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Figure Skating · Interesting Facts

Chapter 1: Skating Before the Sport

10 parts · 10 tests · 100 facts · updated 20 October 2026 · markdown

Skating before it was a sport: bone skates, the Low Countries, frost fairs on the Thames, paintings, royals, the first rinks and clubs, skating in books, the skate makers and the racers of the Fens.

1.11Bone Skates

Cattle shinbones under the feet: the London finds, FitzStephen's account of 1173 and why skating may have begun in Finland.

Test 1Skates made of boneTake a test

  1. The London Museum holds a 12th-century bone skate, about 245 mm long, of exactly that kind.

    Source: London Museum, collection object A1637, bone skate (12th century), with FitzStephen's account of 1173 · recall

  2. The museum notes that the marsh outside the northern wall was called the Moor, or Moorfields.

    Source: London Museum, collection object A1637, bone skate (12th century), with FitzStephen's account of 1173 · recall

  3. Striking the spike on the ice, he wrote, sent them along as fast as a flying bird.

    Source: London Museum, collection object A1637, bone skate (12th century), with FitzStephen's account of 1173 · recall

  4. Players used their poles to knock each other off their feet.

    Source: Fordham University, Medieval London: Objects, Ice skates (medievallondon.ace.fordham.edu) · recall

  5. Some finds have no holes at all, so their owners may simply have balanced on the bone.

    Source: Fordham University, Medieval London: Objects, Ice skates (medievallondon.ace.fordham.edu) · recall

  6. No region has more lakes per 100 square kilometres; in its model, bone skates saved about a tenth of a winter traveller's energy there.

    Source: Wiley-Blackwell on Formenti and Minetti, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (ScienceDaily, 26 December 2007) · recall

  7. Bone is already fatty, so ice and water seldom stuck to it; extra fat helped when they did.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, The origin of skating (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  8. About 3000 BC, then 1173, about 1240 and 1555, when bone-runner races of 5 to 8 km were still held.

    Source: ScienceDaily 2007 (Formenti and Minetti); London Museum A1637; Schaatshistorie.nl, The first wooden skates and The origin of skating · recall

  9. The energy figures from the rink fed a computer model, and the model's results pointed to Finland.

    Source: Wiley-Blackwell on Formenti and Minetti, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (ScienceDaily, 26 December 2007) · recall

  10. Finland stood out at about 10 per cent; for other northern European countries the saving was about 1 per cent.

    Source: Wiley-Blackwell on Formenti and Minetti, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (ScienceDaily, 26 December 2007) · applied

1.12The Low Countries on Ice

The first wooden skates, the Dutch word for a skate, Saint Lidwina and the Elfstedentocht.

Test 1Skating in the Low CountriesTake a test

  1. The Amsterdam skate is dated to about 1240 and the one from the Groenmarkt dig to about 1280.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, The first wooden skates (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  2. The meaning of a skate arrived in the late 1500s, as Middle Dutch gave way to New Dutch.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, The word 'skate' (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  3. Leeuwarden is the traditional start and finish, with Sneek, Stavoren, Harlingen and Dokkum on the way.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Elfstedentocht: the tour of tours (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  4. A friend coming fast could not slow down, held on to her, and the fourteen-year-old fell onto broken floes.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Lidwina of Schiedam: on skates or on pattens? (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  5. The word in Jan Brugman's text is sandalia, so the picture probably shows the skates of its own time.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, The word 'skate' (schaatshistorie.nl); Stichting Schaatshistorie, Lidwina of Schiedam: on skates or on pattens? (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  6. A thaw had spoilt the ice around Harlingen and Bolsward by noon; Minne Hoekstra, a theology student, won.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Elfstedentocht: the tour of tours (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  7. Pim Mulier provided the memorial cross for the skaters who finished.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Elfstedentocht: the tour of tours (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  8. 1909, 1941, 1956 and 1997; the five of 1956 got finishers' crosses rather than gold medals.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Elfstedentocht: the tour of tours (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  9. Around 1395, then 1498, then 1599, when schaetse appeared beside schoverlinck and schaverdijne.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Lidwina of Schiedam: on skates or on pattens? (schaatshistorie.nl); Stichting Schaatshistorie, The word 'skate' (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  10. Lenie van der Hoorn of Ter Aar in 1985; there had been no competition for women before then.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Elfstedentocht: the tour of tours (schaatshistorie.nl) · applied

1.13Frost Fairs on the Thames

The great frost of 1683-84, the last fair of 1814, and what Londoners did and bought on the frozen river.

