A Welcome Home

The photo above is of Abington station in South Lanarkshire. It was taken by John Robin in 1965. It probably looked much the same fifty-six years earlier, although there's nothing there now, except a passing loop on the West Coast Main Line. Back in 1909 the platforms were crowded with locals to welcome home their successful teams from the Grand Match, held at Carsebreck on November 24. Incidentally, this remains the only Grand Match ever to have been held in this month, the earliest date of the winter to see the Match played. The records show that there was five inches of ice on that occasion.

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.

This photo is from the Annual of 1910-11. Click on the image to see it larger. It has the caption 'Abington Curling Club - Winners of the RCCC Grand Match Trophy and the Diamond Jubilee pictures at Carsebreck, 24th November, 1909.'


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.

Playing for Scotland: The Making of Modern Sport

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

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

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

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

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

David B Smith is the curling expert in the film.

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

The photos are screenshots from Scotland: A Sporting History.

This post is by Bob Cowan, April 2012.

Early International Curling

The imminent opening of East Lothian Archive Centre in John Gray House, Haddington, has spurred on David Affleck, East Linton CC, keen curling historian, to great efforts to find material for the writing of a history of curling in the county.

He has brought to my attention the following minute from the minute book of East Linton CC dated 17 February 1855:

"The Newcastle Lads came over the Border to take the shine out of the Lothian lads but there in a mistake for after a keen contest they had to return over the Border minus of the medal losing it by 8 shots. The Newcastle lads after their defeat took it all as good and keen curlers should do. The day was clear, the game animated, the play good and the ice first rate order."

Both clubs were much indebted to "Lady Ann Baird for her kindness again in making the clubs and the company present to a grand dinner (sic) and drink on the ice." Lady Baird was the widow of Sir David Baird of Newbyth, a founder member of the East Linton Club. She appears in the Annual as patroness of the club in 1855.

This match was the result of the success of the two clubs in the ballot for District Medals which had taken place at the Annual Meeting of the Representative Committee of the RCCC, held in Edinburgh on 25 July 1853. The balloting for medals began in this season in an attempt to restrict the numbers competed for, so popular was the sort of competition they encouraged. About half the member clubs were to be eligible for the ballot in each year. At this meeting a total of 66 medals was awarded, and in addition two were given to the Canadian Branch and two to the Halifax (Nova Scotia) Branch. In accordance with the rules of the Royal Club another club - in this case, Edinburgh Operative – was appointed to provide an umpire and to hand over the medal to the winning club.

Part of the job of the umpire was to return a written report on the match with details as to the date of the match, how many rinks played on each side, and how many men there were in each, whether the match was of a number of ends or time, the length of the rink, what the score was, the time occupied by the match, the state of the ice and the name of the loch or pond where the match took place. These results were printed in tabular form in the Royal Club Annuals. Sadly, in this instance no umpire’s report is shown amongst the many that were properly recorded and printed in the table for the season of 1855-6 in the Annual for that year, and therefore there seemed to be no official record of where the game was played or of any of the other required statistics.

At least, the minute recorded the date of the match and the majority by which East Linton won. We can also infer from the 'kindness of Lady Ann Baird' that the place of play was the loch at Newbyth.

However, further research has now established that in the table of district medal results published in the Annual for 1857-8 there is a partial report of the match, as having taken place on 15 February 1855 on 'Newbyth Lake' and won by Linton by a majority of nine shots. It was, however, Francis Storie, the treasurer and secretary of the winning club and not the umpire, who reported the game to the Royal Club.

Interestingly, this was not the earliest 'international' match of which we have some information. As I noted in the Curling History Blog of January 2, 2011, such an international had been thought of earlier. 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." History does not tell us whether this match took place.

The East Linton minute book does, however, give us a glimpse of the sort of difficulties to which such a match, played so far from the home of one of the clubs, could give rise.

"29 October 1855. Two letters from Newcastle club were read regarding their expenses in coming to Linton to play the medal given by the Grand Club (sic). The committee had considerable difficulty in coming to a decision considering that no agreement about the expenses of coming to Linton to play for the medal but taking into account that Dirleton Club by agreement had paid part of their expenses the committee agreed to give them five pounds sterling." Quite what is referred to in relation to Dirleton club is not at all clear. One wonders whether the Newcastle lads made the long journey to Linton by railway which had come to East Lothian only about ten years before.

