The Bell Quaich

Faed Sproat was a weel kent farmer and curler from the Stewartry of Kirkcubrightshire from the early 1930s onwards. His mother club was Anwoth. I was fortunate recently to be given by his daughter some curling items from his estate. Among these was a small silver medal.

As the pictures of it show, it was won by a rink competing in the Bell Quaich competition in 1939, the year of the trophy’s donation and of the opening of the original (The Aul’) Ice Rink in Ayr.

The medal was intriguing from a number of viewpoints. It was one of the very earliest prizes from Ayr Ice Rink; and the obverse was of a design with which I was familiar. A bit of research showed that it had been won by a rink of which Faed Sproat was a member.

The Quaich was presented by E A Bell, the first secretary of the ice rink curling club, for inter-district competition. The first winners were The Stewartry, and the small medal was obviously the prize which was given to each member of the winning rink.

As will appear from the illustrations there are other examples of this design. The first I acquired are thin, uniface, gilded strikings with no clue as to when or where or why they were made. The same comments go for the second example I got, except for the fact that it is bronze and ungilded. The third is thicker, has a rim and is in the form of a blank medal for engraving and presentation. Sadly, it too gives no clue as to why, where, or when. The small medal is 'signed'. That is, it bears the maker’s name, John Pinches, who was a well-known London medallist.

The Bell Quaich still exists; it is still played for at Ayr but no longer for inter-district competition. In fact, the original plinth which boldly proclaimed its inter-district nature has been pensioned off.

The photograph shows that the plinth is made of ebonised wood and of heptagonal cross-section. On each of the seven faces is a silver plaque bearing the appropriate heraldry for each of the original districts, the team of each of which had to consist of three rinks. They are:

Kyle,
Carrick,
Cunningham,
Machars,
Rhins,
Stewartry,
Dumfriesshire.

That for the Stewartry includes as the first winners’ inscription in 1939 'JF Sproat'.

This is a photograph of the first winning rink and the Quaich in 1939. Faed is wearing the plus fours, front left.

Faed Sproat is second from the right in the front row. The picture is of Stewartry curlers and Americans on tour to Scotland in 1952.

David B Smith.

The First International Match: England v Scotland

It should perhaps be remembered, at a time like the present, when the English organisers of the Four Nations Match have been crying out for a few Scots to represent the most important nation in the contest, that it was the English who started the whole affair. In 1893 there were about fifty clubs in England associated with the Royal Club. It was William I’Anson of the Malton Club in Yorkshire, and some of his friends, who suggested to the Royal Club that there should be an Anglo-Scottish challenge match.

The idea was discussed at an AGM of the Royal Club, and approved, and a committee established to develop the idea. They came up with the location of Talkin Tarn, a lake of about 100 acres, beside Brampton, a small town in the vicinity of Carlisle. No doubt the idea was to select a spot near the Border within reasonable reach of all participants.

Many more Scots clubs indicated a wish to enter than their English counterparts and the final draw resulted in 69 rinks a side. Invitations had been sent out to member clubs on both sides of the Border, and a draw was made. Like so many other largish bonspiels it did not prove an easy matter to pick a date on which natural frost would provide ice of the requisite thickness – even though the organisers were happy with a thickness at least a couple of inches less than 'the curling authorities' of the present day deem necessary.

This was not the first time that such an international had been thought of. For example, the Caledonian Mercury of 15 January 1849 tells us that, “The preliminaries of a match have been settled betwixt the Newcastle Curling Club and Haddington Club. We understand that the event will come off at Berwick and will take place at an early date, as soon as the frost has sufficiently set in to secure permanent and good ice.”

Rev. John Kerr in his review of the curling winter of 1894-5, A Grand Curling Year, published in the Glasgow Herald on 4 January 1896, wrote thus of the first International Match. A very similar piece from the Stirling Journal of 8 February 1895 was printed in the Annual for 1895-6.

“On the 29th January there came off the long-talked-of International match, England v. Scotland – an event which in itself made the season memorable. The venue was the deep and picturesque 70 acre lake named Talkin Tarn, where the Brampton folks in summer enjoy rowing and sculling. The preparation for the match roused much interest among the natives, who had never seen the 'roaring game'. “I knows all about this curlin’”, one was heard saying to a neighbour the night before the match, “every man plays with a large stone weighin’ a hundredweight and a half, and the one that got his stone farthest away wins the game.”

