The Canadian Curler's Manual Part 1

The Canadian Curler's Manual.

by James Bicket.

PREFACE

This little pamphlet has been produced at the request of the TORONTO CURLING CLUB. The original object in its publication was simply to furnish the Members with a copy of the Const.i.tution of the Club, and of the laws which they observe in playing. The design is now extended, so as to embrace a general description of Curling, with a brief history of the Game; and by thus making it to be understood, by those who have never seen it played, or who may have been only occasional spectators, to induce a more general partic.i.p.ation in this most healthful and exhilarating amus.e.m.e.nt.

It is gratifying to observe the success of the efforts which have been made in this country, during the last few years, to promote and encourage the Game. It is now becoming, and must become, a favorite in Canada. It is admirably adapted to this climate, where the winter is generally cold enough to ensure good ice, and seldom so severe as to render the exercise unpleasant. Being played in the open air, during a season when few out-of-door recreations can be enjoyed, it is well calculated to counteract the enfeebling influence of confinement to our close and heated winter houses. Many objections which may be brought against other sports, are not applicable to this. It calls up none of the low and degrading pa.s.sions of our nature. Notwithstanding the intense interest which Curlers may feel in a well contested match, no betting ever takes place among them; the excitement arising from gambling, therefore, is altogether removed from the rink. Intoxication on the ice is also unknown among good players. The nice equilibrium of body and the firmness of nerve, essential to scientific Curling, would disappear on the first symptom of such a state. But the Game is sufficiently interesting without any extraneous stimulant. While it imparts vigour to every limb, and every muscle, it engages the attention and awakens the judgment; and thus brings into healthful excitement those powers of the body and of the mind, the due exercise of which the Creator has allied with pleasure.

In the observations which will be found on the early history of Curling, a liberal use has been made of a small but valuable work on the subject, published anonymously, in Kilmarnock, in 1828. To the same authority the writer is indebted for the derivation of several of the words to be found in the Glossary, and it is only doing the Compilers of the work referred to, an act of justice, which they can have no wish should be omitted, to state, that they have availed of "Doctor Jamieson's Dictionary," "Brewster's Encyclopedia," and an "Account of Curling, by a Member of the Duddingstone Society." These, unfortunately, are not at present accessible to the writer. During the present year, he ordered from Edinburgh such publications on the Game, as could be found; but was disappointed on learning, that several excellent Treatises which he expected to receive, are now out of print--the only works which his Correspondent could procure, being the "Annual of the Grand Caledonian Curling Club" and the "Rules of Curling, by Pretostes."

The writer has affixed his name to this work--conceiving that from his official connection with the Toronto Curling Club, since its establishment, this may lend some weight to the opinions, and some authority to the statements therein contained.

TORONTO, 30th NOVEMBER, 1840.

PART I.

CURLING.--Is a Game played upon the ice, by sliding stones, made for the purpose, from one point to another. In some respects it resembles Bowling, but with these differences, that the stones are slidden upon the ice, not rolled--neither are they made like Bowls, to curve on their pa.s.sage; the points, also, to which the stones are played are stationary, whereas in Bowling the Jack is moveable; and in Curling, the ice in the path of the stone may be polished by sweeping--and thus the players may compensate for the want of force with which a stone may have been thrown.

Pennant, in his "Tour through Scotland" gives the following rough description of the Game:--"Of all the sports in those parts, that of Curling is the favorite. It is an amus.e.m.e.nt of the winter, and played upon the ice, by sliding from one mark to another, great stones of 40 to 70 lbs. weight, of a hemispherical form, with a wooden or iron handle at top. The object of the player is to lay his stone as near the mark as possible, to guard that of his partner which has been well laid before, or to strike off that of his antagonist." Such is a brief outline of that Game, a fuller description of which is attempted in the following pages.

STONES.--These are made of granite, or of any other stone which is hard, free from sand, and not liable to break. They are cut into a spherical form, flattened at top and bottom, and the angles rounded off and polished, particularly that at the sole. The handle is inserted in the top. Though they must all be made circular, the proportion of the diameter to the thickness varies in different districts; some being made more and some less than twice as wide as they are thick. The Grand Caledonian Curling Club has lately suggested the following scale--the first attempt that has been made to regulate the proportions of Curling Stones--and which for the sake of uniformity, it is hoped, will be adopted, viz:--

"When the weight is under

35 lbs. imp., the height not to be more than 4-1/4 inches.

38 lbs. 4-1/2 inches.

41 lbs. 4-3/4 inches.

44 lbs. 5 inches.

47 lbs. 5-1/4 inches.

50 lbs. 5-1/2 inches.

"Whatever be the diameter or weight, the height ought never to exceed 6-1/8 inches, nor be less than 4-1/4 inches--None ought to be allowed in a set game of greater diameter than 12 inches, nor of a greater weight than 50 lbs. imperial."

