This history was compiled by Jim Macdonald, who joined the club in 1975. He died in 2020.

Chapter One : The Early Days

The earliest published reference to the founding of the club appeared in the Caledonian Mercury dated 26 February 1838. “Inverkeithing – The members of St Margaret’s Curling Club had the honour of entertaining their captain, Elias Cathcart, Esq. to a public dinner here, on the 15^th current.

Several gentlemen of the neighbourhood were present, and the evening was spent with much hilarity. This mark of respect was justly due to Mr Cathcart by the inhabitants of this town and adjoining district for the handsome manner in which he encourages, on all occasions, the general welfare, and promotes the individual happiness of all about him.

A few years ago, he opened up a great part of a hidden lake on the very top of the Ferry Hills, near his elegant mansion of St Margaret’s, for the purpose of introducing the ancient game of curling. That place has, during this winter, been the scene of much invigorating exercise, and the Club have experienced the hospitality of their distinguished founder in his spacious halls, while his most amiable lady and family have contributed by their urbanity and kindness, to the enjoyment of all interested in this national sport.”

While the report indicates that curling activity at the Ferryhills had taken place for several years, the likelihood is that the celebratory public dinner referred to in the Mercury marked the first anniversary of the Club’s formal institution, an assumption which is borne out by the account given by the Rev Wm Stephens in his Story of Inverkeithing and Rosyth, published by the Moray Press in 1938. Stephens had this to say about the origins of St Margaret’s (now Inverkeithing) Curling Club:

 “Of outdoor pastimes a notable organisation, the St Margaret’s Curling Club, was instituted on January 7, 1837, and affiliated with the Royal Caledonia Curling Club on November 18, 1840. No doubt the name was due to the fact that the first patron was Elias Cathcart, LLD; advocate, Esqr., of Auchindrane, who had acquired the property that was subsequently called St. Margaret’s; and the connection was sustained when in 1874 William Elder, Esqr., of St. Margaret’s became patron in succession to Mr Cathcart. The first President was Provost Spittal. Play originally took place on the Ferry Loch, sometimes called St. Margaret’s Loch, on the Ferryhills. For nearly twenty years from 1845 the Pond was situated at Calais in the marshy field on the west side of the moor.”

Picture 1: Map showing site of Ferry Loch  Picture 2 of loch as seen in 2017

While it seems pretty clear from Stephens’ history that the club was born in 1837, somewhere along the way 1834 was somewhat mysteriously adopted as the year of its foundation. The writer suspects that this was the consequence of a transcription error made in the Club’s annual return to the governing body for the sport, the Royal Caledonia Curling Club (Royal Club) sometime during the period John Grant was the St Margaret’s Secretary, between 1844 and 1872. Regrettably, the earliest records of the club have not survived the passage of time, having been lost or mislaid by the then Secretary, the Rev John Lochtie, who – rightly in my view – was roundly chastised by his fellow office-bearers for his carelessness. Perhaps it was no surprise, therefore, that the Reverend gentleman was replaced as Secretary in 1844, although continuing to meet the members’ spiritual needs as Chaplain until 1855. To be fair, he did move out of Inverkeithing round about that time, to take up a charge in Carrington, following his decision to stand down as schoolmaster in the Royal Burgh, but more of that later.

Happily, Mr Lochtie’s successors in office have exercised greater care in their custodianship of the Club’s records, starting with the Minute of 6 February 1843, written in beautiful copperplate. It reads:

Minutes of the Meeting of St Margaret’s Curling Club held in the Townhouse 6 February 1843 

Present :Mr Miller – Preses, Mr Auld, Mr McLaren, Mr Lochtie, Mr Law, Mr Howieson

‘After constituting the Court, the Secretary stated that the meeting had been called in order to fix a day for competing for the Local Medal and also to initiate several candidates before that day.

The following candidates for admission were then initiated and thereafter paid their entry money of 5/- each.

