonix, France. The origins of that competition remain to be discussed another time.

Bob Cowan

Thanks to all who have helped me research this article. Please contact me, or comment below, if you can add more detail to the early history of world junior curling, or if you find any errors. The images from the 1971 International Junior Masters are from David Kelly's archive, and are stamped 'Tosh. Dennis Hall Associates Ltd, 233 Richmond St. W. Toronto 2.'

Curling at Midsummer

David B Smith writes:

While my colleagues have recently been spending time and energy finding the precise – and not so precise – locations for curling places in England, I have been wondering about the earliest machine-made ice used for curling in that part of these islands. I refer, of course, to the Glaciarium at Southport in Lancashire.

This ice rink was opened in 1879 and provided ice for skating and curling. From the start 'the Roaring Game' was encouraged by the presentation of a handsome silver shield for which the first competition took place over three days in September 1879. Of the twenty-two English clubs that belonged to the RCCC in 1879, twelve played in the opening competition with two rinks each. Glasgow Lilybank also fielded two rinks and were beaten in the final by Manchester. The Glaciarium did not, however, fulfil the hopes of its proponents and it closed its door after about ten years, despite the efforts of the Royal Club to patronise it by holding their AGM there in July 1885.

That the game and its traditions had passed unchanged into the foreign soil of England is pretty well evidenced by the following poem, which comes from George Hull's The Poets and Poetry of Blackburn, 1902, and was written by Joseph Jardine. The surname betrays his Scottish parentage, though he was born in Blackburn; he was the president of the Burns Club and honorary secretary of Blackburn Caledonian Curling Club. Here is his poem.

CURLING AT MIDSUMMER
Blackburn v Preston
 
They say that wonders never cease – and, faith! I think it's true,
For there's scarce a day that passes but we hear o' something new.
The electric light will banish night – so Edisonians cry;
And now to crown the wondrous list, we've curling in July.
 
And here I am constrained to tell – methinks no trifling theme -
How at the shore our gallant boys met Preston's chosen team.
Fully equipped wi' broom and stane, they started in full glee,
With buoyant hearts and courage high, intent on victorie.
 
For skips – there was Ayrshire Willie, a gey auld-farrant chiel,
The whom nane better lo'es a joke, or a guid roaring spiel;
“Gie me but Connell.” and he says, “Whatever may betide,
Be it drug or keen, or rough or smooth, I'll whip the countryside.”
 
The next was Yates, the quiet man – a true man all the same -
And though he taks it quietly, his heart is in the game:
Well known and well respected, and, though he will not boast,
A keen, keen curler, and a skip who's always at his post.
 
Last but not least was brave Buckley – to gie him his just dues,
He's a chiel that always likes to win, and always hates to lose;
But he pulls his grim moustache at times at sic a fiery rate,
Spectators in amazement stand, and tremble for its fate.
 
Arrived – Tam told the Preston men “their skill would be no use,
As he'd wi' him the finest rink that Blackburn could produce.”
But when Preston gained an end or two, poor Tam grew unco still,
All stared at him, and all agreed he looked strange and ill.
 
“Look ill! Look ill! Wha tell't ye sae?” Tam answered wi' a frown,
An' Then he swallowed lemonade to wash the paleness down,
But 'twas in vain; and stronger stuff, it wasna to be had,
So Tam made shift wi' lemonade, but swore it was too bad.
 
The Glaciarium, Lourie says, “It is an awfu' spot,”
For though his feet were cauld as ice, his head was hissing hot,
And raised a mist that grew so thick, Gibson began to hog,
And swore he “couldna thraw his stanes through sic a drenchin' fog.”
 
Then Jamie Yates and wee Kit Wells, they couldna weel agree;
Yates, he declared “that Kit wad stand naewhere but on the tee”;
In vain he prayed, in vain he stormed, Kitty just jumped and roared
That if they had taken his advice Preston wad ne'er had scored.
 
I needna gi'e ye mair details: suffice it then to say
They played a weel-contested game, and Blackburn won the day.
The sun had set an hour or mair, the stars shone clear and bricht,
When the Blackburn Caledonians arrived at hame that nicht.
 
As Connell and Archie arm in arm walk'ed down Ainsworth Street,
Baith were sae glad that they had won, they couldna help but greet;
Their brooms did them such service then as they'd ne'er done before,
As solemn and slow they marched till they reached the elder's door.`
 
And there they stood. Said Archie then, as he held out his hand -
“Willie, we'll play aught there is in this or any other land.
Play them! ay, whae'er they be, Scotch, English, a' the same,
On real or artificial ice, for ony sum they name.”
 
