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Memorabilia curliana Mabenensia [by R. Brown. In Engl.].
Memorabilia curliana Mabenensia - by R. Brown. In Engl. Author:Richard Brown Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: language of the art being all Dutch or German—directly point out the Low Countries as the place where it originated. Much may be advanced on both sides—but those... more » who give up the domestic invention of the game, will probably ascribe its introduction to those Flemish emigrants who settled in Scotland about the end of the 15th, and beginning of the 16th century. Neither does it appear at what precise period the " sound of thumping rocks" was first heard in our vallies. Whilst most of our national amusements are to be found recorded in the writings of the antiquary and historian, we find no mention made of this prior to the beginning of the 17th century. The earliest notice of it is by Cambden, in his Britannia, (published 1607) when speaking of the isle of Copinsha he says incidentally that there are "found upon it plenty of excellent stones for the game called Curling:"—this is however sufficient to shew that the game was both pretty general, and in considerable repute at the time. We may conclude, therefore, that the 16th century was the era of its invention or introduction. Subsequent to which period the allusions to it are such in the writings of the poets and historians, as clearly shew that it has been pretty generally practised throughout the south of Scotland. Another circumstance leads to the supposition that the origin of the game, in this country at least, is not very remote,—the specimens that still remain of the unhandled, unpolished blocks which were used by the curlers of, comparatively, even modern times. The improvements since adopted are so obvious, that they must have suggested themselves long before the time when they actually were made, had the practice of the game been very ancient. Though no evidence exists to shew that curling is now practised, or tha...« less