David B Smith.

Top: This photograph of curling in the late 1850s on Smeaton Lake near East Linton shows what the Newcastle and Linton curlers would have looked like. One of the very earliest photographs of the game. From the author's archive.

Minutes of Note by Lynne JM Longmore

Minutes of Note by Lynne J.M. Longmore

The Royal Burgh of Lochmaben could boast two curling clubs in the nineteenth century, namely The Lochmaben Curling Society and The Royal Bruce Curling Club. Those two clubs amalgamated towards the end of that century. The new club was named the Lochmaben Castle Curling Club and is still known by that name today.

Minute books belonging to both those original clubs are still in existence, having been kept safely all those years. They are a wonderful record of not only the curling exploits that took place on a regular basis but also of the social life of the local inhabitants of Lochmaben. The curlers of Lochmaben past had an indomitable reputation far and wide and were renowned for their feats of strength and curling prowess.

Lynne Longmore has successfully managed to transcribe the two minute books which belonged to the oldest club, The Lochmaben Curling Society. A somewhat daunting task, as these books are in extremely fragile condition, the flamboyant hand script not always easy to decipher and the ink now badly faded.

On completion of those transcripts Lynne decided to proceed with a small publication which would appeal to, not only local residents of Lochmaben and family members past and present, whether curlers or not, but also to those who have an interest simply in the history of outdoor curling and to those who have an interest in the general social Scottish life of the nineteenth century in a rural community. However, curling wasn’t possible every year, when several winters might pass before conditions were suitable.

Minutes of Note is a fascinating summary of the minutes recorded in the first of those minute books of the Lochmaben Curling Society which covers the period from 1823-1863. This account brings together in a beautifully case-bound publication, the more notable minutes and aims to give an insight into the importance of this winter pastime to the residents of Lochmaben and those from neighbouring parishes. Local tradesmen and local dignitaries would come together on frozen lochs and spend a highly enjoyable day in friendly combat and then dine together at a local inn and spend a convivial evening recounting the day’s events.

Results of the games and Parish bonspiels against the neighbouring parishes which would take place on all the Lochmaben lochs including the Castle Loch, the Kirk Loch, the Upper Loch and the old Halleaths or Broomhill Loch, are thoroughly recorded by the various club Secretaries. Names of members present at each meeting are listed in great detail at the start of each minute together with names of the club President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. This in itself becomes a valuable source of information for those undertaking local family research.

Supplementary information which relates to the history of Lochmaben has been included as a result of research into a beautifully engraved silver curling medal, dated circa 1830, which was specifically made for the curlers of Lochmaben to compete for and which is still played for by the current members. The beautifully engraved decoration upon the surface of this medal provides a highly significant visual link to the Royal Burgh’s fascinating past.

A limited number of copies of the book are available, priced at £20. Contact Lynne Longmore directly by email: curlingminutes@btinternet.com.

Van Cortlandt Park

This from David B Smith:

"Some time ago I bought on Ebay a small watercolour which displayed a curling match in progress (above). From the players’ dress it appeared to be from the end of the nineteenth or the beginning of the twentieth century: one prominent curler in the foreground was wearing spats. Behind a tree on the bank of the pond were some figures and some sort of horse-drawn vehicle.

When it arrived I took it from its frame. The painting was mounted on card and on the card in pencil were some words. I deciphered 'Curling' and 'van Cortlandt Lake' but what I took to be the artist’s signature I could not make out. The name of the lake, however, was enough to let me know that I was looking at curling of the American variety. The lake is situated in what is the largest public park in the city of New York, van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

I knew of the Lake for I had some time ago come across an engraving in an issue of Harper’s Weekly which displayed, according to the caption 'CURLING MATCH ON VAN CORTLANDT LAKE – SCOTLAND AGAINST AMERICA – DRAWN BY C. J. TAYLOR – (SEE PAGE 91)'. I discovered that the year was 1884.

It was not until recently when a group of undated photographs of curling on the Lake appeared for sale online that I began to wonder about the Scoto-American match. None of the large public or learned libraries in the UK appeared to hold a stock of Harper’s Weekly, which I might consult, but I was reasonably sure that that wonderful institution, New York Public Library, would have it.

And so I applied by email to that library, and was immediately put onto the commercial branch. At very little cost I was able to cause the staff at New York to find 'PAGE 91' and send it to me. I must compliment NYPL on its speed and efficiency. The whole transaction took less than a week.

