In 1541 notary John McQuhin wrote of a challenge that had taken place at Paisley Abbey between a monk and a relative of the abbot. Little did he know that their exchange of passing stones across the ice was the birth of a sport that would be played for centuries.
Although curling didn’t make its debut until the Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924, many parts of the world had been enjoying the sport for quite some time – thanks to Scottish emigrants. Wherever they went, so too did curling.
Scotland’s strong presence in Canada saw the establishment of the Royal Montreal Curling Club in 1807, now the oldest sporting club in North America. The United States founded its first curling club in 1830 and before the century was out, Switzerland and Sweden were making the most of their perfect playing conditions.
Today curling is played all over Europe, and has even spread to Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea. But it’s our Canadian cousins who are really leading the way in the sport.
More about the game
Curling is an exciting game that requires absolute precision. Players use continuous movement from a long-handled brush to slide stones across the ice. The object is to get closest to the circular target.
Great Scot
Scotland team skip, Eve Muirhead, took Olympic bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Games and won the 2013 World Champion title in Riga. A natural on the ice, Eve has curling in her blood. Dad Gordon is a two-time World Championship runner-up, older brother Glen has also curled for Scotland, and younger brother Thomas represented Great Britain at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics.