Few people, I suspect, know that there is another, older, Strathcona Cup. We are endebted to Jill Stewart of Oban Curling Club, who notes in an email:

‘You might be interested to know that the Strathcona Cup ( Scotland v Canada ) is not the only trophy with that name, nor is it the oldest.

We, at Oban Curling Club, are custodians of a fine solid silver trophy: The Strathcona Challenge Cup, presented by Donald Alexander Baron Strathcona & Mount Royal of Glencoe to the Glencoe & Ballachulish Curling Club, to be played for in annual competition with the Oban, Appin, Ardgour and Fort William Curling Clubs.

The trophy is dated 1900. It is 22 and a half inches high including the base and comes in a specially made wooden box. Like its namesake, it is too valuable to keep in display and it is held in safe custody in the Bank, except for once a year a competition is held with Oban, Lochaber, Inveraray and Glenorchy curling clubs competing for the Strathcona Challenge Cup.’

A picture of the cup is shown opposite.