Test 1Fairs on the frozen ThamesTake a test

  1. He crossed from Westminster stairs, and that evening walked back over the ice to the Horse-ferry.

    Source: The Diary of John Evelyn, volumes 1 and 2 (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  2. The day and year were printed with each name, and the printer was said to take five pounds a day.

    Source: The Diary of John Evelyn, volumes 1 and 2 (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  3. Horse and coach races, puppet plays and sledges were there too; he called it a carnival on the water.

    Source: The Diary of John Evelyn, volumes 1 and 2 (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  4. He wrote that the sooty steam of sea-coal filled the air and made it hard to breathe.

    Source: The Diary of John Evelyn, volumes 1 and 2 (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  5. Royal Museums Greenwich holds a print of the fair off Three Cranes Wharf, near Blackfriars.

    Source: London Museum, frost-fair keepsake A9395/5 and broadside A23136 (February 1814); Royal Museums Greenwich, PAH9908 and PAH9909, prints of the 1814 Thames frost fair · recall

  6. Names and messages were set inside ready-made borders and sold as keepsakes for a few pennies.

    Source: London Museum, frost-fair keepsake A9395/5 and broadside A23136 (February 1814) · recall

  7. The fairs delighted most Londoners and the stallholders but were, the museum says, a disaster for the port.

    Source: Royal Museums Greenwich, PAH9908 and PAH9909, prints of the 1814 Thames frost fair · recall

  8. The entries run from 6 January to 5 February 1684, when most booths had been taken down.

    Source: The Diary of John Evelyn, volumes 1 and 2 (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  9. The painting dates from 1684, the book's title page from 5 February 1814, the demolition from 1831.

    Source: London Museum, object 49.80 (Hondius, 1684) and broadside A23136 (1814); Royal Museums Greenwich, PAH9908 · recall

  10. B is 1684. A is 1662, when Evelyn found the Thames frozen, C the last fair of 1814 and D the bridge's demolition.

    Source: The Diary of John Evelyn, volumes 1 and 2 (Project Gutenberg); Royal Museums Greenwich, PAH9908 and PAH9909, prints of the 1814 Thames frost fair · applied

1.14Skating in Paintings

Bruegel, Avercamp, Gilbert Stuart and the Skating Minister: the ice in the galleries.

Test 1Skaters in old paintingsTake a test

  1. He made it a genre of its own shortly after 1600, drawing on Bruegel's winter scenes of the 1560s.

    Source: Rijksmuseum, Hendrick Avercamp (rijksmuseum.nl, Dutch masters story) · recall

  2. He was born in Amsterdam and grew up in Kampen, in Overijssel.

    Source: Rijksmuseum, Hendrick Avercamp (rijksmuseum.nl, Dutch masters story) · recall

  3. Skaters fall, sledges haul loads and crows pick at a dead horse in this seek-and-find of a picture.

    Source: Rijksmuseum, Hendrick Avercamp (rijksmuseum.nl, Dutch masters story) · recall

  4. His ice is busy and bright, and the fun on it always matters more than the weather.

    Source: Rijksmuseum, Hendrick Avercamp (rijksmuseum.nl, Dutch masters story) · recall

  5. The museum reads it as an allegory: birds stood for souls, and the trap for the devil's temptations.

    Source: Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Bruegel, Winter Landscape with Skaters and Bird Trap (1565), on Google Arts & Culture · recall

  6. It was his first full-length portrait and ended five years as Benjamin West's pupil; it was later taken for a Gainsborough.

    Source: National Gallery of Art, Gilbert Stuart, The Skater (Portrait of William Grant), 1950.18.1 · recall

  7. The National Galleries of Scotland bought the picture in 1949; it hangs as a Raeburn of about 1795.

    Source: National Galleries of Scotland, Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, NG 2112 · recall

  8. 1565, about 1608, 1782 and about 1795.

    Source: Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Bruegel, 1565); Rijksmuseum (Avercamp); National Gallery of Art 1950.18.1; National Galleries of Scotland NG 2112 · recall

  9. The Royal Academy showed it in 1782 and again in 1878; the sale to Washington came in 1950.

    Source: National Gallery of Art, Gilbert Stuart, The Skater (Portrait of William Grant), 1950.18.1 · recall

  10. Stuart's canvas is 245.5 by 147.4 cm; Bruegel's panel, the Skating Minister and Hondius's fair are far smaller.

    Source: National Gallery of Art 1950.18.1; Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Bruegel, 1565); National Galleries of Scotland NG 2112; London Museum 49.80 · applied

1.15Royals on Ice

Charles II's court at the new canal, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Frogmore, a prince dressed as Winter and a tsar on the Neva.

Test 1Kings, queens and the iceTake a test

  1. He marvelled at how fast they went and how suddenly they could stop in full career.

    Source: The Diary of John Evelyn, volumes 1 and 2 (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  2. Iron skates, a note to Pepys's diary adds, came to England from the Dutch along with their name.