“Nay, friend, that’s not it at all”, said another. “I’ve heard o’ curlin’ fifty times from them that does it, an’ they all play on skates, don’t ye know, just like they do at hockey; that’s curlin’.” Not the least interesting part of the play was to watch the countenances of those knowing ones and the thousands of others who came from Carlisle, Brampton, and elsewhere to see the fight.

“Down the rinks the stones are roaring,
Ringing through the frosty air,
Skips frae a’ the airts are pouring
Booming orders everywhere.
Surging sounds of mimic battle,
Flash of fastly fitting kowes,
Clang and clatter, rush and rattle,
Pealing far o’er heichs and howes.”

William I’Anson, of Malton, and Sir James Gibson-Craig, of Riccarton, did well in bringing about that gathering, and the Royal Club will do well to have it annually when frost permits. It will not likely come off again on the Tarn , for only curlers could have surmounted the difficulties that barred the way thither, and borne with good humour the inconveniences of going to and returning from such a place. From window to window of each train curlers’ chaff flew backwards and forwards. “At one station,” says a Stirling player, “we stopped rather longer than there was any occasion for a very red-faced ‘party’ with a countenance which negatived his chances of his being a local optionist, put his head out of the window to ascertain the cause of the stoppage. ‘Pit in yer heid, man’ said a brither in a neighbouring compartment; ‘the gaird thinks that face o’ yours is a danger-signal, and ‘ill no start the train as lang as it’s oot.’”

In that style every hitch made the company happier, and the failures in the arrangements were made to contribute to the success of the bonspiel. There were 68 rinks or 272 players on each side, and Scotland won by 275 shots. It was not another Bannockburn, for the large majority of players on the English side were Scotchmen; but many of these had not for years been north, and such a reunion with their countrymen over Scotland’s ain game was delightful. For England, which has adopted our golf and made her sons champion players of that game, the gathering was an unmistakable proof that Scotland has another sport which excites even more enthusiasm among its votaries, and is quite as healthy and invigorating. We are not surprised to hear, as the result of the international match, that 1895 has been a year of great progress for curling south of the Tweed, that several new clubs have been formed, and that an association of provinces has been constituted to make arrangements for the great annual bonspiel with Scotland and foster and strengthen the game in the south. Lochmaben, which is to be scene of next meeting, has the honour of having added a word to the curler’s vocabulary. Her shoemakers used never to let their opponents get a single shot. This was called soutering. At the international match it was “Up wi’ the Souters o’ Selkirk”, the gold badges to the rink with the biggest majority being won by the Selkirk team, whose opponents scored only two shots by mistake at the first 'head' of the game…”

The result of all the games which made up the match are taken from the Leeds Mercury of 30 January 1895, and are printed so that the curious can see from where all the rinks, English and Scottish, had come from. The gaps in the numbering are obviously caused by some rinks’ failure to appear. By my calculations based on this report there were 69 rinks, and the Scots beat the English by 281. As far as I can judge the furthest travelled Scot was the Rev. C. Halliday of Scotscaig in the East Neuk of Fife. What a pity to travel so far and lose to the 'Auld Enemy' in the form of John Smith, with his rink of Blackburn Rose and Thistle curlers, by 13 shots to 9.

More of the other open air International Matches later.

David B Smith

A bird’s eye view of Talkin Tarn today. (Photo from the Visit Cumbria website)

The busy scene at tarn level. (From the author's collection)

Some rinks at play in the match. (From the author's collection)

The results of the matches were:

