TEES AND CRAMPITS
These great Swiss rinks, the construction of which has already been
dealt with, are made for the benefit of the skater and the curler, but
wherever possible the curler should be accommodated with a separate rink
of his own. Epicure though the skater is, with regard to the smoothness
and levelness of his ice, the curler, quite rightly, is even more
exigent, and slight slopes of surface and minute inequalities and
roughnesses which do not interfere with the skater at all, make it
impossible for the curler to have a satisfactory rink. In any case, the
curler’s portion must be roped off from the skating part of the rink,
for, naturally, no skate blade must make the smallest scratch on his
sacred enclosure; while, on the other side, the curler is liable, in the
ecstasies of his “sooping,” to shed and scatter pieces of broom which
wander on to the skater’s ice and cause falls. Besides, the skip
habitually shouts at the top of his voice, and a good stone evokes
choruses of open-throated music: thus, if many curlers are shouting at
the top of their voices, combined skaters cannot hear the caller, unless
he shouts at the top of his voice. If he does this while skating a
figure, he will speedily become purple in the face and quite breathless.
Also, the curler smokes when he curls, which tempts the skater to do
likewise, and for the sake of the rink he must not. For those and many
other reasons, the curler should, when possible, have a separate rink
of his own, where he can soop and shout and smoke without interfering
with anybody.
Now, just as the art of skating has enormously progressed owing to the
facilities afforded by Swiss rinks and winters, so too has that great
sister art of curling. As in all forms of sport where delicacy or
“touch” are essential to success, occasional practice is not enough to
produce really first-rate curlers, or, indeed, to keep the first-rate
curler at the top of his game; and any who wish to excel must have
constant practice, such as Swiss or Canadian winters give him. But
Canada is a far cry to go a-curling, and we may put down the
vastly-growing number of curlers, and their growing skill, to the
opportunities afforded by Switzerland. There, all day long, in a
brilliant sun and yet on unsoftened ice, harder and faster than is ever
procurable in English or Scotch winters, the game goes on, and I do not
know of a single Swiss resort where provision is not made for those who
practise this delightful sport.
Into the history of curling there is not space to penetrate, and we
must, in a treatise of which the range is confined to the present and
does not explore into the mists of antiquity, confine ourselves to
considering the practical aspects of the game. As St. Andrews is to
golf, as the N.S.A. is to skating, or the M.C.C. to cricket, so to
curling is the Royal Caledonian Club, whose rules are the acknowledged
authority on all points in connection with the game. It would take too
much space to give these _in extenso_, but the following extracts, with
certain notes, will be found to explain the principles and practice of
the game, and enable anyone to construct a standard rink.
1. The length of the rink for play, viz. from the hack or from the heel
of the crampit to the tee, shall be 42 yards--in no case shall it be
less than 32 yards.
2. The tees shall be 39 yards apart--and, with a tee as the centre, a
circle having a radius of 7 feet shall be drawn. Additional inner
circles may also be drawn.
3. In alignment with the tees, lines, to be called central lines, shall
be drawn from the tees to points 4 yards behind each tee, and at these
points foot scores 18 inches in length shall be drawn at right angles,
on which, at 6 inches from the central line, the heel of the crampit
shall be placed; when, however, in lieu of a crampit a hack is
preferred, it shall be made 3 inches from the central line, and not more
than 12 inches in length.
4. Other scores shall be drawn across the rink at right angles to the
central line, as in the diagram, viz.:
(_a_) A hog score, distant from either tee one-sixth part of the
distance between the “foot score” and the farther tee.
(_b_) A “sweeping score” across each 7-foot circle and through each
tee.
(_c_) A “back score” behind and just touching outside the 7-foot
circle.
_Note._--In these four rules are contained the complete directions for
the marking out of the rink. But as they contain certain terms of mystic
meaning, it may be useful to state them in a less technical manner.
In other words, then, you start with a point on the ice, which is the
“tee,” and using this as a centre you draw round it a circle of 7-foot
radius. This is done by means of a lath or strip of wood with two nails
or steel points projecting from the lower face, 7 feet apart. Inserting
one of these in the centre you pull the lath round, so that the other
scratches on the ice a circumference at a distance of 7 feet. As stated
in Rule 2, “additional circles” may also be drawn. These circles are
drawn from the same centre, with a radius of 2½ and 4 feet
respectively from it. This is done for convenience in measuring the
distance from the tee of stones lying within the 7-foot radius, as it
gives additional lines of measurement. This whole system of circles with
the central tee is called “the house,” and, as we shall see, all stones
which, after being played, have come to rest with any part of them lying
within the house, may add to the score of the side which has projected
them there. Behind the house, in the position specified in Rule 3, is
placed the crampit. This is a strip of iron long enough for the player
to stand on with one foot in advance of the other. It is roughened with
spikes on its lower side, so that it maintains a firm position on the
ice, and at the back of it is a ridge against which the player places
his right foot before delivering the stones. It forms, in fact, a firm
base for playing from, since, if anybody attempted to put down a
curling-stone, while standing on the ice itself, with sufficient
velocity to make it slide over the 42 yards to the other tee, he would
quite certainly slip and put himself down instead. It is from a crampit
that almost all curlers nowadays play. As an alternative they may use
what is in the rule called a “hack,” which is a small iron contrivance
fixed to the boot, and which answers the same purpose as a crampit. But
it is not, in Switzerland anyhow, often seen, for it requires adjustment
for each individual player, whereas the crampit fits all alike.
Now this arrangement of hog-score (usually called “the hog”), back
score, sweeping score, “house” and crampit (or hack), scratched in the
ice according to these directions, completes the construction of one end
of the rink. At the other end a similar construction is made in
alignment, the centre of the two houses being 39 yards from one another.
Here is the rink ready for play, and the rest of the rules deal entirely
with the game itself.