Viz. Mr Alex Arnot, Andrew Bele, Robert Black and Alex Bingman, The stoup was rouped for 3/5, which was called down by Mr Bingman the contents being 2/5d

The  Club agreed to meet at St Margaret’s Loch or elsewhere if there was no ice there on Monday first to compete for the Local Medal. To request Messrs Balfour, Dunfermline, to act as umpires. The Dinner to be in the Townhouse and it was remitted to the Preses and Secretary to make arrangements with Mr R Cowie for a Curlers Dinner at 5 pm.’   

The question of the ‘three missing years’ in the club’s history is something we’ll be returning to later, but what we do know with absolute certainty is the ‘St Margaret’s Club, Inverkeithing (Instituted January 7 1837) ‘ was admitted to the game’s governing body – known then  as the ‘Grand Caledonian Curling Club’ on 18 November, 1840. At that time the Club, with Elias Cathcart as Patron and Provost John Spittal as President, had a total of 24 members, including two honorary members.  

We know with some certainty, too, which ‘neighbouring clubs’ were on the go when St Margaret’s came into being, and those who appeared soon thereafter. Ahead of the game in terms of seniority were old adversaries Dunfermline (1738); Saline Ice (1772); Aberdour (1818); and Lochgelly (1831). The Torrie club arrived on the scene in 1837, followed over the next  sixty years or so by Ballingry (1838); Crossgates and Oakley (both 1856) ; Donibristle and Broomhall (both 1879); Cowdenbeath (1888), with Carnock (1894) bringing up the rear before the century was out. Of that crop, at the time of writing, only Aberdour, Broomhall,and Dunfermline are still on the go, although there have been several 20^th century recruits to the district, notably , Boreland, Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay, and Dunfermline Ladies , while a few others have come and gone after only a few years in existence. 

 

Chapter Two: Five Inches of Ice

We’ll a’ Go a’ Curling Today

There’s snow in the air, keen frost I declare 

And a calm that follows a storm; 

The sun rising clear, thro’ a bright ruddy glare,

Lo! Night has begotten the morn.

Sparkling with crystalline, jewels or frosty=rime,

Woodlands and hedges are gay;

Five inches of ice, it’s a boon beyond price, 

Who goes a, curling today?

Chorus 

We’ll all go a’curling today, 

Old Nature is merry and gay;

Five inches of ice is a boon beyond price, 

We’ll all go a’curling today

‘Five inches of ice’, sometimes a bit less, was what it was all about in the early days – through to almost the end of the 19^th century , in fact – as captured by the words of the splendid curling song of that time, said to be unique to the men of Broomhall Curling Club.

Anyway, as we’ve noted earlier, the first home of the St Margaret’s club was the Ferry Loch on the Ferryhills, situated just a short distance from the present Community Centre in North Queensferry. Doubtless, the men of St Margaret’s would be grateful to have a home of their own , courtesy of the Club’s founder, Elias Cathcart, but not everyone saw it as being ideal, as we see from the following account by one-time Secretary and Chaplain, published in the governing body’s Annual in 1842:

 “Our whole curling business this season has been unsatisfactory for want of ice. Should this club persevere, as I hope it will, it will be necessary to look for a rink beyond the reach of the sea breeze, for while the neighbouring clubs had abundance of sport from the continuance of ice, we had not so much here as would admit even of boys sliding or skating, except on one or two occasions, and it could scarce be said to be fit for curling for a single day”

This criticism, made in the context of the Local Medal points competition for 1841/42 was shared by another contributor to the Annual for 1842. Henry Cadell had this to say in his District Medal report for the season just ended: “ This Match, which was originally intended to be betwixt Lochgelly and Dunfermline was changed to St Margaret’s and Dunfermline, the Lochgelly club not being fully enrolled this season.

  The season being advanced, the Match was played, although the ice was rather in a baugh state, on which account the rinks were made only 34 yards. It must be said, for the St Margaret’s club, that, on account of the changeableness of the frosts this winter, and their peninsular situation, that they have not before had a day’s curling this season”  

Sadly, the ‘baugh state’ of the Ferry Loch ice didn’t help the men of St Margaret’s, going down heavily by 65 shots to 30 to their Dunfermline neighbours. Further, so far as we can determine, it was the first and last time that the ferry Loch was used for a District Medal or Local Medal tie, with the Club’s travels in these contests taking them to nearby Town Loch, Lochgelly, Calais Quarter-hole, Crossgates, Torry, Otterston, Broomhall, Saline, Donibristle and Loch Leven over the next fifty years or so.

