The Modern English School

"The art of attention or concentration must be cultivated; its possibilities are quite startling. Attention is the distinguishing mark of all successful people and is in itself one of the greatest of human accomplishments... When you practise, don't let the power of your thought be scattered from one figure to another. If you can concentrate on a single purpose for a length of time, nothing is impossible." - T.D. Richardson

Talking about broader concepts in figure skating history is always a challenge. There are exceptions to every rule and the trajectory of how the sport has developed over time really isn't linear. Changes in coaching styles over time have obviously greatly affected trends and styles over the years and today on the blog we're going to touch on one such trend: The Modern English School style that developed in Great Britain in the thirties, forties and fifties.

In order to properly understand how figure skating in England progressed from the stiff English Style to The Modern English School after the popularization of the freer Continental or International Style, we really should start by reminding ourselves of how both styles differed like day and night. In his 1954 book "Winter Sports", Neville Bulwer-Lytton remarked, "The followers of the English style consider the International style unmanly and affected and the International skaters say the English school is stiff and ungainly... The English school is practically dying out. Its followers are few and far between, and it says a great deal for their enthusiasm that it keeps going at all. I think that it is a mistake to try and prove that either school of skating is superior to the other. Both have their good points, and it is not because of any inferiority that the English style is on the wane." Bulwer-Lytton acknowledged the shift from the jerkiness of English Style figures to school figures with rhythmic sway on the turns. The obvious differences - the use of the upper body in school figures, free skating itself and of course, the relationship between music and movement - go without saying. However, there was a very distinct style to British skaters of this era that made their way of skating particularly unique as compared to their Continental counterparts and it truly borrowed concepts from both the modern International Style and the growingly archaic English Style.

Figure skating historian Nigel Brown noted, "Bernard Adams, who had been a fine English skating stylist and who turned to the practice and teaching of the international style shortly after its introduction into England, cannot be claimed as the founder of the modern English school, but he
must be considered as a guide in the important [transitional] period between the English and international styles. He taught with intelligence, and through the introduction of his own theories modern English skating took on a special character. A German-Swiss, named Jacques Gerschwiler, came to England during the Henie days, as a private coach to the young Cecilia Colledge. He believed in pure technique almost to the exclusion of artistry. He became the founder of the English school, the modern scientific school of skating. Cold and almost soulless technique made its appearance in the big international competitions significantly when competitor after competitor began to dominate the solo-skating world. This approach produced a machine-like skater - both powerful and reliable. But individual personal expression became practically non-existent. This was clearly apparent among the men, who had not the natural charm of the female skater to soften a highly skillful performance and yet there was a peculiar fascination about this frigid manner of skating, but it had to be well-nigh perfect to give the desired effect. Cecilia Colledge as a technician was near this point and her interpretation possessed a cold charm through its power and meticulousness. She was the ideal type of competition skater, and the English school built its strength around this pattern. They worked upon the theme that full expression in this very difficult art could only be achieved by perfect technique, and this could only be acquired by the exclusion of nearly everything else... By intense study and aim at technical perfection the English school laid a solid foundation upon which a wider development of the art could confidently take place."

Cecilia Colledge

Champions like Cecilia Colledge, Megan Taylor, Daphne Walker, Henry Graham Sharp and Freddie Tomlins were all trained in this manner and without any question, both British pairs skaters and ice dancers would have been as well. Although World War II greatly hampered the growth of skating in England, Queen's Ice Rink (with twelve professional coaches throughout the war) kept this precise,
collected and cold style very much alive. Jacques Gerschwiler's star pupil, Gladys Hogg, built upon this mathematical and precise manner of coaching with her own impressive stable of students.

T.D. Richardson remarked, "to my mind Gersch, as the elder is affectionately known throughout the civilised skating world, is directly responsible for the improvement in the accuracy of the general tracing and for the uniformity of the turns which characterises modern school skating, and I would go so far as to say that the still change of edge was brought to perfection under his tutelage. While these teachers, together with those who have been influenced by them, to name two only, Gladys Hogg, and Ernst Hartung, were busy in Britain, mainly concerned with the school, the Americans, as well as absorbing as much as they could of it from hearsay during the war, had taken a bold line in the free skating, especially in that branch of it concerned with jumping. Although all of the teachers over in the U.S.A. were in some degree, no doubt, in at the beginning of what was to prove a startling advance in free skating in general, it was the luck of [Gustave] Lussi to have as his pupil for six years, from boy to manhood, one of the outstanding skaters and personalities in the whole history of the sport, Richard Button." It was indeed Lussi and his star student Dick Button that would take skating to the next level, introducing daring new jumps and a free skating style based less on combined figures and more on the balance of challenging jumps and spins. While British ice dancers retained the style of The Modern English School for many years to come and excelled, by the mid-fifties, singles skaters were largely surpassed by new schools of thought that they mostly likely never saw coming.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The 1931 North American Figure Skating Championships

Last held in 1971, the U.S. versus Canada equivalent to the European Championships was, as far as international figure skating competitions go, was prestigious as they come. Olympic Gold Medallists like Dick Button, Peggy Fleming, Tenley Albright, Barbara Ann Scott King, Hayes and Carol Heiss Jenkins, David Jenkins and Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul were among the many skaters who claimed North American titles over the years. Today's blog will take a look back at the fifth of those biennal competitions - the 1931 North American Figure Skating Championships in Ottawa, Ontario.

Held in conjunction with Ottawa's Winter Carnival Week at the city's Auditorium, the 1931 competition was organized under the auspices of the Minto Skating Club. In conjunction with the competition, on the second and third day the club presented their hugely popular 'Minto Follies' ice show. The theme for that year was "Aladdin And His Magic Lamp" and many of the competitors were playing double duty in both the show and competition in front of a capacity crowd of eight thousand people. Funds raised benefited "the crippled children's fund" and guest stars of that year's Minto Follies included the inimitable Eddie Shipstad and Oscar Johnson.

There were six judges in total for all phases of the competition: three from Canada and three from the U.S. Most notable on the panel was Theresa Weld Blanchard, who at that time was still actively competing. The organizing committee of the event included Douglas Henry Nelles and Melville Rogers of the Minto Skating Club, Sherwin Badger and Richard L. Hapgood. Interestingly, both Badger and Rogers played double duty as both officials and competitors in the event.

