Supplement To Volume 4 of
FROM CROFT TO CLEARING

Announcing
St. Andrew's Scottish Heritage Symposium and Dinner
Nov. 30 1996, 6 PM

A Contribution to Scarburgh's Bi-Centennial
1796-1996

Lowland Scots had arrived in Scarborough in the closing years of the eighteenth century. However, the Thomsons, Elliots, Johnstons and other early Dumfriesshire immigrants were far too busy pioneering in the wilderness to engage in one of Scotland's favourite pastimes -- curling.

Indeed, it appears that curling did not become popular in Upper Canada until about 1835. Lanarkshire Scots began arriving in Scarborough in significant numbers in about 1830. These Lanarkshire immigrants in Scarborough were among the first in the Province to put curling on the "sports pages" of the regional media, thus spreading the word about "the roaring game". In his Pioneer Life in the County of York, the noted Ontario historian, E.C. Guillet, summarizes the contribution to the sport of the Township's Lanarkshire settlers: "Among the townships, Scarborough was pre-eminent for its curlers".