The article began with a general observation that “the Scottish game of curling has been but recently transplanted to this country, whose vigorous winters afford it a hospitable reception” and a reference to the tradition that King James IV had encouraged the sport by giving a silver curling stone to be annually contested for in the Carse of Gowrie in Perthshire."

It went on: “The excellent example set by King James has been followed in this country by a gentleman of Scotch origin, who has presented a handsome silver challenge trophy , called after the donor 'the Patterson Medal' to be played for by picked curlers of Scottish birth on the one hand, and of American birth (though often of Scottish origin) on the other.”

The match in 1884 was on van Cortlandt Lake, and consisted of eight rinks a side. The Americans were beaten by a score of 157 to 135. “Considering the comparative youth of the native players, and in view of the fact that years add experience more than sufficient to counterbalance any decrease of power by reason of advancing age , the American curlers acquitted themselves with much credit. Were the result at each rink taken separately, the match would have been even, as each side prevailed at four of the eight rinks; the method of scoring is, however, is to add the totals of each side at all the rinks, which puts quite another complexion on the result in this case.”

Another stretch of water in the great metropolis which was from time to time devoted to the roaring game was the lake in Central Park. As John Kerr in his Curling in Canada and the United States notes: (at p.631) "New York’s Commissioners of Public Parks have always acted very generously with the curlers, encouraging their game in every way, granting them the exclusive use of Conservatory Lake during the winter months, with a house on the bank to hold their outfit, and reserving a cosy corner on Van Cortlandt Lake, near the old historic mill of Revolutionary days, for the curlers to play their matches.”

When the first Scots team went to the New World under the captaincy of the Rev. John Kerr in the winter of 1902-3 it had been hoped that a match could be had on van Cortlandt Lake, “where the New York curlers are accustomed in an ordinary frost to enjoy their game, but owing to the very severe frost which prevailed during the time of our stay in the city, this hope was entirely blasted as play on the lake was out of the question…” (Kerr, p. 667)

When the Scots curlers ended their tour of 1922-23 in New York, “There was no official game of curling arranged for while in New York, but several of the Team took part in a scratch game with local curlers at Van Cortlandt Park on a frozen pond.” (The Scottish Curlers in Canada and U.S.A. 1922-23, by Major M.H.Marshall, p.299.)"

Top: The watercolour of curling on van Cortlandt Lake.
Middle: The print from Harper’s Weekly.
Above: Photograph (undated), of curling on the Lake.

Images are from the author's archive.

Curling on Speed River

Curling on Speed River, Guelph, Ontario, by Evan Macdonald. Click on the image to see larger size.

During the summer, Jim Fraser of Sorn CC told me that he had bought at a car boot sale a wee print of a curling match, and he asked if I knew anything about it. Although I had never seen a copy before there was something about it that suggested Canada to me: the match was taking place in the open air in front of some buildings, and although there were in evidence some half dozen Tam o’ Shanters, there were one or two distinctly un-Scottish bunnets to be seen. The print did afford another, important, clue; the artist had signed it 'Evan Macdonald'.

As usual Google came up trumps, for the search showed that Macdonald had been in fact an Ontarian artist who painted largely in the Guelph area of Ontario, and that his daughter, Flora Macdonald Spencer had written a book about him and his work.

In the hope that the book might contain some information about this picture, and perhaps some more curling works, I bought a copy from the publisher, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, Waterloo, Ontario. My hunch proved wrong for there was nothing of curling interest in the book. So I wrote to Brian Henderson of the publisher asking for any information about the artist and the curling picture.

This was the reply, which he had got from the daughter:

“Evan painted it for the Guelph Curling Club, and used an early photograph as a reference, I recall. Not sure if the photo was of actual Guelph curlers, but as he was working on the picture, he told us that his father and grandfather, and fellow local curlers would curl on the Speed River, after cutting a hole in the ice to flood it to greater smoothness. His father was a founding member of the Guelph Curling Club's indoor rink originally on Baker Street in Guelph. The club still has the original, I believe, and were given permission to make prints from the original about 20 years ago.”

She added this amusing anecdote which emphasises the dangers of curling on water-borne ice. “It reminds me of a family story of my father's uncles going out to do such a flooding. Somehow they let go of the axe and it sank to the bottom of the river. The smallest, Uncle Sandy, had to strip off and be held by the ankles until he found it, so fearful were they to return home without it!”