Scotland - England

4. John Martin, Corstorphine, 20 - T Darling, Berwick-on-Tweed, 14
5. W Strang, Haremyres, 27 - Rev RC Inglis, 11
6. Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Clackmannan & Kennet, 19 - Jas Blacklock, Harrington, 11
8. W Crawford, Duns, 16 - J McGregor, Durham, 10
9. W Gibson, King Robert Bruce, 29 - J Carrick, Durham, 6
10. Peter Taylor, Airdrie, 14 - J Gray, Preston, 8
11. P Rankin, Cambusnethan, 17 - E Wilson, Preston, 12
12. DP Laird, Merchiston, 17 - M Macartney, Preston, 13
13. Sir R Waldie Griffith, Kelso, 23 - Rev S McNaughton, Preston, 6
14. W Henderson, Kinnochtry, 11 - Wm McNab, Bolton, 8
15. R Cross, Rutherglen, 6 - B Rannam, Bolton, 21
17. S Brown, Tynron, 8 - Dr Irving, Huddersfield, 18
19. W Hislop, Eskdale, 17 - J Brown, Birmingham Caledn., 12
20. R Riddell, Galshiels, 33 - R Kerr, Birmingham Caledn., 9
21. J Fleming, Liddesdale, 18 - Wm Stuart, Belle Vue, 12
22. Archd. Marshall, Kelvindock, 5 - J Meggatt, Belle Vue, 18
23. Capt. JA King, Lennox Castle 18 - W McNaught, Wigan & Haigh, 16
24. J McHenry, Haddington, 12 - Jas. McLellan, Wigan & Haigh, 15
25. John Reside, Cathcart, 3 - W Connell, Blackburn Caledn., 16
27. Major Robertson Aikman, Hamilton, 18 - W Gibson, Blackburn Caledn., 17
28. Wm Paterson, Douglas, 14 - Joe Allweed, Southport, 10
29. M Anderson, Neilston, 10 - Wm Platt, Southport, 7
30. W Callander, Minnigaff, 12 - John Boyd, Southport, 6
31. W Stevenson, Glasgow Lilybank, 7 - WH Milner, Harrogate, 17
32. James Miller, Crossmichael, 14 - W Pearson, Derwentwater, 13
33. JR Blackwood, Rosslyn, 18 - Charles Clark, Derwentwater, 8
34. D Draper, Falkirk, 22 - Thos. Hodgson, Derwentwater, 8
35. W Grieve, Selkirk, 27 - E Bowden, Derwentwater, 2
37. William Sutherland, Partick, 7 - Wm I’Anson, Malton, 18
38. Sir JH Gibson-Craig, Bart., Waverley Kierhill, 15 - W Roberts, Malton, 14
39. W Chapman, New Monkland, 24 - W.Young, Middlesborough, 7
40. John Bell, Tinwald, 22 - John Dickson, Middlesborough, 3
41. R Connel, Castle Semple Loch, 26 - John Davison, Middlesborough, 9
42. J Fulton, Lees & Lithtillum, 18 - W Longshaft, Middlesborough, 18
43. Robert Fleming, Avondale, 20 - W Alexander, Liverpool, 13
44. J Keanie, Lochwinnoch Garthland, 8 - Isaac Graham, Liverpool, 21
45. A Kirkpatrick, Crocketford, 17 - W Gracie, Liverpool, 16
46. W Morris, Craiglockhart, 14 - Samuel Cowan, Bradford, 11
49. J Smith, Hillhead, 10 - Sir J Heron Maxwell, Crystal Palace, 17
50. John Stodart, Pencaitland, 10 - JG Gibson, Crystal Palace, 13
51. W Renfrew, Hurlet & Nitshill, 11 - J Barbour, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 16
53. Dr Haldane, Airthrey Castle, 10 - WHA Marshall, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 29
54. JH Webster, Stenhouse & Carron, 11 - T Taylor, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 17
55. P Turner, Kirknewton, 11 - J Telford, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 22
56. R Husband, Broomhall, 7 - RM Waugh, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 24
57. R Knox, Alloa, 14 - R.Young, Manchester Caledn., 5
58. Col. Hope, Earlston, 14 - Wm McClymont, Manchester Caledn., 8
59. GR Ure, Bonnybridge, 23 - J Ayton, Newcastle Tyneside, 9
60. T Mitchell, Kirkhope, 20 - W Semple, Newcastle Tyneside, 12
61. J Young, Upper Annandale, 20 - J Robertson, Newcastle Tyneside, 5
62. G Robson, Antonshill, 14 - J Main, Newcastle Tyneside, 11
64. R Frater, Stirling Castle, 11 - AC Millwater, Leeds Caledonian, 8
65. J Thomson, West Calder, 17 - J McCulloch, Leeds Caledonian, 6
66. J Coubrough, Strathblane, 27 - A Sword, Leeds Caledonian, 7
67. WJ Gulland, Musselburgh, 20 - T Steel, Barrow Caledonian, 12
68. J Wood, Ayton & District, 21 - T Blacklock, Barrow Caledonian, 12
69. J Dryden, Kirkintilloch, 16 - CJ Armstrong, Carlisle, 11
71. D Thomson, Largo, 6 - W Hamilton, Carlisle, 13
73. Wm Smith, Buchan, 15 - R Todd, jr., Carlisle, 15
74. D Brown, Coatbridge, 10 - W McKie, Carlisle, 13
76. J Craig, Blantyre, 34 - RS Benson, Darlington, 11
77. J Brown, Upper Nithsdale, 20 - Wm Swan, Darlington, 6
78. John Currie, Stewarton Heather, 8 - R Alexander, North Staffs., 13
79. Rev. C Halliday, Scotscraig, 9 - John Smith, Blackburn Rose & Thistle, 13
80. Hugh Gilmour, Waverley, 14 - John Jardine, Blackburn Rose & Thistle, 9
81. A Kerr, Dalton St. Bridget’s, 19 - Wm McCowen, Whitehaven, 9
83. J Scott Davidson, Hercules, 17 - R Currie, Manchester Trafford, 12
85. J Grant, Alloa Prince of Wales, 22 - Wm Carruthers, Workington, 16
86. Capt. Middleton, Cupar, Fife, 16 - Dr. Myrtle, Harrogate, 12

Total……. 1,108. Total…… 827.