Unsatisfactory or not, however, the Club continued to use its Ferryhills base for a few more years, until making the move to Calais Pond in 1845, a venue which was to meet the Club’s needs for the next twenty years. The Rev Stephens’ History of Inverkeithing 

reports, too, that;

  “Sometimes, apparently, but certainly on February 10,1860, play took place at Inverkeithing, the venue being the area, then a marsh, now occupied by the railway lines in the vicinity of the Goods Station at King Street. In 1866 the West Bois Acre was secured as a Pond, and a Curling House was built. In1878 recourse was had to Calais Quarry, northward from Mid-Duloch Cottages, where a ‘safety pond’ was constructed for play. It is doubtful, however, if the West Bois Acre was ever completely abandoned. At any rate the Club secured a nineteen years lease of the latter in 1879; and a new Club House was built. There play continued till the passage of the Dunfermline Sewer Pipe rendered the area unsuitable; and in 1919-20 artificial rinks were laid down on part of the Greens at Burnside. A few years ago, the Club has been without any local venue of play”

Unfortunately, Stephens’ work, published in 1938, makes no further reference to curling, but what it has to say on the subject is invaluable, given the lack of published material to be found elsewhere on the subject.

To help sort out the geography, given that it’s more than 70 years since the volume appeared in print, we reckon that:

1. ‘The Goods Station at King Street’ is now the area occupied by the railway car park, accessed from King Street
2. The ‘Calais Quarry’ pond was located south of Crossgates

(3)‘West Bois Acre’  (tbc)

(4) The ‘Burnside’ development was in the vicinity of the Lamond &Murray 

            Engineering works / Dales Farm

While winters in the 19^th century were more severe, generally, than is the case today, it was still the case that most times the opportunity to curl would be very limited, sometimes only a few days each season, and – sadly – sometimes not at all. It could, too, be a fairly hazardous activity, as we can deduce from a story told by a former Honorary President of the Club, John McLaren in his autobiography, It Taks a Lang Spin, a story which never failed to bring on tears of laughter no matter how many times the listener had heard it.  

  “Some years ago” John relates “I was invited to be the guest speaker at Broomhall Curlers’ supper, where I had to propose the toast, ‘Broomhall Curling Club’. Before the supper, I looked through the Inverkeithing Curling Club minutes and read that at the end of the (19^th) century Broomhall Curling Club played a game against Inverkeithing Club on the old quarry. Although a thaw was setting in they decided to carry on with the game and the minutes record that, ‘the ice suddenly gave way and all the players and stones fell through into the water. There was a certain amount of panic while all the players were pulled out safely’ 

In his reply, Lord Elgin said that he remembered his grandfather telling him the same story but the Inverkeithing minutes did not record the full details. According to Lord Elgin, one of the Broomhall players almost drowned and when he was pulled to the side of the quarry he had to be given artificial respiration. In those days it was the Schaefer method, where the victim is laid on his side and his arms are pulled behind his back to pump out any water in the lungs. The more they pumped his arms, the more the water poured out of his mouth, until an Inverkeithing curler went over and said "I am a Hydraulic Engineer, if you take his a**e out of the water you will get on better.”

It wasn’t just the risk of drowning that the olden day curler had to contend with, though, as we learn from the following entry from the Minutes in January 1897:

  “A good number of curlers played all afternoon. Mr McLean of the Royal Hotel sent out a bottle of McLean’s Famous Blend to cheer the curlers’ hearts. A game was played for a bottle of Royal Caledonian Curling Blend … the two blends appeared to work sad havoc on some of the members taking part in the game”

 Nothing changes, does it?

