|
Scottish
settlers brought the sport of curling to Canada. They made
curling "rocks" from wooden blocks, and later shapped
them from stones. At first the game was played out-of-doors, but
as it grew in popularity, special indoor curling rinks were
built.
Curlers slid the rock across the ice toward a bull's-eye target
painted under the ice. The goal was to slide a rock fast enough
so that it traveled across the ice, but slow enough that it
stopped in the smallest circle of the target - the bull's eye.
Sweepers who held brooms, swept furiously in front of the stone,
smoothing the ice so that hopefully, the stone would reach the
target.
Played on an ice rink, the game has elements of both lawn
bowling and horseshoe pitching. It's a game for four persons who
slide heavy stones (rocks) over smooth ice at a mark at the end
of the rink. A broom is used to remove all snow particles from
the ice during play to make the stone travel farther. A detailed
explanation of the play of the game may be found in Mitchell (editor)
GV701.S6 Sports for Recreation and How To Play Them and
also in GV55.I6 Images of Sport in Early Canada; GV845.S8
Curling in Ontario.
Wooden
Curling Stone
 This
mid-nineteenth century "stone" of smoothed burlled
wood is 26cm in diameter x 11.9cm high. On the top is a
continuous ridge forming a 19.3cm diameter circle. A metal and
wooden handle (12cm long) is attached to the top of the stone
within the ridge. On the underside of the stone, there are 8
circles, 2.3cm in diameter, arranged around a 1.9cm square in
the center. The circles may be the ends of metal plugs inserted
in the wood to provide weight.
When
the stone was donated to the Museum's collection, it was
reported that the maker of this stone was a Scots immigrant to
Ontario who may have made the stone in Ontario, or brought it
with him from Scotland during the nineteenth century.
So
great was the enthusiasm for curling in Canada that as early as
1870 a challenge was sent to Scotland inviting her to test the
skill of her players against the curlers of the new world...
Curling enjoyed a heyday during the 1880s and 1890s. Boroughs,
hamlets, towns, and cities participated in the game, and many
arranged bonspiels with attractive trophies and prizes which
were avidly competed for. Howell, Sports & Games in
Canadian Life, p87-88.
Last
update 18-Oct-1999 by eavedon@healthy.uwaterloo.ca
|
und
besteht überwiegend aus Granit. Das Geheimnis dieses Granits liegt in
seiner außergewöhnlichen Dichte und dabei doch relativ leichten
Schleifbarkeit. Dieser Granit wird "Blue Hone" genannt und
wurde in einem kleinen Steinbruch im Nordosten der Insel in Form
sogenannter "cheese" - Zylindern von ca. 300 mm Durchmessern
und 80 mm Höhe - gewonnen und mit kleinen Kuttern zum Festland gebracht.
Die Abbaurechte an Ailsa Craig Granit besitzt die Scottish Curling
Stone Company - heute Bonspiel Curling Ltd, welche 1990 mit den
schottischen Wettbewerber der Andrew Kay Company zu der Kay Bonspiel Ltd
fusionierte.
