Of the origin of curling it is hard to speak with accuracy, for in every European country where civilization has entered, their annals speak of it in some shape or other. It drifted about from clime to clime until it finally found home in the bosom of Scotland. But by far the most important event in the history of curling was the formation of the Grand Caledonian Club in 1838. In 1843 the word Royal was added by orders of Her Majesty on a visit to Scotland, and since the club has numbered amongst its presidents His R. H., the Prince of Wales, as well as other members of the Royal Family, the game now is so thoroughly Scotch that it cannot adapt itself to the language and manners of any other country. Wherever a curling pond is to be found, a Scotchman is to be found at the bottom of it, and the game will not be universal until Scotch is the one tongue, and the human race one Scotch family — an event, however desirable to some, is not a probable occurrence.