This story reminded me of a reminiscence about John Cairnie:

“On a certain occasion one of his own name, in spite of friendly warnings, played a rink of stones at Denny over ice that was much too weak, with the result that the whole lot went to the bottom of the pond. The accident would not have mattered had not the stones been required for an important match on the following day. Having reviewed the whole situation carefully, Mr Cairnie, all heedless of the biting blast that was blowing and the deep and dangerous character of the pond, calmly divested himself of his clothing and dived for the stones, one after another, until all were safely landed. It is pleasant to be able to add that Mr Cairnie was so little the worse of his adventure that he assisted in brilliant style to play the rescued 'channel stanes' to victory on the morrow.”

Allan Forrest, the father of my late skip, Joey Forrest, told us of his early curling days on the River Clyde at Dalserf, Lanarkshire, and of their chopping a hole in the ice after the day’s play to get water 'to flood the ice to greater smoothness'.

The question remained: did the painting still hang in Guelph Curling Club’s clubhouse? Sadly, a couple of emails went unanswered and so did what I should have done in the first place. I found the number of the club and phoned.

As luck would have it the person who answered the call was Gerry Sundwall, a keen member, who said that it did and that there were prints and that he would send me one. He also answered questions about Professor Murray MacGregor, professor at Guelph University, who with his family had spent a year’s sabbatical in Edinburgh, and curled in every ice rink in Scotland! Janice MacGregor, daughter of the family, was his next-door neighbour, and Murray and Betty, his wife, were still to the fore though both had given up curling now that they were in their eighties.

In fact, it was Janice who sent the print along with up to date photographs of the MacGregor family. And Gerry sent me a snapshot of the oil painting (shown above), 21 inches by 42, as it hangs in the club.

David B Smith.

Curling Spoons

There's a collector in all of us. David B Smith gives a collecting suggestion for the curling enthusiast in this post which he entitles 'An Alternative to Collecting Curling Stones':

Strange as it may seem there are some spouses who are not only not in favour of encouraging the collection of curling stones in the family home but who are distinctly averse to the idea.

The problem is the space occupied by even a pair of stones. One could accommodate a very large and valuable stamp collection in far less space than that occupied by a single stone, as my wife has pointed out to me more than once.

In her defence I have been asked to say that within our house – in various places, such as, cupboards, shelves, under beds, and lying open in corners of rooms – there are more than 250 full-size stones of various ages, sizes, shapes, and weights. The surplus embellishes the exterior of the house. The increasing number of miniature stones has caused the remark – no doubt jocular – that the big stones seem to be breeding.

What, then, to collect, if the most characteristic item of our game is denied?

I recently acquired a small, pretty, interesting object of some value, since it made of silver. It is a tea spoon with a curling design upon the handle. Here it is:

This is the only spoon I have so far come across which occupies the whole of the handle with the design. Moreover it is unique in that it depicts an indoor game in a rink with a wooden barrier. On the reverse it bears the legend: BIRKS STERLING. No date.

The next group of spoons is embellished with a circular disc, at the end of the handle, which has the decoration.

From left to right, 1. Hall-marked silver, 1968-9, a stone below crossed brooms; 2. Hall-marked silver, 1950-1, a stone below crossed brooms; 3. EPNS, (electro-plated nickel silver), a curler delivering a stone; 4. Hall-marked silver, 1932-3, on reverse engraved RINK 1932, a curler delivering a stone; in a band round him PANMURE CURLING CLUB.

A small number have enamel badges as decoration.

From left to right, 1. Silver-plated, at top of handle an enamel badge of World Ladies Glayva Curling Championship Glasgow, 1988. 2, silver-plated, engraved on bowl GLASGOW, and in plastic an oval plaque with below the coat of arms of Glasgow a curling stone below crossed brooms; 3, Sterling silver, no date, a badge, silver and enamel, of Rideau Curling Club Ottawa. 4, EPNS, no date, a badge, enamel, of Edinburgh Ice Rink Curling Club.

The last group have three dimensional decoration in the form of stones or curler.

From left to right, 1. silver plated, no date, a three dimensional curler throwing his stone, engraved on bowl; Nelson BC (British Columbia); 2, silver-plated, no date, Great Britain, at top of handle a three dimensional curling stone.

Happy collecting.

David B Smith

Images are © David B Smith.