About Curling

“I mean, I look at this thing and it’s just a rock.”
“No, it’s not just a rock.”
“No?”
“No… It’s forty-two pounds of polished granite, with a beveled underbelly and a handle a human being can hold.  And it may have no practical purpose in and of itself, but it is a repository of human possibility and if it’s handled just right it will exact a kind of poetry.  For ten years I’ve drilled for oil, in ninety-three countries on five different continents and not once have I done anything to equal the grace of a well thrown rock sliding down a sheet… not once.”  - Men With Brooms, 2002
 

History, Etiquette and How the Game is Played

HISTORY OF CURLING

"Curling has been described as the “Roarin’ Game”, with the “roar” coming from the sound of a granite stone as it travels over the ice.  The exact origins of the game however, are unclear, lost in the mists of time.

Paintings by 16th century Flemish artist, Pieter Bruegel (1530-1569) portrayed an activity similar to curling being played on frozen ponds.  (Click here for more info and to see these paintings.)  The first written evidence appeared in Latin, when in 1540, John McQuhin, a notary in Paisley, Scotland, recorded in his protocol book a challenge between John Sclater, a monk in Paisley Abbey and Gavin Hamilton, a representative of the Abbot.  The report indicated that Sclater threw a stone along the ice three times and asserted that he was ready for the agreed contest.  What is clear, however, is that what may have started as an enjoyable pastime of throwing stones over ice during a harsh Northern European winter, has evolved into a popular modern sport with its own World Championships attracting fans and large television audiences."  For more on the history of the sport of curling, visit: http://www.worldcurling.org/history-of-curling.

"Foot firm and fair,
Play to a hair;
Your stone, if well directed,
Will hit your aim,
And win the game;
If not, be not dejected."
- St. Bride Society of Douglas, 1794

SPIRIT OF CURLING

 
"... If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster,
And treat those two impostors just the same..."
- Rudyard Kipling, 1895

CODE OF ETHICS

ETIQUETTE

CURLING SAFETY

 
"The sun had clos'd the winter day,
The curlers quat their roarin' play."
- Robbie Burns, 1786