_Note._--Now I have before me the Rules of the Royal Caledonian Curling
Club of 1911-1912, which, I believe, are the latest. But neither there
nor elsewhere can I find the slightest allusion to the principles of
scoring at the game, foreknowledge of which is probably assumed. But
since it is possible that there are those who do not know how the score
is made, it is well to state it. Briefly, then, the stone which, at the
end of a “head” or “end” of the match (which is made up by every player
having had his turn, and having played his two stones), lies nearest to
the tee counts one point to the side to which the stone belongs, given
that it or any part of it lies within the house. If the stone that lies
next nearest to the tee belongs to the same side it counts one also; so
also does the next nearest and the next nearest and the next nearest,
provided they are all in the house and belong to the same side. But if,
after the stone lying nearest to the tee, the next nearest belongs to
the opposing side, the first-named counts one, but this second stone
takes precedence of all others lying in the house, and the side that
owns the nearest one counts one only. Supposing there are two stones
which, after measurement, are found to lie exactly equidistant from the
tee, the head or end is a draw, and is like a halved hole at golf.
* * * * *
5. All matches shall be of a certain number of heads or shots or by time
as may be agreed on, or as fixed by an umpire at the outset....
6. Every rink of players shall be composed of four a side, each using
two stones, and no player shall wear boots, tramps, or sandals with
spikes or other contrivances which shall break or damage the surface of
the ice. The rotation of play observed during the first head of a match
shall not be changed.
_Note._--Players are usually shod with “gouties.” These are cloth
overshoes with india-rubber soles, and are put on over the boot. What is
required is (by the rule) something that will not injure the ice, while
the player for his own sake will wear something that enables him to run
with the stone he is sweeping with the least possible risk of falling
down. On the whole, rubber-soled footgear is the best.
* * * * *
7. The skips opposing each other shall settle, by lot or in any other
way they may agree upon, which party shall lead at the first head, after
which the winners of the preceding head shall do so.
_Note._--The head, as already stated, consists of the projection of
sixteen stones from one crampit towards the house at the other end of
the rink, for each player puts down two stones, and there are eight
players. Then when all have played the head is complete, the score is
recorded, and the next head is played from the crampit behind the house
into which they have just been playing. They “cross over,” that is to
say, to the other end of the rink.
The skips (short for skippers) are the captains of the opposing sides.
They have complete control of their sides, and direct each player (with
due regard for his capabilities) what shot he is to play for. The skips
“toss up” who shall have the choice of beginning (stones being played by
opposing sides alternately), and the side which scores at the first head
takes the honour (as at golf) at the second head. If neither side scores
(the head being halved) the honour remains as it was. It may be noted
also that though in regular matches (as stated in Rule 5) the number of
heads to be played is settled beforehand, in an ordinary friendly game
it is more usual merely to see how time is going when play has been in
progress a couple of hours or so, and then determine how many more heads
shall be played.
* * * * *
8. All curling-stones shall be of a circular shape. No stone, including
handle and bolts, shall be of a greater weight than 44 lb. imperial, or
of greater circumference than 36 inches, or of less height than
one-eighth part of its greatest circumference.
_Note._--The stones, then, are great granite buns with a handle to
project them by. The usual weight is from about 36 to 40 lb., and the
reason why a limit is given to their weight is that people like Mr.
Sandow could doubtless deliver stones which weighed as much as grand
pianos. These could not be shifted by lighter granite buns, which would
merely recoil from them. Two or three of them would also fill up the
greater part of the fairway of the rink.
9. No stone shall be substituted for another (except under Rules 10 and
14) after the match has begun, but the sole of a stone may be reversed
at any time during a match, provided the player is ready to play when
his turn comes.
_Note._--The question of the reversing of stones is dealt with later in
the practical part of this essay. For the moment it is sufficient to say
that one side of the stone is very highly polished, the other less so.
When the stone is put down on its highly polished (or “keen”) side, it
will, of course, with the same initial velocity travel further than if
put down on its rougher (or “dour”) side, the friction on the ice being
less.
* * * * *
10. Should a stone be broken, the largest fragment shall be considered
in the game for that head--the player being entitled to use another
stone or another pair during the remainder of the match.
11. All stones which roll over, or come to rest on their sides or tops,
shall be removed from the ice.
_Note._--So weird a phenomenon seems impossible, but then curlers are
very weird also. Incredible as it may sound, it is quite possible to put
down one of these great granite buns with the handle in the centre of
its top crust so unevenly that, after a drunken wobble or two, it turns
right over amid howls and shouts and execrations. Probably you could not
do it if you tried, any more than you could cut a golf-ball smartly to
square leg when you mean to go quite straight. But these distressing
feats are known to occur, without the player having had the smallest
desire to accomplish them. The traditional penalty for thus mishandling
a stone is “drinks all round.” The present writer has never seen a
stone come to rest on its side, but “_credit, quia impossibile_.”
* * * * *
13. Players, during the course of each head, shall be arranged along the
sides, but well off the centre of the rink.... Skips only shall be
entitled to stand within the seven-foot circle.
14.... Should a player play a wrong stone, any of the players may stop
it while running; but if the mistake is not noticed till the stone is at
rest, the stone which ought to have been played shall be put in its
place, to the satisfaction of the opposing skip.
16. The sweeping shall be under the direction and control of the skips.
The player’s party may sweep the ice from the hog score next the player
to the tee, and any stone set in motion by a played stone may be swept
by the party to which it belongs. When snow is falling or drifting, the
player’s party may sweep the ice from tee to tee.... Both skips have
equal rights to clean and sweep the ice behind the tee at any time,
except when a player is being directed by his skip....
_Note._--The all-important question of sweeping is dealt with later. The
principle at the base of the rule is that a player’s side may encourage
(or not) his stone to proceed, but the other side may not interfere with
it in any way at all. In accordance with this principle is the direction
that says that if a stone during its course moves a stone belonging to
the other side, that stone may be swept or left alone at the option of
the other side.