However, there was no mention of life and limb being put at risk in an interesting evening’s curling two years earlier, on 8 February 1895, and played under the lights. We are told “…That evening a grand illumination of candles took place on the ice when upwards of 200 candles were lighted round about the pond and up and down the side of two rinks, witnessed by a large number of inhabitants. The effect from the road looking down the ice was something grand and appeared to be much enjoyed by the crowd. Two rinks enjoyed the roarin’ game for nearly two hours when some good curling took place … in fact, it could not have been better in daylight”

That was one way of increasing the opportunity for a game of curling, another was the construction of an ‘artificial’  pond, basically an area that could be flooded to a depth of only an inch or two, not requiring too much help from ‘Jack Frost’ to provide a good, safe, curling surface. As far as we can determine, the concept was first discussed meaningfully in July 1909, when members considered the scope to construct facilities at Burnside, to be used for tennis in the summer months, and curling in the winter. Costs were estimated at between £130 and £150. As is the way with such things, ten years were to go by before any meaningful progress was made on the proposal, having, in the interim, spoken with the Duloch Trustees and secured a piece of land at Dales Farm, Burnside. A public meeting was held in the Burgh Court Room in September 1919, when a large number of interested parties turned up, voting to go ahead with the development and pledging £500 towards the cost. The estimated cost of the project had risen significantly sine the time the proposal was first mooted, now £290 for a 3-rink curling surface and a further £150 for two tennis courts. So was born the ‘Inverkeithing Recreation Co Ltd’ with Authorised Share Capital of £1500.

The great day arrived on 18 December 1920 with the completion of the new rink and the arrival of frost and ice sufficient to enable play to go on from dawn to well-past dusk, until 10pm, in fact.

Inevitably, there was a downside. Earlier in the year there was a swingeing increase in annual subs and joining fees, with the joining fee doubling from five shillings (5/-) to ten shillings (10/-), and the annual sub also doubling, from half a crown (2/6) to five shillings (5/-). Further, it was agreed that members would require to make a two pence contribution (2d) towards the cost of lighting for evening games on the new pond. It didn’t end there, we are told, as before the year was out there was another doubling of the fees, the sub rising to 10/- and the joining fee to one pound.

No matter, the Burnside pond was to do service to the Club for the next twelve or thirteen years, with the occasional dispute and disagreement with the Recreation Company over that period, but Otterston Loch, among other venues, also helped meet the Club’s needs outdoors. As we shall see, however, change was already under way.

 

Chapter Three – Time of Change

As the Club moved into the 20^th century, so many changes were taking place that it’s difficult to know where to start in recounting them. For starters there was a change of name in 1908, with the ‘St Margaret’s’ title being dropped and the adoption of simply ‘Inverkeithing Curling Club’ as Club’s name thereafter. No reason for the change is documented, but the likelihood is that it followed on from the death the previous year of the Club’s patron, Mr William Jackson of St Margaret’s Stone, severing the link s with the property of that name that had subsisted since the time of the Club’s birth in 1837 (or 1834?). Coming scarcely four years after the death of his predecessor, both as patron and as owner of the St Margaret’s estate – James Thrift Smith (of whom we’ll have more to say later) – Mr Jackson’s passing was a bitter pill to swallow. It also brought to an end the appointment of a patron or patroness as the Club’s titular head.

For  the early-20^th century adherents of the roarin game, undoubtedly the most significant change, however, was the advent of indoor facilities for the sport, starting (in Scotland) with the Crossmyloof, Glasgow, rink in 1907, followed five years later by the  Lochrin and Haymarket rinks in Edinburgh. Over the next 20-30 years ice rinks had appeared all over the place - Perth, Kirkcaldy, Dundee, Falkirk, Dunfermline, Paisley, Murrayfield,  and Ayr - curling had well and truly moved indoors!

 We’ll leave it to one of the guests at the Club’s Annual Dinner a couple of years ago, curling historian David B Smith, to provide the to the indoor  curling revolution, as ste out in his superb reference work, An Illustrated History of Curling ,(John Donald Publishers Ltd  1981):

  “The last development, the one which has finally released the curler from the bondage to the weather and allowed curling to make a tentative advance even into such places as equatorial Africa, is the artificial ice rink. The mechanical freezing of water on a scale large enough to allow sports to be played on it was first successfully achieved by Professor Gamgee in a small tent in the Chelsea Clock House in London, on 7^th January 1876. Two other London ventures drew plaudits from the world’s press, but these experiments were small, the first Chelsea rink being only 43 yards in extent” 

David goes on to provide an account of the opening of the Rusholme  Ice Rink in Manchester, with a playing surface of 570 square yards, sufficient to host  what is claimed to have been the first-ever curling match  on artificial, man-made ice , played on 24 March 1877.