Judges at the 1931 North American Championships

Ice dance wasn't yet added to the bill of the event and wouldn't be officially until 1947 but in addition to men's, ladies and pairs skating competitions, an important part of the North American Championships was the friendly contest for the Connaught Trophy in fours skating, which was actually a two parter. According to Irving Brokaw's book "The Art Of Skating", fours teams going for the Connaught Trophy had to perform both compulsory figures "to be skated without music" and a free skating program where "each four shall skate five minutes free skating to music. They shall skate in unison, but not necessarily to center." The Connaught Trophy in 1931 was won by the Canadian team of Frances Claudet, Kathleen Lopdell, Melville Rogers and Guy Owen, who managed to keep the trophy in Canada despite Rogers' injury which kept him out of the men's event. In second were the Granite Club four of Cecil and Maude Smith, Stewart Reburn and Jack Eastwood and in third were the Toronto four of Mary Littlejohn, Elizabeth Fisher, Jack Hose and Hubert Sprott.

The pairs competition in 1931 was a bit of an upset. The gold medal went to the brother and sister team of Constance and Montgomery 'Bud' Wilson of Toronto and the silver to another Canadian team, Frances Claudet and Chauncey Bangs of Ottawa. The bronze went to U.S. Champions Beatrix Loughran and Sherwin Badger of New York City, who won the bronze medal AHEAD of the Wilson siblings at the previous year's World Championships. The Americans were the absolute favourites going in. Finishing off the podium were two promising teams representing the Granite Skating Club, Cecil Smith and Stewart Reburn and Maude Smith and Jack Eastwood. Claudet and Bangs' performance during the 1931 season actually caused a great deal of confusion with the judges as it gave the appearance more of an early free dance than a pairs program. According to Lynn Copley-Graves' veritable bible of ice dancing history "The Evolution Of Dance On Ice", Claudet and Bangs "never separated and had no highlights" (jumps, spins, lifts) and this really threw the judges for a tailspin.

Constance Wilson

Adding to her gold medal in the pairs event, Constance Wilson of the Toronto Skating Club handily took home the ladies title as well, finishing ahead of clubmate Elizabeth Fisher and Edith Secord, originally from Ottawa but representing New York in this event. Missing the podium was Minneapolis' Margaret Bennett.

Among the men, the favourite heading into the event was Bud Wilson, who had finished fourth in the men's event at the 1930 World Championships in New York City. He faced quite a fight from U.S. Junior Champion Gail Borden of New York City, who had finished sixth at the 1930 World Championships. Borden was known as quite an athletic skater. The "Ottawa Citizen" raved that the American's "rendition of the various jumps is about the best to be seen on the continent." Ultimately, Wilson made it a clean sweep in all four disciplines for Canada, decisively taking the gold medal. Borden was third and another skater from New York, James Lester Madden, claimed the silver medal. Finishing fourth was Lewis Elkin of the Winnipeg Winter Club. On Wilson's win, The February 6, 1931 edition of the "Montreal Gazette" noted, "In addition to performing his compulsory school figures with great precision, he gave a beautiful exhibition of free skating."

Video of Constance Wilson and a Canadian four skating in the early thirties

The medal sweep for Canada at the 1931 North American Championships could not have come at a better time. Earlier that same month, Louis Rubenstein, the grandfather of Canadian skating had passed away and his loss would have certainly been felt in the Canadian skating community. What a wonderful testament to his lifelong dedication to developing skating in the country the events in Ottawa that winter proved to be. The future looked bright... and it was.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Progress And John Curry's "Icarus"

"I feel like I was working all year to recite a poem and I was reciting it to deaf people." - John Curry

The fable of Daedalus and Icarus is perhaps one of the best known in classical Greek mythology. Father and son appeared doomed after being imprisoned in King Minos' Labyrinth. To escape, Daedalus fashioned enormous wings of osier branches and wax and taught his son to fly, warning him not to fly to close to the sun or his wings would melt. Icarus ignored his father's advice, first flying up high in the sky to salute the sun then, as the wax melted, diving into the sea to his death. The tragic story has been retold in many contexts: as a fable to warn of the importance of listening to your elders and even as an allegory of the dangers of pushing technology further and further.

The Daedalus and Icarus myth might also serve as a reminder to the skating world about the great art that can be lost when the scales of focus are tipped greatly towards the sport's technical side. A lost interpretation from skating history of the myth on ice by 1976 Olympic Gold Medallist John Curry perhaps serves as that chilling reminder.

Keith Money photograph from the 1978 book "John Curry"

In 1977, Curry debuted an elaborate new piece called "Icarus" in Bristol, England in anticipation of his opening at the London Palladium with his "Theatre Of Skating". It was the conception of Curry, choreographed by prolific ballet choreographer John Butler. A new score was commissioned by Gordon Cross specifically for the piece and a stunning costume with silk wings was fashioned by costume designer Nadine Baylis. A giant sun served as a stage prop and Keith Alexander partnered Curry for the piece. In Keith Money's 1978 book "John Curry", the legendary skater himself expounded upon this particular work: "John Butler is a very intense worker, and his intensity shows in the piece. When I skate 'Icarus' well, I myself feel that kind of intensity. One of my beliefs has always been that everyone wants to fly too close to the sun; wants to get to something very badly; and when they do get there, they usually find that the thing they want, whether it is the sun, or whatever golden object one might think of - is their ultimate undoing. That theme was more important to me than anything else."

Although "Icarus" was not well received in its first performance in Bristol - reportedly meeting boo's and jeers from the audience, it was a huge hit at the Palladium and elsewhere. It received glowing praise from one Associated Press writer on August 21, 1977: "In 'Icarus' - as the audiences are reminded: Daedalus made a pair of great wings for his son Icarus, launching him into the bright air with pride and hope. The boy flew bravely and with increasing wonder, and in his exaltation he did not mind the sun's power to melt his wings and end his flight forever. London has seen ice shows aplenty' over the years. But even the very best of these could not challenge the rich perfection that Curry, his choreographers, dancers, designers, musicians and lighting experts have achieved to delight eye and ear. For years, Curry dreamed of uniting the techniques and styles of ice skating and the ballet. He made his first attempt at Cambridge Theatre earlier in the year, and although that show was acclaimed, Curry regarded it as very much of an initial pioneering effort. The Palladium presentation on blue ice on a much bigger stage, with every refinement that Curry and his team could devise, transforms the familiar ice show to the level of a new art form."

