William Boyd and the Roaring Game

To curl on the ice doth greatly please,

Being a manly Scottish exercise

It clears the brains - stirs up the native heat,

And gives - a gallant appetite for meat.

In the 19^th century one of Scotland’s national pastimes was the game of curling. Almost every parish, especially in south west Scotland, had a curling team which would challenge the surrounding parishes and villages to matches during the winter months. From November to February, when the icy conditions permitted, the many frozen lochs of the Scottish winter landscape provided the perfect setting for curling matches or bonspiels.

Reports of the curling competitions in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard during the 1850’s show that William Boyd was a keen curler.  In Lochrutton, where William lived and worked, the local loch was the venue for many curling bonspiels. In 1850 William won the single-handed medal and again a few years later as, in February 1857, the Standard reported that Wm Boyd, Boot and Shoe maker of Lochfoot won the single-handed medal in the annual curling competition.  Hopefully further information on William’s curling prowess will come to light.