He continues “ It was not at Manchester, however, but at nearby Southport that curling on artificial ice really developed. Between 1877 and 1889 regular curling competitions took place in the Glaciarium there, for a silver shield which is now the property of the Royal Club and used as its Rink Championship trophy. More than twenty years elapsed from the collapse of the Southport venture before the first artificial ice was built in Scotland …”  

 Picture: Southport Glaciarium

 The ‘Glaciarium’ David Smith’s  account refers to did, as it happens, provide the curlers of Inverkeithing with their first experience of indoor curling on man-made ice, six years into the life of the Southport facility. This is how Club secretary Robert Telford, little more than a year into what was to be a marathon 49-year term of office, recorded the event for posterity in October 1882, telling the tale of the visit made by “ four bold men and true of St Margaret’s” to take part in the annual challenge match between Scotland and England for the Holden Trophy, with the St Margaret’s quartet lining up against doughty opponents from Blackburn Curling Club. It makes for interesting reading and provides an illuminating social commentary on the rivalry between the men of Caledonia and those of the ‘Auld Enemy’:

 'The Glaciarium is a large and imposing-looking building from the outside and is covered on the roof with thick glass. The inside, judging from a cursory glance, will be about 50 yards in length and about 30 in breadth, while I think the ice surface is about 45 yards by 25. Of course, how the ice is made in such a large compact body is a secret and as yet a patent. Be it made as it may it is capital – no rough places, no heights, no hollows, but a face like glass.

  “…When the gong sounds to begin play there is much bustle and nervousness – some of the Englishmen divesting themselves of as many loose garments as is pardonable, with a view, as I thought, of scaring poor Scots.

  “ The greatest drawback I observed was the difficulty of conveying instructions from the skip to the player. Often when the skip is in the act of giving his directions, some good shot is played on the next rink, when the shouting from the players is deafening. It seems as if some people in England think it is a mark of distinction to be able to break an opponent’s stone. I saw this done, and the roaring and shouting was pitiable …

   “ Round the edge of the ice there is a fine promenade, also a large gallery from which many furry-clad ladies watched eagerly the chaps and lies and the striking appearance of the ‘ Scottish Knights of the Broom’…”

‘Striking appearance’ or not , it clearly did not bring fear and trembling to the Lancashire curlers on duty that day, registering a comfortable 20 shots to 13 victory over the men of St Margaret’s.

As far as we can determine, it was to be about 26 years later that the St Margaret’s curlers would next have a taste of curling indoors, in April 1908, when the then  recently- opened Crossmyloof Ice Rink in Glasgow, hosted the Scotland – England international match, with one rink from Inverkeithing invited to take part. This was the fourth in the series of challenges between the old rivals, and the first to be played indoors.

Anyway, ‘freed from bondage to the weather’, as put so eloquently by David Smith, Inverkeithing curlers were not slow in taking advantage of the opportunity to play indoors, visiting the recently-built Lochrin Rink on 28 February 1912 with ‘two rinks of young players’ and again onNew Year’s Day 1914, with six rinks taking part in the annual  President v Vice-President challenge match. Later that year, the Club paid its first visit to the other new ice rink in the capital, Haymarket, a facility which was to continue to be used by members for many years to come.