* * * * *
17. (_a_) If in sweeping or otherwise a running stone is marred by any
of the party to which it belongs, it may, in the option of the opposing
skip, be put off the ice; but if by any of the adverse party, it may be
placed where the skip of the party to which it belongs shall direct....
(_b_) Should any played stone be displaced before the head is reckoned,
it shall be placed as nearly as possible where it lay....
18. No measuring of shots shall be allowed previous to the termination
of the head.
19. The skip shall have the exclusive regulation and direction of the
game for his rink, and may play last stone or any part of the game he
pleases.... When his turn to play comes, he shall select one of the
players to act as skip in his place.
22. Every stone shall be eligible to count which is not clearly outside
the seven-foot circle. Every stone which does not clear the hog-score
shall be a hog, and must be removed from the ice.... Stones passing the
back-score, and lying clear of it, must be removed from the ice, as also
any stone which in its progress touches the swept snow on either side
the rink.
_Note._--Thus there is only a certain portion of the ice on which stones
may remain during the progress of each “end” or “head.” If a player
sends down a stone too weakly so that it does not reach the hog-score,
or so crookedly that it goes into the swept snow at the side of the
rink, or so strongly that it passes over the back-score, it is at once
removed from the ice. But, strangely enough, it is nowhere laid down
what the breadth of a rink should be. Somewhat pathetically this rule
presupposes that there is always “swept snow” at the side of the rink,
which, happily, is not the case. As a matter of fact the space allowed
for each rink is, roughly speaking, about 20 feet, though I am not aware
that it is laid down authoritatively anywhere. In any case a stone, to
be of the slightest use, must be lying not so wide as 10 feet (lateral
measurement) from the tee, and those lying wider, as well as those which
have definitely passed beyond the back-score, cannot conceivedly come
into play, and so may as well be removed. But the case is different with
stones lying short of the hog-score, and in a straight line between the
tees. Such stones, as will be readily understood, might possibly be of
the utmost value to guard other stones lying in the house, and perhaps
to be promoted into possible scorers. A guard, then, which is so
important an item, must be put down with some skill, and with requisite
strength, and thus it is laid down that stones lying short of the hog
are considered not to have been sufficiently skilfully played to take
part in the game and be of value to their side. These are therefore
ignominiously removed.
Here, then, have been given the conditions under which, and the court,
so to speak, in which, this great game is played, and we will suppose
ourselves on the fast, perfect ice of a Swiss resort on a sunny morning.
The skips have “picked up” their sides; every player has a broom or
“besom,” which we will hope sweeps clean; the four players on each side,
namely No. 1 as lead, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4, have had their places
allotted to them. As a general rule it is the skip who plays in the most
difficult place--i.e. No. 4, where, if the other three players under
their skip’s direction have built up an interesting house, he will have
the most delicate and hazardous shots to negotiate. But it sometimes
happens that the skip, who primarily should be chosen because of his
knowledge of the game, may not have the requisite skill of hand for
that post: it may happen that a player on his side is a finer performer
in the delivery of his stones, though his skill in tactics and
generalship may be inferior. In such a case the skip, who directs the
place of each player, may put himself in another position, and, if he
does not play as No. 4, will usually lead. Then he goes first, and can
devote a mind, untroubled by the thought of the shots he will himself
have to play, to the tactics of his campaign. But, as a rule, the player
with the best knowledge of the game is usually the best player also, or,
at any rate, is good enough for the critical post of No. 4, and in
general the skip occupies that position.
Round about the crampit, behind the back-score, are ranged the sixteen
stones which the players have selected, and if they are wise they will
have turned them momentarily upside down, so that they rest on their
handles on the ice, and their bases, or soles, are exposed to the rays
of the sun. This should be done because it often happens that some
fragment of broom or some little congelation of frost has frozen on to
the soles, which will impede their smooth passage down the rink. But if
they are slightly warmed like this, a polish on the side of the besom or
on the glove will ensure their being quite free from any such
impediment. In order to identify the stones of each side, it is usual to
tie some fragment of ribbon to the handles or otherwise distinguish the
stones of one side from those of the other, since without some such mark
they are as alike as sheep, and, as is obvious, the whole game depends
on the relative position of the stones of one side as opposed to that of
the stones of the other. But if one side is “ribbons” and the other
“plain” the skip sees at a glance, even when the house is growing most
populous and complicated, how his enemies lie and what is the position
of his own stones.
The skips, then, take up their positions by the house into which the
stones are about to be played. Only one skip, as laid down by the rules,
may be in the house at any given moment, and that skip is the skip of
the player then delivering his stone. The other skip stands outside and
behind the house, but ready, if the stone of his opposing side has been
put down too strongly, to sweep it out of the house when it has once
passed the tee. Till it reaches the tee he may not interfere with it in
any way, but once past that he may (and certainly will) polish the
surface of the ice over which it is going to travel for all he is worth,
so as to assist it in passing through the house altogether and so be
taken off the ice. If, on the other hand, his side has the house, he
stands inside the house, or in front of it, calls out how he wants the
stone laid, and holds his broom as a mark on to which the player is to
aim his stone. On that mark the player, if he hopes to deliver a
successful stone, must fix his eye with the hungry steadfastness with
which he has to look at his ball at golf.
Then, in order to grasp the hang of the game, we, the invisible
spectators, must leave the skip with the besom pointing on to the ice
and observe the other players. Down the rink they are ranged, No. 2 of
one side opposite No. 2 of the other, No. 3 opposite No. 3, leaving the
centre of the ice, the “howe-ice,” as it is called, clear for the
passage of the stones. Thus to No. 1, who is about to deliver his stone,
the whole of the house with its seven foot radius is unimpeded. Just
outside that empty riband of ice, so soon to ring with the sliding
stones, stand No. 2 and No. 3, his own No. 2 and No. 3 on one side, the
inimical No. 2 and No. 3 on the other. His own side should be alert for
any direction from the motionless skip; the other side are sublimely
indifferent, for they may not interfere with the course of his stone.