Stones are sometimes so finished as to slide on either of the flattened surfaces, one of which in such cases, is made slightly concave, and on this side the stone is played when the ice is hard and keen; the other, a little convex, being used when the ice is soft and dull.

In some parts of Canada, where suitable stone cannot readily be procured, iron or wood has been subst.i.tuted. At Quebec and Montreal, castings of iron, in the shape of Curling Stones, are played with--the intensity of the cold there, rendering the stones liable to break on striking against one another. Iron is used also by the Curlers of Dundas, in the Gore District; and at Guelph, where the Game has some ardent admirers, they play with blocks of hard wood. At Toronto, and the Curling localities in the neighborhood, stones only have been used; part having been imported from Scotland, and others having been made by the stone-cutter to the Club, from blocks of excellent quality picked up by him on the land in the vicinity. Several of the stones imported to Toronto have been made from Ailsa Craig, which, it appears, has long been known as an excellent material for the purpose; one of those now referred to having been played with by the father of the present owner, at least sixty years ago.

THE RINK.--The ice on which the game is played is called the Rink. This should be a sheet of fifty yards in length and four yards in width; perfectly free from every inequality. At the distance of four yards from each end of the rink, and in the middle crosswise, a circular hole is made, about an inch in diameter and the same in depth, called the "tee."

Round the tee two or more circular lines are drawn, the largest having a diameter of about five feet, the others smaller and at intermediate distances. The s.p.a.ce within the largest circle is called the "brough."

The use of the circular lines is to shew, while the game is being played, the comparative nearness of the stones to the tee; actual measurement not being allowed until all the stones have been played to one end of the rink. A line is also drawn across the tee, at right angles with the rink lengthwise, and extending to the outermost circle, the use of which will be shewn in the remarks relating to sweeping. At the distance of seven yards from each of the tees a line is drawn across the rink, called the "hog-score," and stones which on being played do not pa.s.s this score are called "hogs" and lose for that time the chance of counting, being distanced or thrown off the rink.

PLAYING.--When the player is about to throw his stones, he places himself at one end of the rink, rests his right foot in a notch, or "hack" made in the ice,[1] and in such a relation to the tee that when he delivers his stone it must pa.s.s over it. He is directed by one of the players of his own party, styled the "skip" who stands at or near the tee to which the stone is to be played, and who usually makes use of his broom to indicate the point to which, or the line along which, he wishes the stone to be played. Should the stone be delivered with the proper degree of strength, and in the direction pointed out to the player by the skip, it will either rest at the spot required, or receiving, as the skip intended, a new direction by coming in contact with some other stone, will effect the desired purpose. The player on delivering his stone raises it off the ice, and swinging it once behind him to acquire a proper _impetus_, and to make surer of his aim, keeping his eye, at the same time, steadily fixed on the broom of the skip, or on any stone, or other object towards or against which he may be desired to play, throws it in that direction. The stone reaching the ice on its sole about two feet in front of the player--his body naturally following the same direction until the stone be fairly delivered.

[1: Other contrivances than the hack are used in some places to prevent the foot of the player from slipping. Sometimes a thin board is laid on the ice, on which he places both his feet. At Toronto, the hack is considered the best, and although the Club has "crampits" for the benefit of those accustomed to them, they are required only by strangers or novices, experience demonstrating their uselessness.]

SWEEPING.--For the purpose of Sweeping, every player is furnished with a broom, by means of which the ice may sometimes be so polished that a stone may reach the tee, which, without sweeping, could not have pa.s.sed the hog score. When a stone, therefore, in its progress up the rink appears to the skip to have been thrown with insufficient force, he directs his party to sweep the ice in its path. The party opposed to that whose stone is coming up is not allowed to sweep in front of the line drawn across the brough, but may sweep behind it, so as to let the stone, if it should pa.s.s the tee, go far enough beyond it, to lose the chance of counting.

The brooms used in Scotland are usually made of "broom," sometimes of birch twigs, and occasionally of heather, as one or other may be found most convenient to the place of playing. In Canada, "corn brooms" which have been used for domestic purposes a sufficient length of time to be stripped of the knotty parts which might break off and obstruct the progress of the stone, have been found to be the best. Some Curlers in Scarboro', near Toronto, who have immigrated from Lanarks.h.i.+re, have imported stocks of the genuine Scotch broom, which, under their cultivation, thrives so well as to promise to supersede the use of every other material.

THE GAME.--The usual mode of playing the game is with 16 stones on a rink. This number is sufficient to impart interest to the playing, and more would towards the end of the head, crowd the ice. Sometimes these are played by four players on each side, playing two stones each, which mode may be preferable when a few only are exercising for practice; but in such case the sweeping, which--unless the ice be very keen--is essential to success, can never be properly attended to, as the skip and player being sufficiently occupied in their own departments, only two brooms can be effectively employed at the same time. The most interesting game, therefore, is where there are sixteen players on a rink, with one stone each, eight players on each side; and a game so played is now to be described.

