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Shortly after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, considered by some to be the most pivotal military engagement ever fought on the North American continent, and the Siege of Quebec City in September 1759, the icy cold waters of the vast St. Lawrence froze solid and forced the British fleet to spend a Canadian winter on the river. The sailors from the Glasgow ports melted down cannon balls to fashion irons, one foot diameter, cupped out to reduce running surface, rounds to replace the granite of home, to curl these 30 pounders along the surface of the river, to relieve the boredom of this out port backwash bilge water bay.

Out on the ice the boys went to spend a whole day cutting hacks in the ice for their feet and setting the tee at the head of action, usually 128 feet distant from the hack. Each man was responsible for two irons and an assortment of implements that were used to chip and scrap the ice surface to get the irons sliding and curling. Today's brushes and brooms are direct descendants of these tools that were also used to cut holes in the ice for fishing and sounding. The Scots were the most educated of the sailors, many of them were aboard as scientists and this game reflects that analytic nature, called by many "Chess on Ice".
The tee is a geodetic centre of a 12 foot circle into which the irons were thrown. Only irons in the circle could be counted. The tee was driven into the ice and a six foot chord attached for exact measurements to describe the circle and to judge proximity of the irons to the tee.
All during the day long games grog for the enlisted men and whisky for the officers, were drunk to keep the cold at bay. The code of honour, sportsmanship and friendship that grew from this most sociable sport still governs every contest, with handshakes at the beginning and end of each game.
To this day, the game that was first described in history in the Scottish Highlands and Dutch Lowlands in the 16th century, prospers all across the cold realms of Northern Europe, The Alps, Scandinavia, Britain, Canada, and is growing rapidly in the US, Japan, Korea and China. The game is played mostly indoors now with all the comforts of home only a few steps away from the action on the ice, but the game itself is pretty much the same. Throw all the 16 stones of each end, like an inning in baseball, from hack to tee, alternating in good order from friend and foe, the team whose stones are closest to the tee scores however many points, one per stone, in such enviable position.
The pleasures of sliding on the ice like an angel in heaven, throwing stones spinning and roaring on the bumpy surface, bellowing encouragement and direction to your friends and team mates are the highlights of many a winter day. Keep your eyes open you'll see a game soon. "Good Curling"

Learn more about this author, Barry Slater.
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