DCHP-1 Online

roaring game † Orig. Scottish

• n. a winter sport first popular in Scotland, played by two teams of four players, each of whom slides, in turn, two stones down the surface of a sheet of ice, a team's object being to finish with its stones closest to the "tee" in the centre of the target area.

  See also: curling  

  • First recorded as roaring-play (Robert Burns, 1786), the game was so called from the hollow, rumbling noise made by a curling stone (formerly made of iron) sliding over an outdoor rink of natural ice on a pond, river, etc. Since little noise is made by a modern granite stone on an indoor rink of artificial ice, the name is often erroneously associated with noise made by the players, for example the instructions shouted by the skip to the sweepers.

  • 1864  (1964)  . . . although the day turned out one of the most severe that we have had this winter, the "roarin' game" was kept up with much spirit. . . .
  • 1882  Two rinks have been cleared of snow, opposite Mr. Johnston's store, and every fine day the knights of the broom may be seen enjoying themselves in mysteries of the "roarin game."
  • 1962  . . . it at least indicates the tremendous (and growing) enthusiasm for the "Roarin' Game" right across Canada.