He delivers the stone: the skip, eagle-eyed, watches the pace of it. It
may seem to him to be travelling with sufficient speed to reach the spot
at which he desires it should rest. In this case he says nothing
whatever, except probably “Well laid down.” Smoothly it glides, and in
all probability he will exclaim “Not a touch”: or (if he is very Scotch,
either by birth or by infection of curling) “not a cow” (which means not
a touch of the besom). On the other hand he may think that it has been
laid down too weakly and will not get over the hog-line. Then he will
shriek out, “Sweep it; sweep it” (or “soop it; soop it”) “man” (or
“mon”). On which No. 2 and No. 3 of his side burst into frenzied
activity, running by the side of the stone and polishing the surface of
the ice immediately in front of it with their besoms. For, however well
the ice has been prepared, this zealous polishing assists a stone to
travel, and vigorous sweeping of the ice in front of it will give, even
on very smooth and hard ice, several feet of additional travel, and a
stone that would have been hopelessly hogged will easily be converted
into the most useful of stones by diligent sweeping, and will lie a
little way in front of the house where the skip has probably directed it
to be. If he is an astute and cunning old dog, as all skips should be,
he will not want this first stone in the house at all; in fact, if he
sees it is coming into the house, he will probably say “too strong.”
Yet, since according to the rules only stones inside the house can
count for the score, it seems incredible at first sight why he should
not want every stone to be there. This “inwardness” will be explained
later.
No. 1 of the other side delivers his stone: No. 1 of the first side
delivers his second stone, and No. 1 of the opposing side delivers his
second stone. And from this moment the whole problem of the game becomes
as complicated and interesting, given that the stones perform something
like that which is required of them, as does a game of chess when the
first four or five moves of a recognised gambit have been played and
countered. Even at so early a period of a head at curling, the
possibilities of its subsequent development are almost infinite; the
building up of the house may progress in a hundred different ways, and
it will be possible only to consider only one or two of the problems
with which the skip is confronted.
In actual “moves,” what has happened is this: the leads (No. 1) of each
side have played their stones, and No. 2 on each side go up to the
crampit for their turn. No. 3 on each side thereupon moves towards the
crampit, while No. 1 on each side becomes the sweeper nearest the house,
so that each stone as it comes down the ice may have its sweeper ready
if sweeping is ordered. No. 3 (when No. 2 is playing) is nearest No. 2:
he dances sideways along the ice ready to sweep if the order comes,
until he delivers the stone into the keeping of No. 1, who has just
played. Often, if sweeping is an urgent necessity, both he and No. 1
will vigorously scour in front of the progressing stone, since often in
the ensuing situations it is not a question of additional feet that are
required, but of an inch or two. There may be a stone in the house
already, and it is doubtful whether an opposing stone has “legs” or
vitality enough just to pass it, and thus lie nearer to the tee. In such
a case all possible assistance must be rendered it; the skip will career
wildly out of his house and join No. 3 and No. 1 in their operations.
Anything, anything to give this dying stone an inch more of travel!...
Also, a stone with smooth ice in front of it will travel more directly,
that is with less curl upon it, as it is becoming moribund, than a stone
which has the infinitesimal fractions of tiny frost-flower or moisture
to encounter. But that opens up the awful question of “handle.”...
There will be something about that in its appropriate place.
But here, at any rate, we have the rink moving. Slow stones are being
encouraged to cross the hog, or to enter the house, or, even at this
early stage, to cannon rudely against the stones already in the house
which must be ejected. Theoretically, I think, in the ideal game of
curling, which we shall never see on this side of the grave, the leads
should have laid down four stones a little in front of the house, or
perhaps each lead should first have put down a stone in front of the
house, and then delivered their second stones with in-handle or
out-handle, round their first stones, which thus become guards of their
second stones, which should lie, say, in the four-foot circle. But we
need not consider so perfect an opening. If any leads led like that,
they would be skips of a team of archangels, who would be soundly rated
for their clumsy play.
As a matter of fact, what usually happens in a good team is this sort of
thing. The first man to play miscalculates the speed of the ice (though
he is quite a good player) and is soundly hogged. His opposing No. 1,
being too frightfully intelligent, and profiting by that which he has
seen, puts down a stone that passes the tee, and rests perhaps in the
seven-foot circle beyond it. And though that stone for the moment
“counts”: that is to say it is in the house, and, theoretically, may be
a winner, it will not in real practice be of any good when the head is
finished. There is bound to be a better stone than that, and any other
stone over the hog that lies in front of the house, though not counting
at present, is far superior, for it can be promoted (_i.e._ brought
nearer the tee) by any stone that strikes it, whether of its own side or
of the enemy, and thus is both dangerous to the other side and helpful
towards its own. Also it can become the most valuable guard for a stone
that has curled round it and lies in the house and behind it, whereas
the stone that comes to rest beyond the tee can, if struck, only travel
further away from the tee instead of towards it.
The two leads put down their second stones. They have gauged the speed
of the ice, and this time do as their skip tells them. They both put
down stones that come to rest just in front of the house, or perhaps
just in it. But if either of them make what would be the most perfect
shot of all, if they were playing the last shot of No. 4, namely one
that rests on the tee itself, or in the 2½-foot circle (called the
pot-lid), he has not done probably as much for his side as if he had
laid his stone just in front of the house, for No. 2 of the other side
follows, and he has only to be straight irrespective of too great speed
to dislodge that perfect stone and in all probability lie there himself.
A guarded stone in such a position is the most valuable stone that can
be imagined, but without a guard its worth is enormously decreased.
Indeed it is positively a dangerous stone, since it gives the other side
something to rest on.
