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More than 400 songs have been written and dedicated to curling, and it frequently has been praised in pulpits as "a splendid sport for man to indulge in."

The oldest curling club in existence is the Dudingston Curling Society, organized in Edinburgh, Jan. 17, 1795. This group played according to its own rules until 1834 when the "Amateur Curling Club of Scotland" was formed. The new organization decided that there should be a standardization of the rules and went into convention with the Dudingston and other outstanding clubs of that period.

Curling as a regulated sport dates from that time, but the "Amateur Curling Club" ceased to function as a separate unit after Nov. 15, 1838, and was merged into the Grand Caledonian Curling Club, which became the ruling body for the sport throughout the world.

In 1842, Queen Victoria of England visited Scotland and attended a curling contest. Immediately after the departure of the Queen, who praised the game, the name of the club was changed to "Royal Caledonian Curling Club," by which it since has been known.

At the time of its founding, the Caledonian had a pioneer membership of 28 clubs. This had increased to 500 in 1880, to 700 in 1900, and its roll now contains the names of more than 1,000 clubs.

The sport was introduced in Canada about 1807 and the United States about 1820. It is believed that the New York Caledonian Curling Club is the oldest continuous curling club in the U.S. with records dating back to 1855 and is the only remaining charter member club of the Grand National, organized June 26, 1867. For the first 70 years it made infinitely more progress in this country than in Canada. The original United States club was the "Orchard Lakes" of Pontiac, Mich., and the members influenced the creation of many other organizations along the Canadian border. With Canada apathetic toward curling, Scotland challenged the United States in the winter of 1902-03, and this resulted in the first international match.

The great American curlers then were concentrated in the Utica, Schenectady and Saranac, N.Y., area. But the St. Andrew's Golf Club, north of Yonkers, had many Scots as members who were fine curlers. They organized a team in 1903, or 1904, at the joint suggestion of members Peter Fletcher and Nicholas Murray Butler, later president of Columbia University. St. Andrew's put together a fine squad that was conspicuous for many years in the sport.

While players in New York State kept the winter game alive in the East, it spread in popularity to states around the Great Lakes and on the Canadian border, where there was a reasonable assurance of ice for steady play. Wisconsin became an important curling state and developed many outstanding rinks.

In 1938 a team of 50, representing the Royal Caledonian Curling Club of Scotland, toured Canada and the United States. They were excellent players and sportsmen and demonstrated the fine art of the draw game as compared with the running Jame, which is be= coming more popular on this side of the ocean.

The Royal Caledonian Curling Club is known as the "Mother Club" and has affiliated clubs in Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Sweden. In Canada the Dominion Curling Association is the over-all club, although many member clubs of the D.C.A. have direct affiliation with the "Mother Club."

There are three major organizations in the United States, the Grand National Curling Club of America, the Mid-West Curling Association and the United States Women's Curlers Association, the latter now having a membership of over 4680 players.

About the turn of the century Canada supplanted the United Stales as the stronghold of curling on the North American continent. There are so many teams-both men's and women's-in the various provinces that many insist it is Canada's national winter game, numerically, at least. There are about 1,581 clubs in the Dominion.

While curling generally is regarded as "an old man's game," it has gained many youngsters as devotees, both here and in Canada. There are teams of youngsters, the middle-aged and the elderly; teams for men, teams for women, and an occasional mixed team. In some districts, curling challenges ice hockey for popularity among the youth proving, as so many have contended, that it is "the ageless game."

Once curling makes its impress upon a novice, it never ceases its pressure. "Once a curler, always a curler," is the saying. Youngsters continue to play into old age; oldsters play until no energy is left for participation. The zest of contest is one thing; the social side of the game is something else-and a big lure. It's always "hail fellows, well met" when curlers go into action, and a "nip" while the wintry breezes blow. The warmth the "nip" produces and the gay comradeship in the game makes it beloved by devotees.