The parties determine by lot which is to "have the ice" or in other words, which is to play the first stone. It is doubtful whether it be an advantage to win the ice, as the party who loses this plays the last stone--the most important in determining the result of the head. The side who wins the end plays the first stone on the end following.

The skip of the party who is to play first, stationing himself on that tee towards which the stones are to be thrown, directs the player who is to "lead" or play the first stone, on his side. When this stone is played the skip of the opposite party takes the same post, pointing out to his first player how he wishes his stone to be played. Each side plays one stone alternately, and the object of each successive player is to draw nearer the tee than any of his opponents, to strike out their winning shots, or to guard the winners of his own party. The earlier stages of the end therefore appear simple enough; but after the first eight or ten stones have been played, especially when they have been played well, the game becomes more intricate and more interesting. One party may have a stone covering the tee, apparently guarded on every side, and impregnable to attack, the stones of their opponents having only strengthened its position; yet some stone which, either from a _ruse_ on the part of the director, or from being badly played, has rested near the edge of the rink and seems to be lost for that end, may furnish a point to which another stone may be slidden, and receiving thence a new direction may reach the winner, and removing it from the tee, become itself the winning stone.

The director generally plays the last stone on his own side. The seventh player is usually appointed to that position in the order of the game on account of his being a correct and powerful player, so that he may, when necessary, open up a path for the stone of the "hind hand."

When the stones are all played to one end of the rink, the game is counted, and every stone which either party has nearer the tee than any stone of their opponents, counts one shot or point; and such portion of the game is styled an "end" or "head."

The number of shots in a game is variable, depending on agreement. The Toronto Club usually play for 31, in a regular game; and in their matches among themselves, or with the Scarboro' Curlers, when more than one rink has been engaged, the practice has been, either to play to an hour specified, or to stop before that hour should the aggregate shots of either party on all the rinks collectively amount to thirty-one for each rink. In Scotland, where the continuance of the curling season is very precarious, all who have it in their power, play the whole of every day while the ice will permit, and, consequently, the number of shots played for is more uniform. At Toronto, where Curling may be practised almost daily, fully three months in the year, the rink is resorted to for one or two hours' recreation, and seven, thirteen, or twenty-one shots are frequently fixed on as the game, according to the time intended to be devoted to the exercise.

LAWS OF THE GAME.--In every district of Scotland, and in almost every club, some differences are to be found in the mode of conducting the game. Little difficulty, however, is there experienced from the want of written laws, the _lex non scripta_ of every parish or county being perfectly understood where it is in force. Still in Edinburgh and a few other places where Curlers from distant Clubs are likely to meet, it has been found necessary to have their laws reduced to writing so that from whatever part of the country the player might come, he could not be ignorant of the rules by which his playing was to be governed. At Toronto, the want of a written code of laws, was for a number of years, felt to be inconvenient--few of the original Curlers having been accustomed to play exactly according to the same system. It was, therefore, one of the first objects of the Toronto Curling Club, after its formation, to draw up a set of Rules, founded on the prevailing practice in Scotland. The following, therefore, were agreed to--and although not applicable to every case that may be conceived, they have been found sufficient to decide, satisfactorily, every difficulty that has occurred during the experience of four years; and have been cheerfully agreed to by the Scarboro' Curlers, in their matches with those of Toronto.

1st.--The Rink to be forty-two yards from tee to tee,[2] unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties. When a game is begun the rink cannot be changed or altered unless by the consent of a majority of players, and it can be shortened only when it is apparent that a majority cannot play the length.

2nd.--The hog score must be distant from the tee one-sixth part of the length of the rink. Every stone to be deemed a hog, the sole of which, when at rest, does not completely clear the score.

3rd.--Every player to foot so that in delivering his stone, it shall pa.s.s over the tee.

4th.--The order of playing adopted at the beginning must not be changed during a game.

5th.--Curling-stones must be of a circular shape. No stone to be changed during a game,[3] unless it happen to be broken; and the largest fragment of such stone to count, without any necessity of playing with it more. If a stone roll or be upset, it must be placed upon its sole where it stops. Should the handle quit a stone in the delivery, the player must keep hold of it, otherwise he will not be ent.i.tled to replay the shot.

6th.--The player may sweep his own stone the whole length of the rink; his party not to sweep until it has pa.s.sed the first hog score, and his adversaries not to sweep until it has pa.s.sed the tee--the sweeping to be always to a side.

7th.--None of the players, on any account, to cross or go upon the middle of the rink.

8th.--If, in sweeping or otherwise, a running stone is marred by any of the party to which it belongs, it must be put off the rink; if by any of the adverse party, it must be placed agreeably to the direction which was given to the player; and if it be marred by any other means, the player may take his shot again. Should a stone at rest be accidentally displaced, it must be put as near as possible in its former situation.