Grand Matches

This year’s unaccustomedly early onset of really cold weather and the chaotic traffic conditions thereby brought about caused me to think about the dates on which Grand Matches have been held.

We must remember that in the whole history of the Royal Club - a period of 172 years, of which the 163 since Penicuik in 1847 have been potential years for Grand Matches - only thirty-three examples of the whole Scots nation at play have actually taken place; and that in a long period when namby-pambyism and 'health and safety concerns' had not yet taken hold.

After the trial run at Penicuik in 1847 the first real Grand Match was, of course, played on Linlithgow Loch in 1848. Was there some serendipity involved in holding it on Robert Burns’s birthday, the 25th of January? Since then January has proved to be the most popular month for the event, sixteen Matches in total having been played in that month.

It is not surprising to find that December has been the next favourite month, with nine. February has had seven and only one has ever taken place in November. That was the Match on Carsebreck on November 24th. The latest date for event has been 15 February.

In one calendar year, 1896, but in two different winters, two matches were played – on 12th January and 21st December - both on Carsebreck, and BOTH won by the same club, New Monkland, who were, incidentally the very first winners of the new Grand Match Trophy which is still the much-coveted prize.

David B Smith

The Grand Match on Linlithgow Loch, 1848, oil painting by Charles Lees.

Sir Mitchell Thomson, Lord Provost of Edinburgh and president of Craiglockhart Curling Club. Oil sketch by Charles Martin Hardie for his large oil painting of the Grand Match at Carsebreck, signed by initials and dated 10.2.99.

The Grand Match of 1929 in progress at Carsebreck.

1929, Carsebreck. The happy but droukit curlers make their way from the Royal Club Pond to the railway, which was just over the fence. The Royal Club Secretary’s office is the building on the left.

Your author, suitably attired in the rear of the photo, prepares for the start in 1979.

Top photo: Aerial view of the Lake of Menteith, February 6, 1979, with the last Grand Match in full swing.

Photos © David B Smith

Curling Lighters: Part 2

I recently wrote about the wonderful variety of table lighters which the game of curling had spawned, see here. This second piece on the topic concerns a newer and more conventional design, namely the miniature curling stone. In these the body of the stone is generally turned from real stone. In the top has been cut a circular hole into which is fitted the actual lighter. As one would expect the common types of curling stone metal are used but a large proportion of those which I have seen are made from rare and uncommon rocks, which are difficult to identify and name.

I will briefly describe the lighters in the illustration. These are described from left to right and from top to bottom. Clicking on the image will open it at a much larger size in a new window.

1. Blue hone Ailsa Craig stone, made by The Scottish Curling Stone Co., Ltd. In its original cardboard box of Red Robertson tartan, appropriately for the company was part of The Robertson Group of companies. Lighter: made by Rolstar, England.

2. Blue hone Ailsa Craig stone, made by The Scottish Curling Stone Co., Ltd. In its original cardboard box of Red Robertson Tartan. Lighter: no maker’s name.

3. Pottery with green glaze, no maker’s name or mark. I wonder if it is by Rainbow Pottery, Ingleside, Canada, a company which made, inter alia, pottery curling stones from ca. 1972 until 1990. Lighter: made by Ronson, Woodbridge, N.J., U.S.A.

4. Granite, perhaps from Aberdeenshire, no maker’s name or mark. Lighter: made by HB., West Germany.

5. Basalt (?), no maker’s name or mark. Lighter: made by HB., West Germany.

6. Trevor microgranite, North Wales, no maker’s name or mark. Lighter: made by Rolstar, England.

7. Unidentified stone, no maker’s mark or name. Lighter: Ronson, made in England.

8. Schist (?), no maker’s name or mark. Lighter: made by HB, West Germany.

Six of the stones have striking bands. Nos. 3 and 7 do not.

Since it is unlikely that table cigarette lighters in the form of a curling stone - or anything else - will ever be made again, it may be that this is an area for the curling collector who wishes to collect not just for the love of the game but for investment!

