The success of the Abington curlers was recorded in the Hamilton Advertiser, and reprinted in the Annual of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club for 1910-11.
"The rather early and, in some opinions, rather severe visitation of Jack Frost, has also been of such duration as to permit of the various representative matches being played on natural ice in the full and joyous freedom of outdoors, and not 'cribb'd, cabin'd and confined' within the narrow limitations of an artificial and autocratic ice rink.
In local curling circles the season, so far as it has gone, has been a memorable one, for the Abington Club have been successful in carrying off the 'blue riband' of Scottish curling, viz. the Royal Caledonian Club trophy, which is played for at the Grand Match at Carsebreck. From this small village, four rinks made the long journey, and returned victorious with the splendid aggregate of 130 shots against their opponents' 36, and the magnificent aggregate of 23 shots, which enabled them to carry off the aforesaid trophy over the heads of their formidable, ancient opponents, Biggar, which club had a gain of 90 shots to its credit.
Abington thus won the prize for the highest aggregate and the highest average, but the rules of the match preclude them from being awarded both prizes. David Paton, who had the honour of of being the skip of the highest rink, with the handsome majority of 40 shots, also carried off a well deserved prize.
On their arrival at Abington Station, the victorious had a splendid reception, their fellow villagers turning out in large numbers. Mr Smith, the indefatigable station-master, had had word of the victory before the curlers arrived, and he speedily communicated with Dr Newbigging, the president of the club, who, as speedily, sent the 'fiery cross' round, in the shape of the Boy Scouts, who roused the whole village to their sense of local patriotism, just as their well-intentioned movement rouses that of the more imperial variety.
A right royal salute of fog signals let the curlers know that something was in the wind, and on alighting at the station they found both platforms packed with the largest turnout that has been seen since the ever-memorable visit of the King. The victorious wielders of the cowe and handle were lined up upon the bridge, and the secretary (Mr R Colthart) called upon for a speech. Thereafter, David Paton's rink were carried shoulder high to the village, preceded by a torchlight procession."
The 1909 Grand Match was significant for a number or reasons, not just because of the early date in the season already mentioned. It had been six years since the previous Match at Carsebreck, although there had been two years of experiment when the match was held indoors over a period of days in the newly opened Scottish Ice Rink at Crossmyloof, April 6-29, 1908, and March 15-April 9, 1909. Although Carsebreck had been a Grand Match venue as far back as 1853, in 1909 the pond had been extended, and an official Royal Club clubhouse erected. The Scottish Central Railway had built a platform, over 600 yards long, to assist the curlers arriving and departing by the special trains which were laid on to Carsebreck Halt. There were 2736 players on the ice. Three hundred and eighteen games were officially part of the Grand Match and another twenty-six games were played which did not count towards the final tally. This was the biggest Grand Match to date. The South was victorious on the day.
One fatality was recorded, that of John Gibson, of East Kilpatrick, who died suddenly on the ice. The 1910-11 Annual contains an obituary which notes that, "All day he had played an uphill game, for he was feeling far from well, although he was too considerate for the feelings of others to spoil their enjoyment with his complaints; and he had all but finished his last 'head' when he suddenly expired." He was sixty-six years old. Reading the obituary it is very apparent that Gibson was a good curler, a skip, and well respected. Incidentally, he was a grand nephew of Robert Burns wife Jean Armour, "a relationship of which he was quietly proud," according to JHD the writer of the obituary.
The top photo of Abington Station is by John Robin, and is used with his permission. You can find more of John's photos, old and new, here.
The names are given as follows:
Jas Hunter, W Thomson, R Colthart jun, H Knox,
J Graham, A H Colthart, D Hunter, J S Hoatson, D Paton, G Hunter,
AA Colthart, J, Ballantyne,
Dr Newbigging, Pres., JW Paterson JP, Vice-pres,
R Paton, R Colthart, (Secy), Wm Brown, Jno Hunter.
The 'Diamond Jubilee' pictures mentioned above, one of which can be seen in the photo, were engravings of Charles Martin Hardie's painting which had been commissioned to celebrate that event in 1899. The original is owned by the Royal Club and is in Scone Palace. A version of the original is on show in the National Portrait Gallery, see here.