There was another ‘event’ round about that time, of course, the Declaration of War, the so-called ‘Great war’ that was to claim so many lives over the next four years, through to 1918. Surprisingly, perhaps, the Minutes make scarcely any reference to the war. What we do find in the records is that ‘... the Law Rink Medal Competition was revived in season 1913/14, as it was one of the oldest trophies held by the Club. The visit to Lochrin Ice Rink on New Year’s Day is described as “… an enjoyable day, helped by a plentiful supply of meat and drink” . Clearly it was a success, as we are told later that “… the President v Vice-President  match at Lochrin Ice Rink is now established as a regular fixture, with food and drink being dispensed in plentiful supply, members being delighted with the treatment received. The Minutes for 1915 again make no mention of  war, but tell us that there had been considerable discussion on the subject of compensation from Dunfermline Town Council, who intended to drive a new sewer through the Curling Pond at West Bois. Eventually, compensation of £50 was agreed, together with surrender of the Club’s lease. The following year was quiet on the curling front , but Otterston Loch figured prominently throughout 1917, with, we’re told ‘good ice for the Law Rink Medal’. Finally, with war at an end, it is recorded that the Christmas Day 1914 curling on Otterston Loch ‘… attracted many spectators, among whom were many naval officers’  

 

Chapter Four – The Grand Match

In his autobiography It Taks a Lang Spin , referred to earlier, raconteur and former Honorary President, John McLaren, captures the spirit of outdoor curling in the following account:

  “In 1963, Inverkeithing Curling Club sent one rink to take part in the Grand Match at Lake of Menteith. I was one of the players selected to represent the club. A bonspiel of this magnitudeis only possible when there has been continuous frost for a few weeks to build up the required thickness of ice , to bear the weight of a large number of players, stones and spectators. That day, in 1963, there were 2,400 curlers taking part, with hundreds of spectators. A great deal of work had been going on for days beforehand preparing 300 rinks for the bonspiel. Only a sudden thaw or a snowstorm would cause the game to be cancelled. Fortunately, there was no thaw on the big day, and the snowstorm waited until the last stone had been thrown before it covered the rinks.

“A cannon was fired  at 11 am., to signal the start of the bonspiel, and soon the roaring of the stones was heard as they hurled over the ice.

There were curlers from all over Scotland that day, some setting out as early as 6 am. Among them were many celebrities, including Fyfe Robertson, Jameson Clark an Lord Bruce, as he was at that time. For the purpose of the match Scotland had been divided into two; North versus South. The whisky flowed and as the games progressed the fellowship of curling became more evident. The cannon was fired again at 3 pm. To signal the end of the bonspiel, and the points were added up to decide whether North or South had won. Even a quarter of a century later I am not sure as to which side was the winner, or even whether I was North or South”

 

Not that it matters greatly, but if our dear friend is keeping in touch with us from that great ice rink in the sky, he might be interested to learn that the honours that day – 16 January 1963 – went to the curlers from the north by 2649 shots to 2548, and that John and his Inverkeithing clubmates were playing for the ***** !

That, in fact, was only the second of a miserly three Grand Matches to be played outdoors since the post-World War II period, with the first being only four years’ earlier, in 1959, at Loch Leven, and the third taking place at Lake of Menteith on 7 February 1979. Excluding a handful of indoor meetings, the Grand Match has taken place on 33 occasions since first being held in 1847. Way back then, however, it was a fairly low-key affair, with the first match, at Penicuik in January 1847, being contested by 12 rinks-a-side, increasing to 35-a-side when it was played at Linlithgow the following year. Certainly a far cry from the 416 rinks who took to the ice at Lake of Menteith in 1963, and the record 644 rinks on duty at Carsebreck in December 1935, the 25^thand last time that the Perthshire venue hosted the event.

Although given the opportunity to take part in the very first Grand Match in 1847, St Margaret’s – surprisingly – declined the invitation, but did send a rink to Linlithgow a year later, peeling 19-19 with the Paisley club. From reports in the Annual  it would appear that Inverkeithing’s curlers were regular participants, despite the Club’s minutes frequently failing to record the fact, missing out on only a handful of occasions out of the 25 Grand Matches played up to the 20^th century. There was a notable ‘first’, too, when two club rinks took part in the first-ever indoor Grand Match, at Crossmyloof, Glasgow, in January 1908. Early opponents in the bonspiel included the aforementioned Paisley, Wellcroft, Dirleton, Gourock, Larbert, Glasgow Lillybank, Kippen, Bothwell, Merchiston and Ruchazie, many of them no longer in existence.