David B. Smith.

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 Lighters: Part 1

The Table Lighter

In its heyday the custom of smoking was all-pervasive. For many a decade no film star could be photographed without a lit cigarette between first and second fingers.

The paraphernalia and accoutrements which served this habit were legion; and often they were decorated with emblems of the many sports and pastimes enjoyed by smokers.

Not least of these was the cigarette lighter. Even the comparatively humble pocket lighter was often embellished with the picture of a curler - to gladden the curler’s eye.

More impressive, however, was the table lighter, too large for the pocket, and designed to be handed, or slid, around the dining, or, perhaps, the club table.

The picture above displays five of these from my collection. (The punchbowl and the curling stone merely form an appropriate background.)

The oldest is the second from the left. It is of a fairly common design in silver plate, THE emblem of the game, the stone, held aloft on a trio of brooms and crampets. What is unusual about this design is the three little knobs which protrude from the top of the stone. One of them is different from the others in that it appears to have a sort of wick just emerging from a hole at its top. All three can be removed from the top of the stone. When the top of the stone itself is removed all is clear. The body of the stone is a receptacle for oil of some sort, the wick dangles into the oil; it can be lit when the stone is closed and left burning 'on the peep'; the other two contain at their inner ends enough fibrous material to hold some of the oil; when removed from the top of stone and applied to the burning wick they ignite and can be used to convey fire to the smoker’s cigarette or cigar. This is the only example of this type of light that I have ever seen.

The most recent is the rectangular dark blue plastic model with elegant depiction of house, broom and stone. It is a Ronson SociaLite, made in Canada.





Second from the right is a fairly sturdy model about which little needs to said except that they appear to be offered for sale on the internet quite commonly.





The remaining two are variants of the same design. The metal castings of the curler in the act of delivering his stone are very similar but in one he is enclosed in a hollow tube of transparent plastic and in the other he is engulfed in a solid lump of it. These two, which were made in Japan, still have attached to them the small label which no doubt enabled the traveller to do his best sales pitch to his tobacconist customers.

David D Smith.

Played in Glasgow

The Curling History Blog's guru, and my good friend, David Smith, has been ill for some months. I welcome his return to health with this contribution, the first in a while, in the form of a book review.

Played in Glasgow, Charting the heritage of a city at play, by Ged O’Brien, pp. 228, Malavan Media, £14.99.

This is the tenth and latest in a series of books designed to celebrate the sporting heritage of our country. The importance of the series is vouched by the sponsorship of the series by Historic Scotland for this volume and English Heritage for the previous volumes which all dealt with aspects of English sporting history.

The coverage is encyclopaedic, both in terms of time and variety of sports. A feature of the series is the richness of the pictorial material.

The blurb includes this; “…until now there has been little work on the architectural heritage of British sport and recreation; on the pavilions and clubhouses, the greens, the grounds and the grandstands, the parks, pools, and lidos that form such an integral part of our urban landscape and, whether we play or not, watch or not, our cultural identity too.”

The first seven chapters deal with the history of sport generally in the city of Glasgow and thereafter more particularly in relation to distinct portions of the city, like the East End, Glasgow Green, Queen’s Park, Jordanhill and Anniesland. In each of these chapters there are successions of pictures showing the evolution of stadiums, such as Celtic Park, and of bowling greens and clubhouses.

Chapters 8 to 15 cover specific sports, such as golf, bowls, ice sports, cricket, football, greyhounds and speedway, swimming, and doocots. In relation to each sport there is a profusion of pictures, old and modern. The book is a veritable treasure house of sporting material.

The curler, of course, will look to see how his favourite game is handled. The chapter on Ice Sports contains fourteen pages, largely devoted to curling. A very evocative portion of the text and pictures tells the story of Partick Curling Club, and illustrates this with modern pictures of the club’s curling house and tarmac rink in Victoria Park, Glasgow, which were in use in January this year. No doubt it is preferable to be able to plan and execute a whole season’s curling in an indoor ice rink than to be dependent on the fickleness of John Frost, but these pictures will help to show that we have lost something.

The first building in which curling in Scotland was played indoors on machine-made ice was the spectacular circular, domed, Glasgow Real Ice Skating Palace, situated in Sauchiehall Street directly below the present School of Art. In 1896 a few games were played on the small, circular ice pad. This precursor of modern curling is illustrated by a fine engraving and an architect’s plan.

This is a marvellous book. What a pity that for whatever reason the publishers have chosen to send it forth without an index.

David B Smith.

Previous blog posts here and here are relevant.