History of Kirkcudbright Curling
In Kirkcudbright, the earliest evidence of curling is a number of "old" stones used for curling now exhibited in the Stewartry Museum. Most of these are not dated – the earliest being "1720"- so it is fair to say that curling was established in the Stewartry in the 17th century and most likely before that.
Around 1850 the first formal curling club was formed in Kirkcudbright. Although there are no surviving records, it is likely that it was called the Kirkcudbright Curling Club or possibly Kirkcudbright Town and Parish Curling Club and played its matches at Whinneyliggate Loch, about 3 miles to the east of Kirkcudbright and on other small stretches of water in the area. By the mid 1860s a sum of money was raised by subscription to purchase a major trophy – a silver claret jug.
"The Curling Club Dam" Reproduced with the permission of the
National Library of Scotland
By the late 1870s the club had reached 90 members from the town and surrounding rural areas and without any constitution or rules, all decisions were taken at the annual general meeting in November of each year where the "skips" were elected. There appears to have been a groundswell of opinion that a location closer to Kirkcudbright would be more convenient for the majority of members. The dominant mode of transport at that time was by foot or horse and cart along makeshift roads which in cold and snowy times would not be the most pleasant task and so, not surpringly at the AGM on 23 November 1880 it was agreed that a new curling pond would be constructed at Boreland Meadows between the railway station and the River Dee and should become the club's new location.
A 19th century map of the town shows the pond (in red) on the east side of the current bridge over the Dee. The pond was referred to as “The Curling Club Dam” also known as the Dock Pond.
The case went in front of the Dumfries Sheriff sitting in Kirkcudbright in November 1886 who, based upon the fact that the club formed in 1850 had no constitution or rules to deal with this type of situation, found that a majority decision by the members of the club should hold and therefore with only a minority deciding to break away, the ownership of the Claret Jug should stay with the 1850 club.
Strangely that was not the end of the affair. The "Curling" club decided to appeal this decision and this was heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh by a judge who appeared puzzled as to why this issue had reached this level observing:
"Each party has made a separate offer of settlement so far, it is difficult to see why the others do not accept it"
"the battlefield should be on a sheet of ice rather than a court of law".
The appeal was lost and the decision of the Sheriff upheld leaving the ownership of the Claret Jug in the hands of the "Town" club.
In 1887 the costs of the action to the "Curling" club including the costs of the defendant were at least £98 which at today's prices would be £12,500. There is no record how this was paid but the "Town" that year received a rather terse letter from the St Mary's Isle Estate Office informing them that they had forfeited their right to play at Whinney Liggate Loch.
There are no minuted records of Kirkcudbright Curling Club Annual General Meetings in 1886 or 1887 and the next record in their minute book of the 1888 AGM refers to the club for the first time as "Kirkcudbright Country Curling Club".
In 1888 a silver trophy was presented to the club by The Countess of Selkirk and is now one of the oldest curling trophies in Scotland. Over the seasons, many of the club games were also played on Whinnieliggate Loch to the east of Kirkcudbright. From the 1888 records of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, the Stewartry had three curling clubs with a total membership of one hundred and eleven.
The fortunes of Kirkcudbright Country Curling Club went from strength to strength – having drawn up their own constitution and rules in 1897, they were admitted to the Royal Caledonian Curling Club in 1909 while the Town and Parish Club disbanded some time in the early years of the twentieth century. Curling continued to be played at Whinney Liggate and Jordieland Lochs for many years and the Claret Jug is now owned by by Kirkcudbright Country Curling Club. The new pond, once the source of the schism, now lies under modern houses beside Dee Walk. Court papers on the dispute, dated 1884/87 are in the Stewartry Museum in Kirkcudbright along with minute books from 1881 and many other artefacts.
By 1884 a dispute arose between the "Town" and "Curling" clubs over the silver Claret Jug which eventually went to law. The members of the "Curling" club had taken counsel's opinion over the ownership of the Claret Jug and had decided to pursue legal action against the officers of the "Town" club. Their aim seemed to be simply to gain ownership of the Jug but there must have been some hesitancy as all the members of the "ownership" sub-committee were required to provide their signatures in support followed by the signatures all of the members.
Kirkcudbright Curling Club was formed in 1881 by a breakaway minority of curlers from Kirkcudbright Town and Parish Curling Club who disagreed with the move to the Dock Pond. On 30 December 1881 the dissenting minority, about twenty in number, met in the Selkirk Arms to breakaway and form a curling club which was "to maintain tradition by continuing to base itself at Whinney Liggate Loch".