We will suppose, then, that when No. 2 plays there are lying on the ice
two stones, both a little in front of the house, one right in the middle
of the ice, the other three or four feet to the side of it. The object
now will probably be to get past those stones, and, by the twist
imparted to the stone No. 2 now delivers, to lie behind one or other of
them in the house, and thus be guarded. If this shot is perfectly played
there will be lying a stone close up to the tee and incapable of being
directly attacked (_i.e._ by a hard shot played down straight on to it),
for the guarding stone in front of the house prevents this, and it is a
very different thing to be obliged to play round this guarding stone so
as to hit the other. Thus it may be necessary for the opposing skip to
direct that this guard should be removed by a fast straight stone, so as
to open up the house again. But this costs a stone, even if successful,
and stones are not lightly to be squandered. Should this shot come off,
the first skip will probably direct that another guard be laid to
protect this asset in the house. Having once got a stone in a probably
winning position, the skip is right to guard it and to guard it and to
guard it, directing that stones should be laid to right and left of it,
so as to block the passage of a stone which, by curling inwards or
outwards, can reach and dislodge it, and perhaps lie there in its place.
Practically speaking, a stone which lies close to the tee should be
guarded at the cost of every stone belonging to the side if necessary
(_i.e._ if the guards are being removed by the enemy), and no skip in
his senses will direct his player to put other stones in the house
until he has rendered reasonably secure from attack the stone of his
which lies close to the tee.
The above analysis of these early stones takes, of course, only one case
out of the hundred ways in which they may lie, and gives but one
instance of the value of stones lying in front of the house, rather than
(in the early stages of the game) in the house. Among other values they
possess they are also capable of being promoted--_i.e._ a subsequent
player may be directed to hit one of them gently, so as to push it into
the house, while his will lie there in its place guarding it. Or he may
be told, if the stone in question is lying rather wide, to get an inwick
off it--_i.e._ play on to the inner side of it, as in the manner of a
half-ball shot at billiards, and, cannoning off it, slip into the house
himself. Perhaps it will be an enemy’s stone selected for this manœuvre,
and perhaps, also, he will hit the wrong side of it (_i.e._ the outer
side), and instead of slipping into the house himself, will kindly
promote the other stone instead. Thus these stones in front of the house
are both an asset and a danger, and it is not too much to say that their
presence, lying there, is about the largest constituent in the interest
of the “end” and the building of the house. They present, as has been
seen, infinite possibilities of value and menace. And all their terrific
potentialities have to be weighed and pondered by the skip.
When twelve stones have been put down (_i.e._ when the first three
players on each side have contributed two each) the skips, if playing
four, leave the house and go down to the crampit to deliver their
stones. One in all probability looks troubled, the other in that case
will almost certainly wear a face of benignant elation and call
attention to the beauty of the morning. Their places in the house to
direct and hold the guiding besom are taken by other members of their
side (probably the No. 3s), and before they go they will almost
certainly hold a secret and muttered conversation with these gentlemen,
consulting and conferring over the shots to be attempted. For by this
time the situation, if the play has been respectable, is sure to have
become complicated. Very likely four or five stones are in the house,
and of those four or five all but one may happen to belong to one side.
But that one is sitting there on the very tee itself, and thus takes
precedence of all the others. If only it could be got at and evicted and
soundly butted out of the house, the other four would all count. But it
lies well guarded, for just in front of the house are two stones a
little to right and left of it. There is clear ice (a “port” as it is
called) of not more than two feet between them, through which it is
possible to send a stone that will reach that tee-sitter. But, oh, how
small a two-foot port looks at the distance of nearly forty yards!
Now, it is to the first skip that this
by-every-means-in-his-power-to-be-guarded stone belongs, and with
justice he fears that his opposing skip is perfectly capable of sailing
blandly through that rather narrow port, butting the stone that lies so
perfectly on the tee out of the house altogether, and lying there
himself instead. So he has elected to play a shot that will close up
that port and leave the stone on the tee for the moment impregnable. He
wants to lie just over the hog and no more, for the nearer a stone is to
the hog the more it blocks the passage. So, calling on his sweepers to
be ready to sweep (“Sweepers wake!” in fact), he puts down his stone
with in-handle on it, directing this a little
[Illustration: “SHE LIES”
_From the Drawing by Fleming Williams_]
wide of the left-hand stone of those two guards, by which the temporary
skip is holding his besom. For one moment he watches its passage, eyes
glued to it, stricken to stone. Suddenly an awful misgiving occurs to
him, his face turns to a perfect mask of agonised fury, and he yells at
the top of a naturally powerful voice:
“Sweep her, don’t leave her for a moment. Sweep! Sweep! Don’t leave her.
Good Lord, can’t you sweep? Oh, well swept, well swept indeed!”
Then probably with infernal superiority he shouts, “Is that about where
you wanted it?” knowing perfectly well that it is.
All this means that
(i) He was afraid he had put down his stone too weakly, and that it
would not get over the hog.
(ii) It would then be ignominiously removed, and he would wish he
had never been born.
(iii) The opposing skip would sail through that port, and out the
winning stone.
(iv) That it is all his fault, and that he will never curl again,
but take to that degraded pastime, skating.
(v) Finally, that his stone has been swept over the hog and lies
now bang in the middle of the passage, closing it completely--a
perfect gem, pearl, peach.
Says the other skip grimly, “You’ve got some good sweepers on your
side.”
Says the first skip (airily and forgetting that he has been howling to
his side to sweep), “Oh, it had lots of legs.” (Liar: it is just over
the hog.)
Ensues a shouted colloquy between the other skip and his lieutenant (No.
3) in the house.
No. 3. Can you see anything of the port?
Skip 2. No.
No. 3. Can you see anything of the stone that lies?
Skip 2. No.
(Skip 1 here probably lights a pipe and talks gaily to a friend.)
No. 3. Can you get round their guard with out-handle?
Skip 2. No.
No. 3. Can you get round the other guard with in-handle?
Skip 2. No.
(Long pause.)
Skip 2. Yes, I can. At least there’s nothing else to be done. No, give
me more ice than that! (This means that he thinks his stone will take
more curl, and wants the directing broom to be put wider.) That’s about
right.
