Freemasonry and Curling

Curling, a sport similar to bowls but played with large polished stones on a sheet of ice, is sometimes claimed as the national sport of Scotland. James Taylor in Curling : the Ancient Scottish Game (2nd. ed., Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1887), describing the curling society at Sanquhar in Dumfries and Galloway, notes (pp. 32-33) that 'There would appear to have been something akin to Freemasonry about the constitution of the Sanquhar Society, for at an early stage of its history a dispute had arisen among the members as to which was the true Curler Word and Grip, and the Society found it necessary to issue an authoritative declaration on the subject, in the following terms:- "In order to prevent all dispute concerning the Curler Word and Grip, the Master, who always is preses during his office, and the rest of the Society have agreed that the following shall be held and reputed the Curler Word and Grip of this Society for the future:-

The Curler Word.

If you'd be a curler keen,

Stand straight, look even,

Sole well, shoot straight, and sweep clean

The Curler Grip with the Explanation 

Gripping hands in the common manner of shaking hands is gripping the hand of the curling stone. The thumb of the person examined or instructed is thrust in betwixt the thumb and forefinger of the examinator or instructor signifies 'running a port'. The little finger of the person examined or instructed linked with the little finger of the examinator or instructor means an 'inning'. 

It is with reference to this word and grip, doubtless, that in the first minute secrecy is enjoined upon all members'.

The Sanquhar Society was founded in 1774 (Taylor, p. 28).

Taylor also reproduces (pp. 33-4) a song by the Edinburgh doctor and comic poet, James Archibald Sidey (d. 1886):

The Curler's Grip 

Air. - 'Auld Langsyne'

Losh  man! I'm glad to see yoursel',

I'm glad to meet a freen';

But man, the pleasure's greater still

When he's a curler keen.

Sae gie's the curler's grip, my freen',

Sae gie's the curler's grip,

Losh man! I'm glad to see yoursel',

Sae gie's the curler's grip.

We've played thegither mony a time,

Around the curling tee,

I've sooped ye aften up the ice,

You've dune the same to me.

Sae gie's the curler's grip, my freen', &c.

Man! when I feel a grip like that

I'm unca sweir'd to part;

The blood rins din'lin up my arm

An' warms my very heart.

Sae gie's the curler's grip, my freen', &c.

But as the nicht is gye weel thro'

Let's hae anither 'nip',

An' drink success to ilka ane

That kens the curler's grip

Sae gie's the curler's grip, my freen', &c.

The formation of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club in 1838 bears some strong parallels to the formation of Grand Lodges in Freemasonry. Taylor p. 269 describes how the objects of the initial meeting of the club 'were generally to assimilate the ceremonies and mysteries of "initiation", as also the rules and laws of the curling clubs of Scotland, and to form a general and central court of reference, to consist of one or more representatives from the initiated curling socieies who had that day met...'. One of the first actions of the club was to appoint a committee 'for the purpose of considering the mysteries and ceremonies, as also the rules and laws, of the curling clubs of Scotland, and to prepare a mode of initiation and a set of rules and regulations to be observed by the Grand Caledonian Curling Club and the different curling clubs associating themselves therewith..." A subsequent report of this meeting adopted a tone very similar to that of countless contemporary reports of masonic meetings: 'The members met in the morning, almost all strangers to each other. They spent the evening like brothers, as if they had been all their lives acquainted, and separated rejoicing in the friendships they had formed, and in the expectation of often meeting again'. (Taylor, p. 270).

The rules published by the Grand Caledonian Curling Cub included regulations for the initiation of members, the word and the grip, and the pass and the counterword (Taylor, p. 271). Many of these derived from the rules of the Kinross Curling Court, which were felt to represent the most ancient usage. Taylor states (p. 134) that 'The original object of the Curling Court was to punish petty offences committed on the ice, and to initiate brethren into the mysteries of curling. It has been supposed to be co-existent with curling clubs and curling brotherhoods, but it appears more probable that the rules and arrangements of the game had been carefully considered before a court of this kind was likely to be instituted'. Taylor prints (pp. 134-138) the elaborate rituals of the court of initiation, of which the following are extracts: 'The candidate respectfully approaches My Lord with a curler's besom in his hand, holding it over his right shoulder, and craves to be admitted a member of the Honourable Court and Club. My Lord now appoints one of the brethren to give him the 'words' and 'grips', and two others, who must be masters of the whole secrets, to be reporters as to whether these have been given correctly. The three brethren then conduct the candidate to an adjoining room, which has been previously prepared fo the purpose, and after careful examination that no intruders are present, and shutting the door, the initiation commences by the person appointed by My Lord first giving the 'words' and then the 'grip'. If the reporters find he is unable to give these correctly, they return with him to the Court, and report the circumstances to My Lord, who immediately appoints some other to the office ... The reports, after the candidate receives the secrets, introduce him to My ord in Court as a brother of the broom and a keen, keen, keen curler. He then goes forward to My Lord, and holding his hand under the table out of view, <i>gives</i> My Lord the 'grip', after which he goes to the brother on My Lord's left, and give him the 'grip'...

