St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-12

ished Ailsa craig curling stones of
today and the broonl-koWers to the
more modern and more useful brooms
or besoms, says the New York Times.
But the real hearty enjoyment Of
"Scotia's ain game Of curlin'" remains
in all its vigor, despite the modern
improvements surrounding it, The
boom of the curling stones as they
glide along the ice on a clear, frosty
day is heard as far as ever among the
hichts and howes, the hills and dales
of Scotland and America. The shouts
of the players are just as CHEEKY as
they were wont to be; the nomencIa-
ture of the game is very little altered
from the terms used $50 years ago, and
the customary supper of beef and
greens discussed after a well-contested
bonspiel dis just as toothsome and as
much relished as in the days when
the Ettrick Shepherd and Christopher
North skipped Kinks against one an
other in keen but friendly rivalry on
the frozen surface Of ST Mary's loch,
or Gala water, with the "Shirra," Sir
Walter Scott, as umpire
In those days a journey to a neigh
boring parish or county to play a curl
ing spiel was about as far a venture
as the curriers' would think of taking,
but now, with the facilities for travel
ing, distance is annihilated and a curl
ing trip of LOCO miles requires no more
consideration than a journey from
Glasgow to Edinburgh on "shanks'
magic" or on the Forth and Clyde canal
would in olden times.
The New York Caledonian club was
the first to set an example in this coun-
try of travelling some distance to play
game, sending three Kinks to Pitts
ton, Pa, Jan. 5, 1860, returning home
victors over the Pennsylvanians, this
y trip being the theme of many a fire.
SIDE story in subsequent years. Will
lam Winterbottom, who was president
Of the Caledonians then and played
In the match, is still an active curler.
living instance of the truth of Car
lyle's philosophic maxim, the survival
of the fittest
Much has been written about the
technique of the game, but there is only
one way to gain practical knowI-
edge of it. When scholarly James VI.
OF Scotland was a student he wanted
TO know from his tutor, the learned
George Buchanan, if there was no
easier method for a king to learn
Greek than for common folks, but was
promptly told there was no royal road
to knowledge. So with curling. the
hard, beaten road of practice must be
travelled to become a proficient play
er. The game can be enjoyed with
Zest from fifteen to seventy-fve years
of age, and some years ago those ages
' were represented in match played
on Conservatory lake, Central park.
The origin of the game, or it's native
habitat, is now lost in the mists or
frosts of antiquity, and, although it
has long been recognized as the ma
tional game of Scotland, the etymology
of many Of the terms still used shows
that it must have been practiced on
the continent of Europe before cross
ing the North sea to become nation
allied among the Scots, who have ever
been ready to practice manly ath-
letic outdoor sports and carry their
love for them with them wherever
they go.
The use of such words in the game
as bonspiel, brough, bunker, colly
crampit, rink, tozee, skip, etc, indicate
Teutonic or Belgic orin, the name
Of curling itself-evidently derived
from the German kurzweillen to play
for amusement. But there is no doubt
about the nationality of such terms
as bauch Ice, broom-kowe, fore han
channel stane, pother, souterin, him
haun, ETC., and the curriers' can enioy
their game on a frosty day, even when
Gaelic is used to cheer on the players
The earliest notice OF curling which
has been discovered is mention made in
Campden's Britannia published in 1907,
where Copinshaw, one of the Orkney
islands, is spoken of as famous for
excellent stones for the game Of curl
Ing This goes to show that the game
was then in considerable repute, when
stones were brought from so great a
distance to where the game could be
practiced. Last century the game used
to be played with eight men a side
playing one stone each, and curriers' to-
day think that must have been a some
what "cauld-rife" game unless there
was plenty of sweeping to do Now.
when four men a side, with pair Of