He plays his shot amid dead silence. It soon becomes apparent that his
stone is not going to curl round this guard at all, but will hit it. It
does so, and lies by its side, merely giving an additional rampart to
the granite fortification in the middle of the ice. The silence becomes
rather painful.
Skip 1. Bad luck! (He does not mean that at all.) I think I’ll try and
get another stone in the house.
Skip 1’s No. 3. For heaven’s sake don’t disturb our stone here.
Skip 1. No, I’ll play it just tee high....
(He puts down a hopeless hog.)
Skip 1. I wish you fellows would sweep!
(His pipe goes out.)
Skip 2 shouting to his No. 3. Well?
No. 3. Well?
Skip 2. See what happens, I think. There’s nothing to play for.
This means he is going to play for a fluke. There is no reasonable
chance whatever of reaching that stone on the tee, and a wild toboggan
of a shot sent down among all those guards may do something, though
heaven alone knows what. He puts down stone with full swing, most
unevenly, so that it careers up the ice violently rocking. It hits the
long guard by the hog, which is exactly what he didn’t want to do,
almost full in the face, and sends it scudding off into the abominably
bad stone he himself has just put down before. It hits this nearly full,
and starts it on its way. Bang into the middle of the house it goes,
sends that impregnable tee-lying stone flying, and lies there itself.
The five other stones in the house are all on its side, and instead of
Skip 1 scoring one, Skip 2, off an incredible, revolting, pitiable
fluke, scores five. Roars of execration and applause rend the skies, and
Skip 2 modestly remarks, “Well, there are more ways than one of playing
any shot!”
* * * * *
Here, then, is a rough sketch of the game as it is played, as it appears
to the spectator; and after this bird’s-eye glance at it it is time to
start again at the beginning and see how to play it. And the first
consideration is the stance which the player takes up on the crampit
before delivering his stone. Here, as at golf, there are great
varieties of stance, all of which are perfectly right and proper,
provided the curler can deliver his stone from them with effect. But, as
at golf also, there are certain principles that will be found common to
all those stances, and perhaps the most important of all is that the
curler should feel perfectly comfortable and be maintaining his stance
by balance and _not_ by muscular effort. In every case again (if he be
right-handed) his right foot will be firmly resting against the rim at
the back of the crampit, for it is there that he gets the purchase which
enables him to give the needful velocity to his stone. Similarly, his
left foot will be advanced, and he will be facing full in the direction
in which he is about to send his stone, and his left foot will also be
pointing in that direction. He will also be bending down, since he has
not to drop or fling the stone on to the ice, but to place it--to lay it
there smoothly with a forward swing of his arm and body. But any kind of
divergence is proper as regards this stooping attitude: some men get
their stone down to the ice by bending the body strongly above the hips,
keeping the legs comparatively straight, while others get down by
bending the knees so far that they are sitting on their right heel, and
their right knee is absolutely touching the crampit. And all these
styles are perfectly right provided only that (i) the player feels
comfortable and unstrained; (ii) he can get his stone well down on to
the ice; (iii) his head is facing and his eyes looking in the direction
of his skip’s besom. All three of these provisions are essential to
successful curling, and if one thing can be more essential than another,
it is that the player should be looking straight at the skip’s besom.
Next comes the actual delivery of the stone, the handle of which should
lie lightly in the crook of the fingers and not be grasped like a
battle-axe. This delivery of the stone is accomplished not by a jerk, as
if throwing it, but by a steady swing forward of the body and arm
together. The whole arm of the hand which carries the stone is brought
slowly and steadily back (as in the back swing of golf), while the
weight is resting almost entirely on the right leg. Then arm and body
come forward together, without muscular exertion and without pressing,
and the stone is placed on the ice, while the weight of the whole body,
which at the top of the swing was on the right leg, has come forward on
to the left. Should the ice be slow, greater force is given to the stone
by a longer swing, and should the ice be fast the swing is shortened.
But in no case, if the ice is playable on at all, should the impetus be
derived from a muscular effort of the arm as in throwing; but as in
golf, the swing of the arm and body together give the stone its impetus.
And throughout the swing the eyes of the curler must never leave the
directing besom of his skip. It is as fatal to look away from that as it
is to take the eye off the ball at golf.
* * * * *
Now, if the stone is put down like this, without jerk or exertion
(except such as is entailed in the swing), the stone will be laid
evenly, and will start on its course without wobbling, but sliding truly
on its polished base. But if it has been jerked or chucked on to the ice
instead of being laid there, the chances are ten to one that it will be
what is called a “quacker”--_i.e._ it will be oscillating from one side
to the other and rolling like a ship in a cross sea. This sort of stone
is quite useless, and if quacking badly will go staggering right through
the house without ever having slid at all. Sometimes, if merely a very
fast stone is wanted to break up a rampart of guards, or just “to see
what will happen” in a hopeless position, a quacker is as good as
anything else. But it is not curling.
Now there is a very important item in the swing at golf called the
“follow-through.” This means that after the ball has been hit and is on
its way, the club and the hands and arms holding it fly out after it,
while the whole weight of the body goes on to the left foot. There is no
question that what happens to the club and the arm and player generally,
after the ball has gone, cannot make the least difference to the flight
of the ball, but this “follow-through” is a symptom, an indication of
what has already taken place, and if the follow-through is satisfactory
and full it shows that the swing has been unchecked and smooth. Just in
the same way the curler has to follow through, and though no doubt both
curler and golfer can, theoretically, check their swing the moment after
the stone and the ball have started, they would be most ill-advised to
attempt to do so, since they run a grave risk of checking their swings
before the stone or the ball have gone, and thus giving to their shot
only a fraction of the force of the swing. So the curler is strongly
advised to let this forward swing of his arm and body work itself out in
the natural follow-through. And this follow-through may express itself
in various ways. Most curlers express it by letting themselves run or
slide a few steps after their stone, the forward swing of the body
overbalancing their left foot, so that they instinctively (for fear they
should fall down) put the right foot in front of it--in other words,
take a few steps. Others again, and chiefly those who deliver the stone
with right leg very strongly bent, so that the knee touches or nearly
touches the ice, have not time to scramble to their feet, and usually
express their follow-through by falling forward on their hands on to the
ice. But in whatever way they conduct themselves, this little run and
slide which some take and the falling forward of others are the result
of the player’s proper and correct follow-through. He has not, at any
rate, interfered with or checked his swing: he has delivered his stone
with the force that he believed to be required.