The fact that no widely available footage exists of this particularly ingenious piece from the repertoire of John Curry is to me a crying shame and a superb example of why documenting skating history is so incredibly important. As such imbalanced attention continues to be given to edge calls, incongruous IJS footwork sequences and quads, quads, quads, works of skating art like this piece have been relegated to obscurity. Is figure skating dangerously flying to close to the sun just like Icarus? One cannot help but think so. Progress, like art, can be interpreted in any number of ways.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The Vasilyevsky Island Rink

Bordered by the Bolshaya Neva, Malaya Neva and Smolenka Rivers and the Gulf Of Finland, Vasilyevsky Island is a historic island in St. Petersburg, Russia. Just across the river from the Winter Palace, today it is home to over two hundred thousand citizens, several museums... and two historic churches, St. Andrew's Cathedral and the Church Of The Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin.

St. Andrew's was in fact the last Baroque cathedral built in the city. First conceived by Peter The Great, the cathedral went through three incarnations, a fire and a collapse before being consecrated in 1870. Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, the cathedral was handed over to the revisionists. Just over twenty years later, it was closed down, its priests arrested, valuables ransacked and bells destroyed. Abandoned, it fell into disrepair but was later resurrected. My initial research had led me to incorrectly believe that this church played host to an (unlikely) ice rink. A reader named Emily pointed out that based on photographs and articles pertaining to the Church Of The Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin, it was clear that it was this rink that housed the rink in question.

In a 2014 interview with Olga Ermolina for The Figure Skating Federation Of Russia, legendary coach Tamara Moskvina explained, "The fact that the church was constructed [as an] ice rink sounds blasphemous, but for the time use of abandoned churches was justified. Three parents of students from our group decided to make a skating rink in the church building. These parents weren't high-ranking officials, they were just active people. On their own initiative these people contacted the institute which [was] engaged in the development of refrigeration units. They went to meet him [and] made the necessary equipment that was placed in the basement of the church. Parallel to this was the rink, a non-standard 17 X 17 meters. And in 1958, it held its grand opening."

The rink operated as a training base for over two decades and played host to a who's who of Soviet skaters over the years including Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov, Nina and Stanislav Zhuk, Tamara Moskvina and Alexei Mishin, Igor Bobrin, Yuri Ovchinnikov and Anton Sikharulidze.

Ever wonder why Soviet skaters always seemed to have the edge back in the sixties, seventies and eighties? Perhaps it's owing to the fact that if they wanted to pray to the Skate Gods, they were practicing in the right place!

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Overruled: The Stories Of Two Forgotten Skating Lawyers

Writing about skating's rich and colourful history has taught me many lessons and one that seems to recur time and time again is that some of the skaters who have the most fascinating stories are not the ones who have found themselves atop Olympic podiums. Today we'll meet two skating lawyers whose contributions to the skating world have been long overlooked but are utterly fascinating!

HERBERT S. EVANS

Prominent nineteenth century Boston attorney and real estate man Herbert S. Evans took to Boston's frozen ponds as a youngster but only started taking figure skating seriously in 1889, when friends encouraged him to pursue the artistic possibilities of skating. That year, he entered the Massachusetts championship and lost badly to J. Frank Bacon.

Undeterred by his loss, Evans began pursuing the finer points of 'fancy' skating with the same intensity he'd shown to his studies of legalese. The following year, he claimed the third prize in the New England Championship in 'fancy' skating and four years later, won the Canadian title in Ottawa, which he lost the following year. In 1896, he entered the Championships Of America in New York City and surprised many when he dethroned George Dawson Phillips by seven points.

Though he'd amassed an impressive competitive record, Evans' most important contributions to figure skating weren't as a competitor. In 1898, he was granted a patent for a skate with an adjustable foot plate "thus allowing the skater, while retaining the natural easy position of the foot, to adjust his balance over any part of the blade as desired or to correct any departure from his customary balance brought about by a difference in shoes, imperfect grinding of the runner in sharpening, etc." Two years later, alongside J. Frank Bacon and Thomas Vinson (Maribel Vinson's father) he judged the first skating tests at the Cambridge Skating Club. These tests were devised by George M. Browne and called The Figure Skating Test of the Cambridge Skating Club and have been historically regarded as the first skating tests in America.

In the August 3, 1912 of "The Billboard", Julian T. Fitzgerald described him as "an active Bostonian of rather slight build, and a little less than medium height. Mr. Evans is a natural skater. His originality forms one of the chief characteristics of his work. He first drew his figures on paper and afterward produced them on ice." George Browne raved of his counter and bracket figure eights and "backward threes in the air' [which produced] as harmonious effect a the goldfinch's combination of his song and serpentine flight." Sadly, Evans passed away shortly thereafter, never really getting to see the International Style of skating take hold in America.

KENNETH MACDONALD BEAUMONT

Born February 10, 1884 to an affluent family in Blackheath, London, Beaumont studied law at Harrow and Trinity College at Oxford and became a solicitor in 1910. The following year, at age twenty seven, he married Madeleine Brodrick in Kensington and became a full partner in the family law practice Beaumont And Son, founded by his grandfather back in 1836. An avid figure skater who skated at Prince's Skating Club and wintered in Switzerland, he studied both the English and Continental Styles. Teaming up with America's Beatrix Loughran, he won an informal waltzing competition held in conjunction with the 1914 World Championships for women and pairs in St. Moritz. Shortly thereafter, Beaumont enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps and served in World War I. He achieved the rank of Major and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1918 for his involvement during the capture of Jerusalem and service in the Middle East.

Upon his returning to London, Beaumont pursued figure skating with great fervour. When the Summer Olympics came to his home city in 1920, a thirty six year old Beaumont entered the men's competition  and finished ninth - and last - among the men's competitors, which included Gillis Grafström and Ulrich Salchow. Unphased by his dismal finish, Beaumont laced up again with his wife Madeleine to compete in the pairs event. Together, they too finished last in the event won by Finns Ludovika and Walter Jakobsson. I'd like be to tell you that the Beaumont's disappointing finishes in front of friends and family at home inspired them to go on to great things in competitive skating, but that's not how the narrative of this story went. They did win two British pairs titles together and the Johnson Challenge Cup but the 1920 Olympic Games would prove to be the couple's only international competition.

