Friars' Briar

Friars' Briar History

A Brief History of the Friars' Briar

From B.C. to Ontario the Pastors come
To trundle rocks on Shamrock’s lanes.
Twenty-two rinks by any name,
They sweep and glide from end to end.
To only use the “besom an’ stane”.
The Annual Friars’ Briar, so named,
a-curling by the Pastors and lay;
(both men and women may play the game.)
One lay person may play the lead.
Three on a rink must be Pastors indeed.

The Friars’ Briar is meant to be fun,
With fellowship and friendship at play.
As the heavy rocks turn and slide
Whether narrow or yet wide,
Win or lose, we will enjoy the day.

On one day a Banquet is served,
A short program and prizes beside.
When the rocks are all thrown
And the winners are known,
God be praised for all friends we have met!

Poem by Herb Eriksson

The information for this History is drawn form "THE FRIARS' BRIAR" a history of the first twenty years of The Annual Curling Competition of the Canadian Clergy Curling Association written by Cliff McMurtry.

The first Canada wide bonspiel of the Canadian Clergy Curling Association was held in Winnipeg in 1978. It was called the "Conspiel".. The second meeting was held in Calgary in 1980 and the name, Friars' Briar emerged and has been used ever since. Catherine Robbines of Calgary sketched the famous picture of the rather bald-headed clergy person with robes flying and broom in hand, entering the house perched on a curling rock. This is the Logo of the Friars' Briar Curling Association.

Usually the Friars' Briar Curling Competition is held in the same city as the Canadian Men's Curling Championship known as the The Brier:

In 1978, 1980, and 1984 the Friars' Briar was in the city where the World Championship - Silver Broom was held.
In 1985 it was in conjunction with the the Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian Women' Championship Event.
In 1990 the Canadian Junior Championship was in Portage La Prairie and the Friars' Briar was held in Winnipeg.
In 1995 the Labatt's Brier was played in Halifax while the Friars' Briar was played in Winnipeg with accommodation at St. Benedicts. The Brier was watched on TV.
In1996 the Brier was in Kamloops and the Friars' Briar was played in Tsawassen.

In early days the Friars' Briar games were played on the same ice as the Brier but soon the Briar was played in other curling clubs.

In 2004, in Saskatoon, a seniors division was introduced in the Friars' Briar competition. Each team is asked to add up the ages of its players and the aggregate age is used to determine those who compete in the seniors division. In 2004 the Eriksson team had an aggregate age of 316, including Herb who was 93 years old. In 2005 the Eriksson team had an aggregate age of 305 and consisted of three brothers, Herb, Harold, and Paul and Phillip who is Harold' son. They are all clergy. All except Phillip are retired.

Another family team playing in Saskatoon consisted of five Cline brothers from across Canada.

The Friars' Briar that Didn't Happen was supposed to have been in Chicoutimi, Quebec in 1988. Only 6 players came.

The number of teams involved over the years has ranged from 9 in Ottawa in 1993 to 24 in Regina, Victoria, and Saskatoon.

In Saskatoon there were five games of round robin competition in the four divisions. "Melchizedek" Round" "Jehoshaphat" Round, Zerubbel" Round, and "Methuselah" Round. The top two teams from each pool advance to Paradise (championship) play-offs The 3rd and 4th place in each pool moved to Purgatory Play-offs. The last two in each pool were in the Pit. Play-off games began on Thursday morning.

If you know of other items of interest that could be included in this history send them to Paul Eriksson, conebb@telus.net. Or talk to Paul personally.