Perhaps the highlight of Tuesday’s curling at the Simcoe Curling Club was the stacking of the brooms.

It’s a tradition during the Strathcona Cup, which is played every five years alternating between Canada and Scotland since 1903, for curlers to take a short break midway through their eight-end games.

“Back in the day, outside, the brooms were always stacked like this,” said Scottish second Ian Duffin, a member of the club council from the Broomhall Curling Club, which was founded by Victor Alexander, the 9^th Earl of Elgin in 1880, in the Fife region, north of Edinburgh.

“You stack the brooms, halfway, come off the ice, and share a dram… it’s as simple as that,” said Duffin, who was playing on a team with skip Neil Murray, third James Young and lead Drew Paton. “It’s a very Scottish tradition. A good single malt whisky.”