STL All Sports

Winter may be a time of hibernation, athletically speaking, for many persons, but there are many who prefer to continue to be engaged in some sort of athletic endeavor during the period when the nights are long and the days short. From this group no doubt came the creators of the sport of Curling.

Just who originated curling, where and when is not known. This is a game played on ice, and thus a product of the cold countries. But which cold country is a matter for debate that has continued through the centuries the sport has endured.

Scotland claims credit for its creation. So does Flanders. But there is no evidence that anything similar to curling existed in any part of the Netherlands before Scotland had elevated curling to the status of a major sport. So the honor appears to belong to Scotland.

A pond drained near Dunblane about 75 years ago revealed a curling stone on which was carved "1551." It had two handles attached. This is evidence that the game was established in Scotland four centuries ago, which pre-dates some claims by the Netherlands advocates.
It has been customary to refer to curling as "the game of lawn bowls played on ice." The Scots become indignant and insist that curling isa radically different and wholly original game. Facts do not bear them out.

Lawn bowling existed in Scotland for centuries before curling. It was Scotland's national outdoor summer game. Then came curling, somewhere between 1520 and 1550. Then and ever since, the principle of play has been very much like lawn bowling.

In Curling, players push a huge stone along the ice toward a "tee" (a fixed object), the game getting its name from the right or left spin given a played stone which causes it to proceed in an arc to the right or left. This change in direction of a played stone is known as the "curl" of a stone. In lawn bowling, the players cast a biased ball at a jack, the big trick being to get a twist into it whenever sending the ball at its object. Though their game is on ice, curlers do not use skates.

In ancient times the stones usually were irregular, square-edged affairs, and even wood blocks were used. The rounded stones made their appearance in 1800 and since then have come into universal use. Canadians substituted iron for stone years ago, when there was no limit as to weight. The irons then ranged from 45 to 115 pounds. Since stones have been standardized as to size, Canadians ceased using iron and resumed using stone, all of which comes from Scotland.

A good lawn bowler soon becomes a good curler-and vice versa. In fact, most lawn bowlers who live in northern climes go in for curling during the winter, and the curlers in the winter are on the bowling greens in the summer.