Following an Imperial Airways accident in 1924, Beaumont took up flying at the age of forty one and turned the focus of Beaumont And Son practice to aviation law. He became a hugely important figure in the development of international aviation law and actually served as a legal advisor to the International Air Transport Association. Beaumont was responsible for drafting the terms and conditions for passenger tickets, baggage checks and consignment notes for cargo and later was elected chairman of the International Civil Aviation Organization and its predecessor Comité International Technique d'Experts Juridiques Aérien. A 2013 speech by Tony Tyler as part of the Royal Aeronautical Society Beaumont Lecture Series noted that "in many respects, the aviation world in which Major Beaumont lived and practiced bears little resemblance to the one we inhabit... Propeller planes were still a common sight and the Boeing 747 was just a concept on a drawing board. Airport security was virtually non-existent. Fares, service and capacity in nearly all markets were regulated by governments; and outside the United States – and Hong Kong! – nearly all international scheduled airlines were state-owned. Airlines carried 177 million passengers in 1965, equivalent to around 5% of the world’s population. Air travel was not only for the elite - that's a myth - but it was far from being a common experience. It certainly had the power to thrill."

When Beaumont wasn't busy sitting on committees, he was busy writing up a storm. As an aside, I can kind of relate. He co-authored "Shawcross And Beaumont", an important legal text on aviation law and even wrote for "Skating" magazine. His published works on the sport included a 1929 paper called "Some Aspects Of Modern International Skating". During this same period, Beaumont also served as President of the Royal Philatelic Society London and was the founding President of the Great Britain Philatelic Society in 1955. An avid stamp collector and historian his entire life, Beaumont was so distinguished in this field of study that he was made a Commander in the Order Of The British Empire in 1949 and signed the Roll Of Distinguished Philatelists in 1955.

In 1956 (a year before his retirement from the International Civil Aviation Organization), Beaumont returned to the skating world with a renewed vigour and role. He actively served as a judge and referee for Great Britain in international competitions and as the President of the National Ice Skating Association of Great Britain until his death on April 24, 1965 in Seaford, East Sussex, England.

I really have to give a 'hats off' to this man for the incredibly full life he lived. Whether he was wearing the hat of student, lawyer, philatelist, Olympic figure skater, aviation expert, judge, referee, writer or National Skating Association President, Beaumont always seemed to be looking towards the next project and that's something that I can certainly respect and admire. It only goes to show you that a poor showing in one figure skating competition means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of life.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The 1981 Australian Figure Skating Championships

In August 1981, it was a balmy twenty four degrees Celsius in Brisbane, Australia. Not exactly the temperature most skaters are used to when they are heading to their country's National Championships! However, it was winter down under and the country's best were set to show their skills on the ice at the 1981 Australian Figure Skating Championships.

Moreso than now, in decades past it really wasn't uncommon at all for skaters to gain experience and exposure by competing in the National Championships of other countries. In 1976, Australia's Michael Pasfield had actually placed sixth at the Romanian Championships in Miercurea Ciuc, eastern Transylvania. In 1981, rather than exporting talent, the Australians imported it. 

Melanie Buzek of Brantford, Ontario and Brad McLean of the North Shore Winter Club in British Columbia were invited to Australia to compete as guests and made the long trek from Ontario together with judge Dr. Suzanne Morrow-Francis in late July of 1981. After being delayed for five hours in Vancouver, the three Canadians flew to Hawaii, Fuji and Sydney before finally arriving in Brisbane in one piece in early August. When they arrived, they were detained by authorities for 'questioning' because they didn't have a Visa to enter the country, and Morrow-Francis got them out of the jam by producing two letters of invitation.

Canadians Brad McLean and Melanie Buzek

The Canadian contingent finally arrived for the competition and Morrow-Francis found herself quite busy running a series of judging clinics. In an article in the October/November 1981 issue of the "Canadian Skater" magazine, McLean intimated, "Australians are friendly, fun loving, happy-go-lucky people. They enjoy Canadians, but we learned very quickly to be sure that we were recognized as Canadians, not Americans. There are still many bad feelings towards Americans left over from the second World War when many U.S. soldiers were stationed there. The competition atmosphere was equally friendly and relaxed. We met a lot of people and made many new friends. Although the arena was cold, it was nice to skate on a rink that is used strictly for figure skating. There were no lines on it and several times we received strange looks when discussing our programs or jumps and the problem we have coping with the blue lines or goal lines. Hockey is not a well-known sport there."

Australians Michael Pasfield and Vicki Holland

Brennice Coates and Les Boroczky, who had finished a disappointing last place at the previous season's World Junior Championships in Canada, found redemption in winning the ice dance competition. Although the Canadian guests were well received, the top honours in the singles competitions in Brisbane rightfully went to the Aussies. Representing the Sydney Figure Skating Club, Michael Pasfield claimed top honours in the men's event, while McLean finished third. Eighteen year old Vicki Holland of Greenacre won the senior women's event with Brantford visitor Buzek finishing a strong second. The pairs title was won by pint sized eleven year old Danielle Carr and her fourteen year old brother Stephen... who was no less than fifteen inches taller than her! Considering that the Soviet pair of Marina Cherkasova and Sergei Shakrai had been among the first pairs teams with a massive height difference to be demonstrating big tricks in competition only years prior, the Carr's aesthetic would have been quite a novel sight at the time. 

Although often overlooked, the small exchanges between skating nations in the seventies and eighties in particular were so incredibly valuable at a time when you couldn't just Google information about coaching, judging and rule changes. Knowledge is power in figure skating and now, like back in 1981, the sport's evolution can only improve by the imparting of it. 

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The Sabena Aftermath, Part Three: The Patterson And Radix Report

Even so many years later, the 1961 Sabena crash seems almost surreal. How could have something so horrific have even happened? Why were they all travelling on the same airplane, anyway? Initially, the plan had been for the U.S. figure skating team to travel to the 1961 World Championships in Prague in two groups. The first group (primarily skaters) was planned to arrive by air in Czechoslovakia on February 15, 1961, giving them time to recuperate from jet lag and a second group (mostly family members, judges and officials) would have arrived five days later on a second plane. Those original plans changed at the 1961 North American Championships in Philadelphia after USFSA officials were unable to secure travel on two separate airplanes that didn't have Soviet ties, keeping in mind that this was during the Cold War. The negotiation of entry visas with the Czechoslovakian embassy also played a role in the USFSA's decision to opt to take that Sabena flight instead of two separate planes as initially plane. These assertions about the decision to fly with Sabena were made in a report written by then USFSA President F. Ritter Shumway shortly after the tragedy.

