The Scottish Curling Exhibition

Exhibition based on the collection of the late Sheriff David B. Smith which he left to the Scottish Curling Trust in 2015.

The Scots created curling. They wrote the first rules and standardised the stones and the size of the rink. They made its language, from the hog to the house, and they gave it to the world.

This exhibition is based on the collection of the late Sheriff David B. Smith which he left to the Scottish Curling Trust in 2015.

The earliest certain reference to curling dates from 1620, though there is evidence from Paisley, that it had been played in the previous century.

This old game was played outdoors, often on rough ice on which the house and the hogs were scratched.

The first indoor rink was at Southport in Lancashire, opened in 1879, it was a commercial failure, but it was followed by rinks in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Curlers travelled long distances, typically by train, to play at the city venues.

The popularity of Ice Hockey in the late 1930’s made possible the building of many more indoor rinks, and new ones were opened in the 1960’s and 1970’s, encouraging women to take up the game.

From 1959 onwards international competition expanded, so that it is now the public face of the game.

The last of the outdoor Grand Matches was held in 1979.  Since 200 they have been played indoors every five years.