And now we come to the most delicate and interesting part of the
delivery of the stone, namely, the question of “twist” or “elbow” or
“handle,” as it is called, which is universally practised by all
curlers. This “handle” gives a rotatory motion to the stone, so that as
it is travelling up the ice it is also slowly revolving on its own axis,
either from right to left or left to right, and this rotation imparts to
it, as its initial velocity diminishes and its pace slows down, a
curling movement, in the manner of a break from the off or a break from
the leg at cricket, or, if you will, a swerve in the air, or, as in
golf, of a pull or a slice. Thus, though a stone on the tee may be
completely guarded and covered, the player can, by imparting this
rotatory movement to his stone, curl round the guard and reach his goal.
Moreover, he can curl round the straight guard from either side, from
the leg or from the off, so that if one path is blocked by another
guard, he may yet get access by the other. He can, too, if there is, as
often happens, a slight bias in the ice, apply the handle opposite to
the direction in which the bias of the ice would deflect his shot, and
thus keep his stone straight. Or again, by aiding the bias by the other
handle, he can get round a very wide obstacle indeed. Heaven knows that
these shots so glibly recorded are not easy; but there is hardly a shot
or a manœuvre in any game which is easy. But the man who aspires to be a
curler at all must have a fair command of this thing called “handle.” He
must be able to direct a shot with moderate accuracy on the skip’s besom
with either out-handle or in-handle. It is not enough equipment for the
most modest player, who is a curler at all, to be able to play with one
handle only. He must have a tolerable command of both.
Now, strange as it may at first appear, it is far easier to send down a
stone with in-handle or out-handle on it than to send down a perfectly
straight stone with no handle at all. Furthermore, the slightest frozen
chip of ice, or minutest fragment of broom may, in passing under one
side of the stone, impart a fortuitous and rotatory motion to it, so
that a stone arriving in the house with practically no curl at all upon
it is (except in the case of a fast hard stone) a rarity. Since, then,
it is almost bound to have some handle on it, it is wiser for the player
to put on the handle himself intentionally and allow for its curling
course. This rotatory motion of the stone is imparted to it by a very
slight turn of the arm just before the stone leaves the hand. If the
elbow is turned outwards, it is called “out-elbow” or “out-handle,”
though I am inclined to think that it is the wrist which makes the turn
(some people say the fingers alone), the elbow merely following the
wrist. This gives the stone a twist from right to left, and the effect
of it is that it curls in from the right in the manner of a ball bowled
with leg-break. This out-handle curl is easily imparted to the stone by
turning the handle of it, as the hand grasps it, outwards at right
angles or thereabouts to the direction of the stone’s travelling, and by
holding the handle “overhand,” as it were, with the knuckles and back of
the hand facing the ice in front. The curl is then naturally imparted to
it, and the player will not have to think about it at all. If he
delivers his stone in this way his wrist, if he holds his arm slack, as
he always should (giving the velocity to the stone only by the swing),
will naturally and inevitably make the outward turn. And it is a most
important thing that the player should not think of handle at all when
he delivers his stone, but leave that to develop automatically from the
correct delivery, since the consideration of the pace and direction of
the stone are enough to fill the most capacious mind and tax the utmost
of his skill. How much allowance should be made for the curl, and how
much the stone should be aimed to the right of where it is desired that
it should come to rest, is a matter which is largely left to the
judgment of the skip, who has been observing how much curl the ice
takes. This differs very considerably, and depends on the condition of
the surface. For instance, if the ice is very slow, a stone dies
quickly, and since the curl does not begin to take effect till the
initial speed has very much diminished, it will not curl for so long as
it would on keen ice. On slow ice, in other words, the course of the
stone is less influenced by handle. But again, the vigorous polishing of
the ice in front of a stone tends to keep it straight, since then the
roughnesses of the ice, on which the rotatory motion bites, are much
diminished. But as a rule, after a few stones have been sent down, it is
clear to a good skip how much handle they are taking, and he directs
accordingly.
The in-handle or in-elbow is produced in precisely the converse way to
the out-handle, and the stone, instead of curling in from the right,
curls in from the left like a ball with off-break on it or a slice at
golf. Here the stone should be held with its handle pointing inwards
towards the player, and he should hold it in the crook of his fingers
with the inside of his hand instead of the back of it facing the
direction in which he lays his stone. This grip, again, naturally gives
the required twist, and he can concentrate himself on pace and
direction. But often during the course of a match the character of the
ice will change, and it will begin to take the handle more or less as
the case may be. Both skip and individual players should be on the
lookout for this, and the tactics should be altered accordingly. Hard
ice--_ceteris paribus_--is the keener, and thus in the afternoon, when
the rays of the sun shine less directly on to the rink, it tends to get
faster and to take more curl. On the other hand, in the morning ice
tends to get slower, as the sun plays on the surface of it.
All stones are polished differently on their two faces, one side of the
stone being less inexorably smooth than the other. A stone travelling on
the keen or smoother side naturally goes further starting at the same
initial velocity than if travelling on the rough side, and should the
ice be very keen and fast, it is difficult to estimate the strength
which will take them over the hog, and yet not send them roaring through
the house. But the handles of stones can be unscrewed in a very few
seconds and fixed on the other side, so that the stones will now travel
on their rough or slower side. Conversely, also, if the ice has been
very fast, and a player has been using the rough side of his stones, he
may even, during the course of the match, if the ice for some reason
gets slower, reverse his stones and use the keen side. This will make it
possible for him to play without effort, instead of “shifting” the
stones along.