However, one document penned five years before the Sabena tragedy that I stumbled upon completely by accident nearly made me spit out my coffee. It was an official report written by Theodore G. Patterson of Boston, Massachusetts and Harry E. Radix of Chicago, Illinois, who served as the manager and acting coach of the 1956 U.S. Olympic figure skating team in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. This report appeared in conjunction with official reviews of America's participation in four international sporting events held in 1955 and 1956: the 1955 Pan American Games in Mexico City, the 1956 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the 1956 Equestrian Games of the XVI Olympiad in Stockholm and the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne.

Patterson and Radix offered several recommendations in their report to future figure skating delegations sent to international sporting events, including an opening banquet so that skaters could become acquainted prior to competing against one another and adequate transportation arrangements to and from hotels and practice venues. The recommendation that almost made me spit java everywhere? "We had a pleasant airplane trip to London where the hockey team left us. We continued to Travisa, Italy, then by bus to Cortina. It was fine to have our entire team together with coaches, manager and parents, thus enabling the manager and coach to keep a sharp eye on the team and many pieces of luggage. This was the first time in the last three winter Olympic Games that the team travelled as one unit - which was a good arrangement and should be followed in the future if at all possible." The craziest part? The suggestion that all skaters travel on one airplane, though uncommon in America, was the norm in Europe at the time.

Passenger manifest of Swissair Flight 844 on February 20, 1957

The entire 1956 U.S. figure skating team had flown on a DC 6B operated Pan American World Airways from Idlewild Airport in New York through London to Italy's Traviso Airport. What Radix and Patterson neglected to mention in their report was the fact that that DC 6B flight had to make an emergency landing at the U.S. Military Airport in Stephenville, Newfoundland because of extremely bad weather. The fact they made it to Stephenville was a miracle in itself as the plane had tried to land in both London, Ontario and Gander, Newfoundland but was unable to do so. The 1956 U.S. Olympic figure skating team was delayed for four hours before conditions were safe enough for them to continue their journey. These facts were all brought to light in a detailed official transportation report about America's participation in the 1956 Winter Olympic Games penned by Amateur Athletic Union official Daniel J. Ferris.

One cannot fairly even consider placing a lick of blame on Patterson and Radix for their recommendation or Shumway or the USFSA for putting the entire U.S. figure skating team on one airplane five years later. I mean, who would have known? That said, reading that advice which was penned by two men whose opinions likely would have been taken into account by those in positions of influence at the USFSA at the time gave me chills. Hindsight's 20/20 and unfortunately, it took an unthinkable tragedy for figure skating federations worldwide to grasp the inherent risks of sending teams to international events together on the same plane and change travel policies.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The Sabena Aftermath, Part Two: Gertrude The Gallant

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

They say that no parent should ever have to bury their own child. Horrifically, as a result of the 1961 Sabena Crash that killed the entire U.S. figure skating team, not only did Gertrude Vinson have to bury her daughter... but also both of her granddaughters. However, her courageous story of perseverance during a time that would break most of us is one that so few really know.

Born July 22,1880 to Dr. Leander and Mary Belle Cliff, Gertrude Yerxa Cliff graduated from Radcliffe College, a women's liberal arts college in Massachusetts, magna cum laude in 1902. In her book "Advanced Figure Skating", Gertrude's famous daughter Maribel Vinson Owen recalled, "Mother... typified the skating belle of the outdoor rinks; the ponds, lakes and rivers. If fine 'black' ice were reported anywhere near, she would skip a class any day to pursue her merry course of Dutch rolls and great lilting strokes over miles of the local iceways. Sometimes, too, though she never tried a figure eight in her life, she would dance an ice 'valse' as it was then called." Gertrude skated regularly on the frozen Charles River and at the Cambridge Skating Club and it was on the ice that she met her husband, Thomas Melville Vinson, an accomplished skater who had gone head to head with the top Canadian skaters of his era in 'fancy' skating competitions. During World War I when their only child Maribel was but an infant, the happy couple joined the Skating Club Of Boston, taking lessons from a German coach named Herr Schmidt. They both soon warmed to the new International Style of skating and by the time Maribel started to compete, Gertrude was something of an expert in school figures despite never having done them herself.

In 1938, after Maribel had won an incredible fifteen gold medals at the U.S. Championships and an Olympic bronze medal, she married Canadian skater Guy Owen at Gertrude and Thomas' home 'the Locusts' in Winchester. Maribel and Guy gave her parents two granddaughters, Laurence and Maribel, who too went on to become U.S. Champions. Both Maribel's and Laurence, as we know all too well, sadly perished on that fateful plane crash in Belgium in 1961.

When news reached America of their deaths, Gertrude was ready to have breakfast. Her cousin Catherine Yerxa arrived and sat her down to eat but the phone kept ringing off the hook. Catherine told Gertrude that the plane had made a bad landing, and Dr. Hollis Albright (the father of 1956 Olympic Gold Medallist) and Gertrude's rector, Rev. Dr. John W. Ellison, stood outside the front door, debating how they'd break the news. Dr. Albright entered, gave her a sedative and told her there had been a crash. She asked, "Are they all dead? Tell me the truth. Don't keep anything from me." The doctor nodded yes. She reportedly responded, "I mustn't cry. My father told me I should never cry" and went upstairs to her bedroom.

Then something remarkable happened. In the midst of her grief, Gertrude took to the rink and became something of a fixture at the Skating Club Of Boston. She even began watching Maribel's former students and offering words of encouragement. Every gathering, every chance to be around others... she was there. In her wonderful book "Indelible Tracings", Patricia Shelley Bushman recalled, "The rink was the lifeline to her family. She always received lots of love and attention. In turn, many people visited her in her home and took care of her."

Dr. Hollis Albright recalled, "We were in a state of shock, frozen, not knowing which way or where to turn. It was Grammy who snapped us out of it. She did what all of us should have done. She turned her grief into something constructive - she started working with the young skaters. She is an amazing, marvellous creature. I have never seen anyone like her." Mrs. Louis Goldblatt said, "Grammy was out there every day hanging over the rails. She would examine the tracings with that sharp eye of hers, offer helpful hints and tell the kids what Maribel would have said." Reporter Will Grimsley noted that she moved "with the quickness of a 20-year-old", that she could "spot a flaw on a figure from 50 feet" and that she could "talk skating techniques with the best of them."

In her own words on her decision to come back and assist with her daughter's former students, Gertrude Vinson said in the "Spokesman-Review" that "Maribel wouldn't have wanted us to mope around and feel sorry for ourselves. She was one of the most vivacious persons I ever saw. Figure skating was her life. She would have said, 'Let's get up and get going'. That's what I intend to do."

