Mouswald Curling Club medal (2)

"Presented to the Mouswald Curling Club by the Right Rev John Gillespie LLD.  The Moderator's Medal 1903 - 1904".   The Right Reverend John Gillespie was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.  He was a local man, born at Annanbank in the parish of Johnstone.   During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries curling was Scotland's national game.  It was organised on a parish basis because road travel was difficult at the best of times and particularly so during good curling weather. Matches were generally played with neighbouring parishes, although even this could involve the participants walking long distances in hazardous conditions.   By the early 1800s many of the parishes of Dumfries and Galloway had curling clubs, often with their own medals and trophies.