::The History of the Sport of Curling::
The History of the Sport of Curling
The history of the sport of curling is not very well known. Where was curling invented, Scotland, right? Well, yes, the evidence seems to point in that direction: it is well known that curling was played in Scotland since the 16th century, and the game still holds true to a lot of its Scottish roots. However, there is some controversy here... since many curling historians think maybe the sport's origins lie in the Netherlands, where they played a game on ice called eisschiessen. The image of this game appears in two paintings from famous Dutch artist, Pieter Bruegel, Hunters in the Snow and Lanscape with a Birdtrap. This game is still played in many parts of Eurpoe to this day, and dates back centuries. The game is very similar to the game of curling
The first evidence of the existence of curling rocks was reported in Pasiley Abbey in Scotland in 15541. Early Scottish curling stones were called "loofies". They weighed a mere 5 lbs. This is the only country that stones like this have been discovered, so therefore curling must have originated in Scotland. Early curling stones were usually just whatever stone you could find. They were crude, a different sizes and shapes. As new discoveries were made and curling stones began to change, the game evolved. Sitll, the stones were being shaped out of blocks and boulders, and were still different shapes and sized, but they were beginning to take the forms of curling rocks. It wasn't until nearly the end of the 19th century that stone very similar to the ones used today emerged.
Curling and Canada. Though curling's birthplace is Scotland, it has flourished and become one of the most popular sports played in Canada. Quebec was the birthplace of curling in Canada, and ironically today, it has the fewest number of participants per capita. Curling had a hard time growing in Eastern Canada, due to the few roads, scattered communities, and difficulty travelling.
Toronto is the home of the first curling club established in Ontario, in 1837. In Nova Scotia, the first two clubs built were one in Halifax in 1824 and one in Pictou in 1829, since the Scottish coalminers brought stones over from Scotland. Meanwhile, Ontario encourage the Western provinces to start up independent curling clubs and join them in the formation of the Royal Caledonian. The sport was a natural for the prairies, due to their long, harsh winters, and curlings popularity grew quickly there, and it is still very popular there today.
Curling was made to play outdoors, on froxen ponds and rivers, but it finally came into its own with the implementation of indoor play. It took nearly a century for curling to gaina strong foothold in Canada, but now, with the CCA (Canadian Curling Association) and 1,250 clubs across Canada, it is one of our most popular sports. Over 1.2 million Canadians participate in the sport, and over 11 million, (1 in 3 Canadians) watch it on TV.
Sources:
All information about the history of the sport was taken from the book, "Curling: The History, The Players, The Game" by Warren Hansen
The stats at the end was taken from http://www.scotttournamentofhearts2003.com (the link is no longer active)
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