The nineteenth-century rhetoric used to praise curling again recalls the kind of language used by apologists of Freemasonry. Taylor writes (pp. 1-2) that curling 'strengthens the ties of friendship, rubs off the asperities of sect and party, and promotes harmony and good feeling among those who would otherwise be estranged by political and ecclesiastical contentions. The moral infuence of curling is a theme on which enthusiastic votaries espcially delight to expatiate. "Where", it is triumphantly asked, "was it ever known that a keen curler was a bad father or brother, or member of society?'".

Sir Richard Broun (1801-58) in his Memorabilia Curliana Mabenensia (Dumfries: John Sinclair, 1830), p. 25, urging players in curling to adopt a universal set of rules, declares that 'Curling, like free-masonry - to which in feeling and good fellowship, it is so intimately allied - should everywhere be conduced on the same principles'. It was customary to refer to 'brother curlers'. The rules of Blairgowrie Curling Club in 1784 and the 1795 regulations of the club in Sorn in Ayrshire both refer to curlers as brethren: David B Smith, The Roaring Game: Memories of Scottish Curling (Glasgow: Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries, 1985), pp. 15-16.

Some of the first literary referenes to curling occur in Henry Adamson's poem Muses Threnodie which is also celebrated for its reference to the mason word and second sight - suggesting that curling may have seemed to Adamson very similar to masonry in its significance  in local life.

A connection between Freemasonry and Curling is not as fanciful as it at first sight seems since of course the production of the polished stones used in curling - which could in the nineteenth century be as heavy as seventy pounds - was a skilled craft, and required the involvement of a stonemason. Boulders were shaped into ounded stones by local masons (W. H. Murray, A Curling Companion (Glasgow: Richard Drew, 1981), p. 58). The 'rare skills of the mason' required to make curling stones mean that there is only one curling stone manufacturer in Scotland, James Wyllie, at the Mauchline Curling Stone Works. Mostly, the names of the masons responsible for older curling stones are not known. Sir Richard Broun states that the addition of a steel-plate bottom to curling stones was the work of John Muir, a mason of Dalry (Memorabilia Curliana Mabenensia, p. 48). Some of the skills required by stonemasons were also valuable in playing the game. Broun, in his chapter describing the game which he entitles 'Initiatory', notes for example that 'Calculation of distance, an important item in the Curling art, is not a mechanical process attainable by practice - but one that depends solely and simply upon the eye'. (p. 20).

Strong personal links continue between Freemasonry and curling. The 11th Earl of Elgin was Grand Master Mason of Scotland from 1961-5 and also President of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club from 1968-9.
The development of culrling may be broadly contemporary with that of Freemasonry in Scotland. The earliest documentary reference to curling occurs in Paisley in 1541 (Murray, p. 17), half a century before the Schaw Statutes. The eariest surviving stone dates from 1511 (Murray, pp. 32-3), but stones of the modern type become more commonplace from the middle of the seventeenth century, suggesting that curling spread rapidly as a sport in Scotland at this time, broadly the same time as saw the growth of Freemasonry there.     

Some Talks on Masonic Processions

A colourful feature of town life in Britain from the founding of the Grand Lodge in London in 1717 until the Second World War were the public processions by Freemasons. These processions were undertaken for a variety of reasons: ceremonies associated with the laying of the foundation stones of public buildings; attendance at church services; special theatrical performances for masonic lodges; and attendance at the annual feast of the Grand Lodge. Masonic processions raise many interesting questions in connection with the social function of urban space and the expression of civic and social identity. They also challenge our preconceptions of Freemasonry as a secret society. It is difficult to depict Freemasonry as a mysterious secret body when, for much of their history, Freemasons in Britain have publicly paraded around towns in their regalia.

Masonic processions died out in England and Wales about the time of the Second World War for reasons that are still mysterious, but some masonic processions still take place in Scotland, such as the 'Masons Walk' of the Lodge of Melrose St John No. 1 bis, which is held annually in Melrose on 27 December, the feast of St John the Evangelist. Masonic processions were the subject of the 2009 Prestonian Lecture of Dr John Wade, my former colleague at the University of Sheffield.

Masonic processions formed part of a rich processional culture in British towns which reaches back to the middle ages. Among the other bodies that paraded in this way were friendly societies, trade unions and social reforming groups such as temperance organisations. In order to understand the significance of the masonic processions, it is essential to place them in the context of this wider urban processional activity. I am currently working on a study of these themes with Professor Pamela King of the University of Bristol, but in the meantime here are three papers which present some of my reseearch on this largely forgotten feature of British civic life.

I first discussed this theme in a talk called 'Neglcted Processional Cultures' given at the Medieval English Theatre Conference at Lancaster University in April 2003:

Andrew Prescott, Neglected Processional Cultures

This second talk was also given to the Medieval English Theatre Conference, at Southampton University in March 2005. It discusses how the Godiva Procession in Coventry became 'a social battleground':

Andrew Prescott, The Godiva Procession

Finally, this paper, ‘"We had fine banners": Street Processions in the Mitchell and Kenyon Films’ was published in Vanessa Toulmin, Simon Popple and Patrick Russell (eds.) The Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon: Edwardian Britain on Film (London: bfi Publishing, 2004), pp. 125-136. ISBN 1844570479.

Andrew Prescott, 'We Had Fine Banners'