And here Gillespie joined them, who led sae weel that day;
They quieted Archie doon a bit, and led him safe away;
Then 'twas agreed they'd a' adjourn to a neighbour's hoose awee,
To talk the day's proceedings ower, and taste the barley bree.
 
They sat them down in richt good trim – weel oiled, their tongues grew loose,
They joked and laughed, and sang, and quaffed, and soon got unco crouse;
But when they rose to dander hame the nicht was weel-nigh through,
And the bottle it was empty, but the boys were roarin' fou.
 
Thus ended this eventful day; but ane thing weel I wot,
The stanes will roar o'er ice galore ere this bonspiel's forgot.
Then fill the glass, round let it pass – nae heel-taps, drink it fair;
Here's to the game that bangs them a', and to curlers everywhere.

The curlers named in the poem were all members of the Caledonian CC, as can be deduced from the RCCC Annual for 1880-1881.

'Ayrshire Willie' was William Ferguson, the vice-president; 'Connell' was ordinary member William Connell; 'Yates' was ordinary member James Yates; 'brave Buckley' was Samuel Buckley, the club secretary; 'Tam' was probably Thomas Ferguson, member of the committee; 'Lourie' was T P Lowrie, committee member; 'Gibson', the 'hog', was ordinary member William Gibson; 'Kit Wells' may have been extraordinary member C Wills; 'Gillespie' was Thomas Gillespie, ordinary member, but who 'Archie' was is not clear.

This is how the Glaciarium looked. The ice hall extended back from the facade. The illustration is from this website.

Top: Curling at the Southport Glaciarium is from the Illustrated London News, 1885. You can see more of what the rink looked liked inside, from a letterhead in the Holden archive, in the special collections of Bradford University. This shows skaters using the facility, see here.

Mapping England's Curling Places

by Bob Cowan

Last year I was excited to find evidence of curling at Leamington Spa, in England, in the early years of the twentieth century, see here. An old postcard kindled an enthusiasm for finding out more about our sport south of the border, so I joined the 'team' that has been working on the English Curling Places map, which can be found on the Historical Curling Places website. Skip is Lindsay Scotland and vice is Harold Forrester, both bringing their own special expertise to the project. The front end, and head of the 'supporters', is John Brown who, as secretary of the English Curling Association, is committed to promoting research on the sport in England. Coach of course is David B Smith, fellow Curling History blogger, who started things off compiling a database of Scottish curling places some twenty years ago.

The number of places on the English map has grown considerably in past months to over seventy sites, and is still a 'work in progress'. As on the Scottish map a green dot indicates a place that can be precisely identified. A red dot says that the location is as yet imprecise. And a blue dot locates a place where curling is currently played on a regular basis. There is only one such dot on the English map - Fenton's Rink, in Kent. It is planned that supplementary web pages, containing additional information, will link to the map locations.

How is information about curling places tracked down? There are a number of ways. Firstly, there are references to games taking place, with venues indicated, in national and local newspapers, in books, and in the Annuals of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. As more and more old newspapers are digitised and put online, as here, and here, the social history of our sport is made available to any with the patience to search.

For example Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, an English weekly sporting paper published between 1822 and 1886, when it was absorbed by Sporting Life, had some coverage of curling in the later years of its existence. There were reports of the activities of the Malton curling club, and of the two Newcastle clubs (Newcastle and Newcastle Tyneside). In January 1886 there were three mentions of curling at Aske Hall, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, the home of Lawrence Dundas, the 3rd Earl of Zetland, and MP for Richmond, who would become the 1st Marquess of Zetland in August 1892.

The first mention is in the newspaper of January 20, 1886. This says, "Fashionable parties were skating on the Aske Pond. Later in the day the pond was swept and flooded for hockey matches and curling between Darlington and Keplin (sic) today (Wednesday)."

On Thursday, January 21, the newspaper reported (see above) that rinks had been laid out in Aske Park for a match between Darlington and Kiplin curling clubs, the spelling of of the latter club's name having been corrected. However, neither side turned up!

The match between Darlington and Kiplin did go ahead a couple of weeks later, and Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle duly reported the result on February 5. Each club was represented by two teams with Darlington being victorious in both games played, by 24-11 and 19-14. The names of the players is not recorded. However, Aske Park is now 'on the map' as a place where curling took place in the nineteenth century.

The Darlington club had become affiliated to the Royal Caledonian Curling Club in 1878 and in later Annuals it is noted that it had been instituted in 1860. So where did Darlington curlers call home in 1886? Pierremont Park is one possibility, and this webpage has a photograph of curlers on the lake in the 1880s. There are other places for you to explore on the map in and around Darlington where there is evidence for curling having taken place.

