Cornwall Curling Club members Jim Farquharson, left, and Roddie MacLean were both overwhelmed by the endless hospitality they received in Scotland while taking part in the 100th Strathcona Cup. Guardian photo by Jim Day
Sweeping success
JIM DAY The Guardian
Helping lead Canada past the Scots in the storied Strathcona Cup last month in Scotland is a thrill that will not be easily matched for Roddie MacLean.
“I just thought it was one of the greatest things that I ever accomplished in my life,’’ said MacLean, a member of the Cornwall Curling Club. “I’ve never been involved in anything to this magnitude.’’
This time-honoured event is steeped in history, dating back a few years — 100 to be exact.
The Strathcona Cup was first presented in 1909 by Sir Donald Smith — Lord Strathcona — to recognize the winner of a curling tour between Canada and Scotland. The first tour was held in 1903 when Scotland sent a group of curlers to tour Canada and the northern United States.
In 1909 the Canadians mounted a return tour to Scotland, and this is when Lord Strathcona offered the trophy — a silver cup bearing among other elaborate insignia Lord Strathcona’s coat of arms and four men paddling a canoe — to commemorate the winning side.
The event continues in earnest today on a five-year alternate tour schedule.
MacLean, along with fellow Cornwall Curling Club member Jim Farquharson, gleefully embraced the chance to be Prince Edward Island’s representatives on the 40-member Canadian team sent to compete in Scotland. Their selection was secured in large part due to their impressive volunteer involvement both in the sport of curling and in the community in general.
Both men paid their own way to take part in the competition.
MacLean was on one of the five four-man teams that travelled northern Scotland while Farquharson set off with the remaining Canadian curling contingent that went south. In all, the Canucks curled in more than 20 cities before getting back together in Edinburgh to reflect on an event that combines a memorable blend of competition, culture and camaraderie.
MacLean was quickly upgraded from mate to skip when the skip on his team had to return to Canada after playing just one and a half games. MacLean proved to be more than up to the challenge.
He surprised himself with how well he played as he went on to become the tournament’s top skip in leading his squad to 17 victories against only four defeats. More importantly, his team tallied 59 net points by outscoring the Scots by a score of 164 to 105.
Team Canada took an early lead in the competition that they never came close to relinquishing as they eventually claimed the Strathcona Cup in its centenary year by a convincing 1,439 to 1,133 margin.
Farquharson didn’t come out of the hack with the same success as MacLean, but the lead’s weight and shooting improved as he enjoyed twice as many wins as losses in 15 games.
An 81-year-old curler from Thornhill, Ont., skipped for Farquharson’s team (the average age of the 40 Canadian curlers was 62).
Farquharson missed a handful of games when his father’s death in P.E.I. brought an abrupt break to his competition.
He was, fortunately, able to return to Scotland to share in Team Canada’s triumph.
“It was very special,’’ he said. “The Strathcona Cup is a very special trophy.’’
While MacLean will always relish having made a strong contribution to the victory, the man who traces his ancestry back to the Isle of Skye will remember so much more than just the competition from his fifth trip to Scotland last month.
"Well, it was just a great experience for both Jim and I because we met so many people and really, when you come to think of it, the curling was really secondary,' he said.
"The people that we met and the hospitality that was given to us by the Scots ... we'll remember this for the rest of our lives. It was just a wonderful experience.'
The Scots know how to treat their guests.
The Canadian curlers first were greeted at the airport with a bag piper and a number of the Scottish curlers that had been to Canada on the 2003 tour.
Later, in front of one curling club, the Canadians were lead into the building by a piper under the arch of brooms raised skyward by 30 or so club members.
Food and drink were plentiful. A large breakfast of pancakes, fried tomatoes, sausage, bacon and eggs was consumed at the start of many days. Than came the obligatory morning class around 7 a.m. to plot the day's curling/tourist itinerary. Tossing back an ounce of gin while going over all the logistics soon became habit forming.
The drinking, of course, did not end there. After four ends of every game, which were eight enders, all the brooms would be stacked on the ice as the curlers took a break to enjoy what Farquharson describes as a very tasty wee dram o' Scotch.
Foolish fun highlighted many dinners, from singing a song that simply repeats the lyrics "the wallpaper is stuck to the wall' to MacLean rolling up his pant legs to take part in a sword dance.
Both MacLean and Farquharson, whose ancestors came to P.E.I. 250 years ago from Scotland, were happy their trip coincided with the 250th anniversary of Robbie Burns. Ferguson was even able to celebrate the occasion in Dumfries, where Scotland's national bard died, in one of the pubs that Burns used to frequent.
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