I read with interest that “a game of Summer Ice was played between Blantyre and Bothwell” in February 1894. I have to admit, I’d not heard of “Summer Ice”, but it sounded as if it had something to do with curling being in winter. I was only partially right after I investigated more.
Almost like a predecessor of billiards, this was linked to curling, but played on a long table. The principles of the game, very like curling. Played in Scotland from mid Victorian times, tables like the one pictured could often be found in mansion houses.
The table is a long plank of mahogany, beautifully smoothed and polished, with the ‘tee’ and the ‘hog-score’ carefully defined; and the stones (which are made of cast iron) are polished to correspond with the surface on which they glide. Scores are kept for getting close to the ‘jack’.
Blantyre had a small team of 5 people. Currie, McQuarrie, Russell, Docherty and Currie.
There’s a great article in the Herald from 2002 about Summer ice which can be read here:
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12130228.Last_days_of_the__ice_age_Once_there_were_thousands_of_players__Now_there_are_only_50_left_in_the_whole_of_Scotland__Melanie_Reid_goes_in_search_of_the_long_forgotten_game_of_summer_ice/
P.S Blantyre won by a majority of 2 shots! Photos by Curling history website.