The reference to a Kiplin curling club is intriguing. It does not seem that a club with this name ever became a member of the Royal Club. Do any records exist for the club? Was it connected with Kiplin Hall near Catterick? Can YOU help? It is mentioned alongside other north of England clubs such as Newcastle, Durham, Darlington and Malton in old newspapers, but further research remains to be done.

There were certain conditions that a curling club had to fulfil before it could become affiliated to the Royal Club. From the 1850s the General Regulations of the Royal Club stated that "Any Local Curling Organisation shall be admissable into the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, if it consists of at least eight Members, have a designation, and sheet of Ice for its operations, and be governed by Office-Bearers under a code of regulations." (My emphasis)

This implies that all the English curling clubs (as well as those in Scotland) that are listed at various times in old Annuals must have had a 'curling place'! This requirement that clubs had to have their own ice to play on remained in the Royal Club regulations until the 1936-37 Annual, but disappears after that. By this time of course most clubs were curling indoors in ice rinks, although some still maintained an outdoor pond, as indeed some clubs still do even today.

So, do we know where each English club listed in old Annuals had their own pond? No, but the question can be a good starting point for research. You might ask, "Why was Wigan and Haigh so called?" The club was formed in 1861 and admitted to the Royal Club in 1863. Haigh Hall was the English home of the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, and indeed Lord Lindsay is listed as a Patron of the club in the 1874 Annual.

This screenshot of a 1894 map, from the very useful Old Maps website, clearly shows the curling pond in the grounds of Haigh Hall. It still exists. It is mentioned on a recent leaflet describing a walk around the restored windmill in the grounds, which can be downloaded from this article, which says, "Continue past the junction with new road, through the trees on your right is the Curling Pond, constructed in the 19th Century for use in winter for the sport of Curling." All evidence for another 'curling place' that can be precisely located.

Aside from information in newspapers and old Annuals, there are other sources of curling lore. Personal recollections are an example. John Brown has been in correspondence with Ray Smith, who was a member of Blackburn CC, sadly now defunct, and knows much about the club's history and where the members played. (Incidentally, Ray has donated a wonderful old trophy, in the form of a curling stone toddy kettle, to Blackburn museum, see here.)

I've been communicating with a local historian, Maureen Fisher, whose interest in Frizington has helped reveal the existence of a Frizington curling club, and indications of where the Cleator Moor club might have played. Such help has led to new curling places being identified and being put on the English map.

Sometimes lady luck plays a part in discovery. I came across by chance on a dealer's website this postcard of 'Curling on the steelworks reservoir', sent from Barrow-in-Furness, on Jan 1, 1908. The Barrow-in-Furness Caledonian curling club was founded in 1878 and admitted to the Royal Club in 1884. It was still listed in the 1909-10 Annual. And the reservoir can be seen clearly in the Barrow steelworks in maps of the time. Another 'place' for the map.

The photo itself is interesting. Just one game seems to be in progress. There are skaters in the background, and at least two of the spectators are wearing skates! It is not the most attractive of photographs, and surprising that it has been overprinted with 'Season's Greetings!' It was sent to a Miss Cole in nearby Millom and says, "Wishing you a very happy New Year from D Dawson." I wonder why he (I'm making the assumption) picked a curling photograph to send to Miss Cole?

A spot on the map is, of course, just a doorway to finding out who played there, and what life was like for the curlers of the time. For example, the Liverpool curling club had its own pond at Rainhill. It was near the railway station and could host up to four matches at the same time. I've learned recently that the curlers used the railway to get to and from the pond. Some curling occasions raised funds to help those less well off. Whereas Scottish clubs are often recorded as providing 'meal and coals' for the poor (see the mention in this post), the Liverpool curlers provided lobscouse (a local stew) and clogs.

Of course, these nineteenth century curlerswere not without their frustrations. It is recorded (in The History of Curling: and Fifty Years of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club by John Kerr, (David Douglas, Edinburgh, 1890), in the chapter on 'Curling Furth of Scotland'), that an entry in the club's minute book reads, "July 11, 1872. The secretary was instructed to write to Mr Roby, Rainhill, respectfully to request him to keep his duck off the curling-pond." A hazard that, fortunately, curlers today do not have to face indoors! Kerr's book has been digitised, and you can find that reference online here.

But the mention of curling club minutes raises the question. Where are they? All clubs would have kept minutes. Have these priceless records of curling all been thrown away? Or are they still waiting to be found in cupboards or dusty attics, or even in local archives? Can you help?

Lindsay Scotland's email address is here, if you can add anything to the Historical Curling Places database.