Despite the support Gertrude received from members of the Skating Club Of Boston, the image painted by some contemporary journalists of her life in the wake of the Sabena crash was one of an isolated woman surrounded by sad memories. A February 11, 1962 article in the "Spokesman-Review" noted that she lived "alone with a Negro maid in the big onetime farm house, which has 14 rooms and six baths. Once the Vinson homestead sat in the middle of 62 heavily wooded acres but now all but four of those acres have been sold for home development. Inside, there is a small trophy room glistening with cups and medals won by her husband, Thomas M. Vinson, a lawyer who died in 1952 at the age of 84; by daughter Maribel, who for years was the chief rival of the great Sonja Henie, and more recently by her illustrious granddaughters. On one wall hangs a large, blown-up photograph of Maribel and daughters Laurence and Maribel, taken on the steps of the giant airliner moments before it took off from Ildewild on its ill-fated journey." However, other accounts noted her steadfastness, describing how she often got up at five in the morning and painted the interior of her massive brick and clapboard house without any help. Reflecting on her late husband's skating career, she told Will Grimsley, "He was a wonderful skater. Maribel was just like him. So were Laurence and little Maribel. I didn't skate competitively, but I could cover a pond in no time." On Maribel's silver medal finish behind three time Olympic Gold Medallist Sonja Henie at the 1928 World Championships in London, she remarked, "I would never say it, but others have said that Maribel should have won. Many people thought Sonja was a professional. She brought along a whole retinue of coaches and handlers with her. I only know that she was very cute, with those big flashing eyes and that turned-up nose. Nobody was going to beat her."

In the years following the tragedy as her health declined, members of the Skating Club Of Boston helped move Gertrude Vinson into a nursing home where she passed away at age eighty-nine on October 2, 1969. She is interred in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her daughter and granddaughters.

This woman's decision to not only go on when the world couldn't have been any darker but to go back to that rink and work with Maribel's students... it just gets you. I can tell you that if I was in her shoes, as much as I might have wanted to do it, I don't know if I could have. Brave is not the word! I think it was Will Grimsley who said it best: "While the load of her sorrow must have weighed like a ton on her frail, aging shoulders, Grammy, alone and her world shattered all around her, never once showed it."

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The Sabena Aftermath, Part One: An Unlikely Comeback

One question I always seem to get asked is why I haven't really covered the 1961 plane crash that tragically claimed the lives of the entire U.S. figure skating team. Well, there's honestly a great reason. Between the "RISE" documentary, Patricia Shelley Bushman's excellent books "Indelible Tracings" and "Indelible Images" and countless other sources, this extremely sad event has been documented extensively - and really well - already. That said, there were three particularly fascinating tales that stemmed from the aftermath of that horrific event that I have always wanted to delve into and in this three-part series, I aim to do just that. The first is the 1962 comeback of Olympic and World Medallist Barbara Roles Williams.

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

Skating somewhat in the shadow of Olympic Gold Medallist Carol Heiss Jenkins for much of her career, Barbara won the U.S. novice title in 1956, the U.S. junior title in 1958 and then the following two years, the bronze and silver medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships before her international successes during the 1959/1960 season. Coached by Nancy Rush and hailing from Temple City, California, Barbara married her first husband (a hairdresser) after retiring from the sport in 1960 and was then known as Barbara Roles-Pursley. The following June, she gave birth to daughter Shelley. Incredibly, just when the future of U.S. ladies skating couldn't have looked bleaker the new mother launched a comeback effort like no other, returning to competitive skating in top form at the age of twenty in time to compete in the 1962 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Boston, the first Nationals since the Sabena tragedy.

Back in 1962, the compulsory figures accounted for sixty percent of the final score and the free skating for forty, so success for Barbara in the initial phase of the event in Boston was paramount. however a controversy over the start time of the competition on Friday, February 2, 1962 almost dashed her comeback effort. After the skaters had left the rink after practicing Thursday night, officials changed the start time from 12:30 PM to noon and although all of the senior women's competitors staying at one hotel were notified, Roles-Pursley was not. In Patricia Shelley Bushman's book, Barbara remarked on her late arrival which sparked quite the controversy as to whether or not she should have been allowed to compete: "Most people treated me fine, but there were a couple of people that were not too kind because they wanted Lorraine Hanlon to win. For instance, the referee. The night before they changed the starting time - they put a newspaper clipping over it. I wasn't late for the regular time. I was late for the time change. They didn't call and tell me. I came in a taxi (the running-out-of-gas story was false). When I arrived they were starting to warm up. They let me skate because somebody else showed the referee that it was posted underneath and was not out in plain view. There was only one official that yelled at me, but he died of a dreadful disease." I love it!

Barbara Roles Pursley and Lorraine Hanlon at the 1962 U.S. Championships. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Ultimately, Barbara had the last laugh. The February 3, 1962 edition of "The Bulletin" explained, "Mrs. Barbara Roles Pursley, a 20-year old California mother, took the lead in the featured senior ladies' class but still had to contend with a brace of teen-agers, Canadian native Frances Gold, now of Norwalk, Conn. and local favorite Lorraine Hanlon, 16, of Boston." Further, "The Spokesman-Review" of the same date noted she accomplished this "while her 7-months-old daughter snoozed peacefully in a corner of the Boston Skating Club rink (and) received only one first place vote from the five judges but had two second place votes and no vote below third." After a whopping six figures were completed, Pursley lead not only Gold (the daughter of coach Otto Gold, a Canadian citizen who was given special permission to compete as she had taken out U.S. citizenship papers) and Hanlon but Minneapolis' Victoria Fisher, Philadelphia's Lynn Thomas, New York's Carol S. Noir and Seattle's Karen Howland, who was forced to withdraw after being diagnosed by Tenley Albright's father with a paralytic condition known as Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Although Barbara had only one first place vote, her eleven ordinal points to Gold's fifteen gave her a healthy advantage leading into the free skate competition that was held on Sunday, February 4, 1962.