I am aware that in touching on the question of handle at all I do a
thing that is provocative of discussion. There are many ways of putting
on handle, and the adherents of any such will certainly maintain that
their own method is the best if not the only proper one. But I think the
majority of players will allow that the grip which I have mentioned,
namely the overhand grip for imparting out-elbow and the underhand grip
for imparting in-elbow, lead, more or less, provided only the arm is
held slack, to the required result. But I freely allow there are many
other methods: some curlers put on handle consciously, and consciously
twist their arms as they deliver their stone, others trust to the slight
adhesion of the little finger to the handle after the other fingers have
quitted. But it seems to me that any grip which _automatically_ imparts
the desired handle is preferable to all grips which demand that the
player should be obliged to think about his handle. He has enough to do
without that, and enough to think about. So let him, if he finds these
grips unsatisfactory, learn any grip under the sun (and over the ice)
that naturally imparts the curl he wishes to put on.
A further question arises. Is it not possible to regulate the amount of
handle and the consequent amount of curl that the stone will take?
Without doubt it is; but the curler who can put on a great deal of
handle or a little handle at will is not a person who can be instructed.
Certainly it is possible to make one stone curl a little and another
much, but he who can do this and regulate it is not a first-class
curler merely but a supreme curler. For us, duffers and strugglers,
there is a simpler method, which is to aim the shot _always_ with the
curl that we naturally impart to it, and take more or less “ice” as the
case may be: aim it, that is to say, closer to the required
resting-place for the stone if the ice is taking but little bias, and
further from it if the ice is encouraging the deflection. The superior
curler, in critical situations, it is true, when guards are spread about
like the rocks in some dangerous archipelago, will make curves, as his
stone is dying, which it would be madness for the ordinary decent player
to attempt. But he will have made such curves by the conscious
application of muscular force, sending the stone literally spinning down
the ice. We admire, we applaud, I hope, even when he is on the other
side, but unless we are more than first-rate at the game we will not try
to imitate. Personally, I have a theory which concerns the thumb. Not
for worlds would I divulge it for fear of encouraging disasters as bad
as those that I myself perpetrate. All the same I am convinced it is
right: I lack the skill to execute it....
But whatever the method of grip, whatever the curl to be imparted to the
stone, the handle should be at rest in the crook of the fingers. To hold
it tight implies muscular exertion, and muscular exertion, unless the
object is to send a fast straight stone, the only requisite of which is
great pace and moderate direction, is out of place at this delicate and
“touchy” game. Even when the ice is very slow, better practice will be
made with a longer and untightened swing than with momentum derived from
the elbow and shoulder.
Finally, but no less importantly, with regard to sweeping. It is hardly
too much to say that a good sweeper is almost worth his place in a side,
even though he is an indifferent player, so tremendous is the part which
a good sweeper plays, for he is like a good field at cricket. He should
always start before the stone gets to him, so that by the time it is
opposite him he is moving down the rink with it, ready to begin
operations the moment his skip tells him. The word of command may come
at any second, and it is often of vital importance that he should begin
instantly. Even skips have errors of judgment, and the skip may have not
given the order to sweep soon enough. This can often be rectified by
instant and vigorous sweeping, and the error repaired, whereas if a
sweeper is slow to go about his job the mistakes on the part of the skip
may be irremediable. All down his allotted portion of the ice the good
sweeper will sidle along by the travelling stone, even though no order
comes, until he has given it into keeping of the next sweeper or of the
skip himself. And with the same promptitude as he began to sweep must he
stop sweeping when he hears the word “Up brooms!” Another yard of polish
may, if the skip is correct in his estimate, be the death of a winner.
Often again it is but a question of an inch or two to turn a hog into
the most perfect of long guards, and this inch or two is entirely a
matter of sweeping. The most moribund of travellers may be coaxed over
the line and make an incalculable difference in the score by protecting
a winner. But “a little less and what worlds away.”... A shot that good
sweeping would have made into a gem is bundled off the ice like the
worst stone ever sent down on its degraded handle.
Besides matches between teams there is a very searching affair to be
played with curling-stones called a “points” competition. Here single
players compete against each other in attempting to make certain shots
which are set them. Stones are put on the ice in certain given
positions, and each competitor in turn has to try to bring off a certain
definite shot. For instance, he will have to guard one stone, to promote
another, to get an inwick off a third, to draw a port between two
others, &c. It is, of course, a very high test of skill, but is somewhat
a Lenten or humiliating affair, since the very finest players seldom get
as much as half-marks. It is, moreover, lacking in all the
“team-feeling” which is one of the greatest charms in match play, and is
also, in the present writer’s humble opinion, a terribly tedious affair,
since after each shot, if the lying stones have been touched, they must
be replaced on their marked spots, and a competition of this kind, if
there is at all a large field, goes on rather longer than into eternity.
According to the regulations drawn up by the Royal Caledonian Club there
are nine shots to be played and a tenth is added in case of a tie. The
necessary stones to play on to are placed in or around the house, and
the competitor has then nine different shots to play.
These are--(i) striking; (ii) inwicking; (iii) drawing to the tee; (iv)
guarding; (v) chap and lie (_i.e._ playing on to a stone on the tee,
ejecting it, and remaining in the house); (vi) wick and curl in; (vii)
raising; (viii) chipping the winner; (ix) drawing through a port. In
case of a tie between competitors, those who are equal play _four_ shots
of “outwicking.”
Different marks can be earned by each of these shots. For instance, if
a competitor playing chap and lie remain in the seven-foot circle he
scores one, if within the four-foot circle he scores two, given that he
strikes the placed stone out of the house in both cases. Complete
details are published by the Royal Caledonian Curling Club.
[Illustration:
PLATE XVII
CURLING]
[Illustration:
PLATE XVIII
CURLING AT MURREN]
[Illustration:
PLATE XIX
THE THREE KULM RINKS]
[Illustration:
PLATE XX
LADIES’ CURLING MATCH, ST. MORITZ]