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

Her lead in figures was commanding enough that the February 3, 1962 edition of the "St. Petersburg Times" reported that she had "virtually clinched the senior national figure skating championship by virtue of her performance in the school designs" before the free skating segment of the event had even been held. The February 5, 1962 edition of the "Daytona Beach Morning Journal" described Roles-Pursley's free skate in Boston thusly: "A capacity crowd of 4,000 cheered wildly as Mrs. Pursley, dressed in devil red cashmere with a bejewelled neck, spun, pirouetted and leaped through a sparkling repertoire to the tune of three Italian operas. Mrs. Pursley, ranked one of the world's outstanding free skaters, was more daring and more acrobatic in her four minute routine than her two main competitors. Miss Gold's number was a mixture of artistic and athletic while Miss Hanlon's freestyle exhibition was of a ballet nature, smooth and graceful with a minimum of jerky breaks in the routine." In the end, it was the 1960 Olympic Bronze Medallist who became the first senior ladies champion from west of Philadelphia to win the U.S. title that year, with Hanlon second and Gold dropped from second to fourth place overall with Fisher claiming the bronze medal.

Explaining the ultimate reasons for her decision to come back to competition in 1962 in the "Spokesman-Review," Barbara said, "I shudder when I think how close I came to being on that plane. I was training for the world championships when I suddenly decided to get married. The accident was only partly responsible for my decision to try a comeback. The main reason was that I love skating - and I just got restless." Following her win in Boston, the California skater headed to the World Championships in Prague (the same European city that was slated to host the 1961 event before its cancellation) and finished an impressive fifth out of twenty one competitors. Following that event, she would again retire from competition. She had her second child later that year and toured with Ice Capades before moving on to an incredibly successful coaching career. Among her many students were Brian Pockar, Lisa-Marie Allen, Scott Williams, Wendy Burge and Vikki de Vries.

The return of a young mother to competition against all odds in an uncertain time in American figure skating to such incredible success is like something straight out of a movie to me... but the resilience that so many showed during this trying time is just something that tugs at your heartstrings.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Patinage Poetry: The Language Of The Ice (Part Six)

How doth I love skating? Let me count the ways... Just prior to the Sochi Olympics, I put together the blog's first collection of poetry about skating called "Patinage Poetry: The Language Of The Ice". The topic of skating poetry has recurred often on the blog, in "Georg Heym: The Skating Prophet" and "Canada's Valentine" and the second, third, fourth and fith editions of "Patinage Poetry". Guess what? I just can't get enough! The sixth part of this collection is jam packed full of wonderful gems from Williams Haynes and Joseph LeRoy Harrison's 1919 collection "Winter Sports Verse". Put on your beret and get ready to snap afterwards for another fabulous collection of historical skating poetry.

"THE CHAMPION SKATER" BY A.G. SHIELL (DEDICATED TO GEORGE MEAGHER)

Behold the champion of the world appear,
Equipped his feet with blades of gleaming steel;
As Hermes light, he of winged heel,
Or, graceful as Apollo Belvedere,
He skims the gelid surface of the mere;
Swift as across the tarn the started teal
In noiseless flight he circles wheel on wheel.

In sable garb upon the water frore,
Is this we see a disembodied shade
From some remotest planet earthly strayed,
Thither escaped from the Stygian shore;
Or a creature of a more ethereal mould,
And by terrestrial matter uncontrolled?

"THE SKATER'S SONG" BY REV. EPHRAIM PEABODY

Away! away! - our fires stream bright
Along the frozen river,
And their arrowy sparkles of brilliant light
On the forest branches quiver;
Away, away, for the stars are forth,
And on the pure snows of the valley,
In giddy trance the moonbeams dance;
Come let us our comrades rally.

Away, away, o'er the sheeted ice,
Away, away, we go;
On our steel-bound feet we moved as fleet
As deer o'er the Lapland snow.
What though the sharp north winds are out,
The skater heeds them not;
Midst the laugh and shout of the joyous rout
Gray winter is forgot.

'Tis a pleasant sight, the joyous throng
In the light of the reddening flame,
While with many a wheel on the ringing steel
They rage in their riotous game;
And though the night-air cutteth keen,
And the white moon shineth coldly,
Their homes I ween, on the hills have been;
They should breast the strong blast boldy.

Let others choose more gentle sports,
By the side of the winter's hearth,
Or at the ball, or the festival,
Seek for their share of mirth;
But as for me, away, away,
Where the merry skaters be;
Where the fresh wind blows, and the smooth ice glows,
There is the place for me.

"O'ER CRACKLING ICE" BY SAMUEL JOHNSON

O'er crackling ice, o'er gulphs profound,
With nimble glide the skaiters play;
O'er treacherous pleasure's flow'ry ground
Thus lightly skim, and haste away.

"TEACHING A GIRL TO SKATE" BY THOMAS WINTHROP HALL

Oh, there's nothing in all the world so fine
As teaching a girl to skate;
There's the going up to her house to dine,
And the taking her home quite late;

There's the clamping of skates on her dainty shoes,
And it takes so long a while
That she calls you several times a 'goose' -
And you do not make denial.

There's the frightened grasp of her hand, in haste,
And her dear little shrieks and calls;
There's the putting your arm round her slender waist,
And the picking her up when she falls.

"MONTREAL CARNIVAL SPORTS" BY GEORGE MARTIN

The Frost-King sat on a throne of snow,
On a plain in the Royal Isle:
In his hand a sceptre of ice he bore,
On his brow a crown of ice he wore,
And his face was set in a holiday smile,
When he bade the carnival trumpet blow
For the famous Sports to begin.
The voluble hills returned the din
In echoes that travelled o'er many a mile ;
O'er the broad St. Lawrence to St. Helen's Isle,
To the sounding rapids of old Lachine,
To the Boucherville woods with their tufts of green,
And the peaceful hamlets that smiled between.
A multitude vast as the waves of the sea,
When Tritons rejoice that the winds are free,
People from far off Southern lands,
Where the eagle exults on outspread vans,
People who came from the prairied West,
And pine-clad East, and numbers untold
Of natives who laughed at the teeth of the cold
Were there for a gala- day, threefold blest.
The trumpeter wight was an Arctic sprite,
Whose limbs were lank and whose locks were white,
And when he had blown with all his might,
The Frost-King raised his sceptre high,
When it flashed all the lights of a boreal sky,
And thus, in accents of festive tone,
He welcomed the guests who encircled his throne :
"Friends! who have journeyed far to share
The verve of our Canadian air,
Greeting and love to all.
'Tis wise to lay aside each heavy care
And all the petty ills that do enthral,
To find in ampler scope this lusty joy,
This social amity, where no alloy
Of turbid passion mingles with the gold
Of kindly fellowship:
Where harmony betwixt the heart and lip
Its primal sanctity delights to hold.
Pleasure is native to the heart of man,
Here let it freely flow ;
Here let an ocean tide of gladness roll,
Here where no tyrant's interdict can ban
The sacred glow
That freedom kindles in the human soul.
Now let the Sports begin, and first
Let youths and maids who stand athirst
For Canada's supreme sensation,
For motion's wild intoxication,
Launch from yon hills their swift Toboggans.
Behold, upon the utmost crest,
How democratic Jones and Scroggins
With Lords and Ladies freely jest.
Blow, trumpet, blow !
The signal sound how well they know!
Down, down they plunge, what frantic speed!
No lightning-shod celestial steed
E'er swifter clove the azure air
Than headlong down the polished slide
Those young athletes and damsels ride,
Obedient to the trumpet's blare
Like foamy waves that seek the shore,
When red-mouthed storms behind them roar,
Like avalanches loosed from high,
Like meteors rushing down the sky,
They spurn the steep, they leap, they fly,
Till on the flats in bubbling joy they pour.
A Sport of more elastic grace
Now claims from us its honoured place.
Again, my merry sprite,
The trumpet sound, and let the night
In starry azure veil the face
Of Earth, enrobed in purest white.
The signal blast the Skaters know,
And eagerly with cheeks aglow,
Their costumes varied as the flowers
And blossoms that the Summer hours
On all the sunny lands bestow
They skim in joy the crystal floor,
So full their bliss they ask no more.
In sooth it is a goodly show,
Twice twenty hundred twinkling feet
In fairy flight, advance, retreat
Whilst others, more ambitious still,
In loops and scrolls assert their skill.
The Champion of a hundred rinks,
Behold him there ! his bosom mailed
With trophies rich ; what fancy jinks
Those lithe, light limbs that never failed!
What complicated, airy links
They weave, as weaves a spider's feet!
Till tip-toe wonder, stares and winks,
And plauding hands his triumphs greet.
What ho ! what means yon wild array,
In blanket-coats and sashes gay,
With red fire armed, that wind this way?
Stretching afar for many a mile,
Hither they haste in Indian file,
Ha ! Ha ! the rebel horde I know;
Blow, Trumpeter, the trumpet blow!
To arms! the Snowshoe host have sworn
To storm our castle walls, this morn
A faithful courier warning gave;
Defiant let our war-flag wave!
And you, my guests, remain in sight,
Spectators of the weirdest fight
That ever shook the vault of night.
To arms our veterans! man the walls,
Receive them with a million balls
Of roaring flame, with dart and brand,
And serpents that no mortal hand
Can parry ; let our trusty Pinch,
Who never has been known to flinch,
Protect the gates j our princely friend,
Great Zero, shall in wrath defend
The turrets and the loop-holed walls;
Let Blizzard a tremendous power
In fury guard the centre tower;
And Coldsnap, thine the task to shower
With fiery hail and blistering squalls,
And cannonade of burning snow
From every point the reeling foe!
The rebels advance with a shout and a cheer
But they reck not the might of that spectral host,
Each warrior chieftain a blood-freezing ghost,
Who answered their mirth with a jeer.
Strange voices such sounds as the winter winds make
When lattice and casement they wrench at and shake,
Were heard in those halls ;
And such terrible calls
As made the most valiant assailant to quake.
The castle, a lucent volcano, emits
An ocean of flame on the heads of the foe,
They waver they stagger they lose their five wits,
And print their appalling defeat in the snow.
Short, sharp and decisive the battle no breach
In that marvellous structure the rebels could reach.
To the mountain, abashed, bearing torches, they fled,
Oppressed with the weight of their wounded and dead.
The Frost- King, no longer enveloped in wrath,
With pity surveyed their laborious path;
And then, to the multitude bending, he said :
What folly, what ingratitude !
To think with such rebellious war
This wonder of the world to mar!
This temple that in mist and flood
And cataract in embryo slept,
Till near this Royal Island crept
The fluent particles, on which
I breathed and wedded each to each,
And made the solid lustre rich
In dazzling beauty, fit to reach
And rival, in these gleaming spires,
The loveliness of astral fires,
The mellow radiance of the moon.
Ah! whether late or soon
We with our retinue depart,
Is there a single human heart
Will mourn our exit ? Shall we not
Some few months hence be quite forgot?
If even so, another year,
With equal pleasure, equal cheer,
King Frost shall hold his court, we wot,
And meet your warmest welcome here.

"SKATING SONG" BY CORA ISABEL WARBURTON

Moon so bright,
Stars alight,
Clouds adance, adance;
Snow of night,
Fleecy white,
Silver ice agleam, aglance.
High, hey, high, hey,
Skimming the smooth, bright way,
High, hey, high, hey,
Over the ice away.

Cheeks so bright,
Face alight,
Heart adance, adance;
Eyes of night,
Brow of white,
Silver skates agleam, aglance.
High, hey, high, hey,
Skimming the smooth, bright way,
High, hey, high, hey,
Over the ice away.

"SHE SKATES ALONE" BY PHILIP VERRILL MIGHELS

She skates alone, and swift as swallows fly
She skims and glides until she seems a shy,
Fleet winter nymph, for whose bewitching sake
The frosty gnomes the glittering mirrors make
All glassy smooth. And ah! a yearnsome sigh
Escapes from scores of swains, who far and nigh
To win the slightest notice vainly try,
With fancy curves and fine, as o'er the lake,
She skates alone.

But ah! they fail that with her muff would vie
To hold her hand. They little dream that I
Alone the place of warming furs may take,
And merely sit upon the shore and shake
Because I never skate - and that is why
She skates alone.

"SKATER" BY GORDON MARTIN

When the frigid hand of winter froze the surface of the lake,
old McGinley did some talking and he made a big mistake.
He declared he was a skater who was far and wide renowned,
and he bragged of phony honours when the youngsters gathered 'round.
Thus he found himself in trouble when the kids procured some skates,
and demanded that he show them how to do some figure eights.

Now McGinley, even with a youth, was not a skater bold,
And he soon found out, upon the ice his feet were uncontrolled.
But the kids demanded action and they shoved him out in front,
in the hope that old McGinley could perform a fancy stunt.
Then he staggered and he slithered 'cross the floor of glassy ice,
and for all his blatant brags, he had to pay an awful price.

For 'twas then the children organized a game of crack-the-whip,
and McGinley soon was flying at a mile-a-minute clip,
But he lost his hold and slipped and fell, a-slidin' on his face,
and he ended in a bank of snow - the picture of disgrace.
Now McGinley, bruised and battered boasts no more of figure eights,
and there's no amount of money that could get the guy on skates.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.