    Source: The Diary of John Evelyn, volumes 1 and 2 (Project Gutenberg); The Diary of Samuel Pepys, 1 December 1662 (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  3. A great frost had set in, and a week later he went back to the park to watch them again.

    Source: The Diary of Samuel Pepys, 1 December 1662 (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  4. She wrote that she had never been on the ice before.

    Source: Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 605929, with Queen Victoria's journal for 30 December 1840 · recall

  5. He had a fall during the game but, she noted, got up again directly.

    Source: Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 605929, with Queen Victoria's journal for 30 December 1840 · recall

  6. The prince, later Edward VII, wore a long white beard for the Tableaux of the Seasons at Windsor Castle.

    Source: Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 2900030, the Prince of Wales as Winter (Roger Fenton, 10 February 1854) · recall

  7. Ice parties on the Neva in St Petersburg followed the American skater's visit.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  8. 1662, 1840, 1854 and 1875, when the train was carrying the Prince of Wales to Sandringham.

    Source: Diary of John Evelyn; Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 605929 and RCIN 2900030; Museum of Cambridge, The History of Fen Skating · recall

  9. She walked up and down while Albert and the others skated and played.

    Source: Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 605929, with Queen Victoria's journal for 30 December 1840 · recall

  10. B is 1840. A is the canal skating of 1662, C Fenton's photograph of 1854 and D the stopped train of 1875.

    Source: Diary of John Evelyn; Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 605929 and RCIN 2900030; Museum of Cambridge, The History of Fen Skating · applied

1.16Early Rinks

The Glaciarium of 1876 and the rink before it, and how New York's parks went from frozen lakes to artificial ice.

Test 1The first rinksTake a test

  1. It began in a canvas tent off the Kings Road and later moved to larger premises on the same road.

    Source: Guinness World Records, First ice rink (the Glaciarium, 1876); International Institute of Refrigeration, FRIDOC record 2006-2075 on the Glaciarium and John Gamgee · recall

  2. Born in Italy, he also worked on a refrigerated hospital ship, the institute notes.

    Source: Guinness World Records, First ice rink (the Glaciarium, 1876); International Institute of Refrigeration, FRIDOC record 2006-2075 on the Glaciarium and John Gamgee · recall

  3. He adapted it for skating: copper pipes carried a chilled mixture under the floor and water froze on top.

    Source: Guinness World Records, First ice rink (the Glaciarium, 1876) · recall

  4. It was less of a success than the later Glaciarium, which at least did not smell of lard.

    Source: Guinness World Records, First ice rink (the Glaciarium, 1876) · recall

  5. Alpine scenes on the walls and a minstrels' gallery could not keep the public interested.

    Source: Guinness World Records, First ice rink (the Glaciarium, 1876) · recall

  6. Skaters used it before the park was finished, and it was drained to a level that froze more easily.

    Source: NYC Parks, The History of Ice Skating in New York City Parks (nycgovparks.org) · recall

  7. Skating on park ponds was so popular in the 19th century that the signal became a city tradition.

    Source: NYC Parks, The History of Ice Skating in New York City Parks (nycgovparks.org) · recall

  8. 1841, 1876, the World's Fair of 1939-40 and 1950; Kate Wollman gave $600,000 for the Central Park rink.

    Source: Guinness World Records, First ice rink (the Glaciarium, 1876); NYC Parks, The History of Ice Skating in New York City Parks (nycgovparks.org) · recall

  9. Before the 1870s, 1920, 1950 and the World's Fair of 1964-65.

    Source: NYC Parks, The History of Ice Skating in New York City Parks (nycgovparks.org) · recall

  10. A is the first tent floor of about 16 by 24 feet; B is the longer room of 40 by 24 feet.

    Source: Guinness World Records, First ice rink (the Glaciarium, 1876) · applied

1.17Skating Clubs of the 1800s

North America's first skating club and its rescue work, the Edinburgh society, the Viennese club and the red jackets of Paris.

Test 1The first skating clubsTake a test

  1. Its members skated on the frozen rivers and lakes around Philadelphia.

    Source: Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, Club history (pschs.org) · recall

  2. That society was organised in 1770 to save people from drowning; the skaters took on its duties.

    Source: Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, Club history (pschs.org) · recall

  3. The change came on 28 February 1861, twelve years after the skaters' club was founded.

    Source: Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, Club history (pschs.org) · recall

  4. The Ardmore rink opened in 1938 and was later enlarged for skating all year round.

    Source: Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, Club history (pschs.org) · recall

  5. From 1923 to 1945 the club's members won 16 national titles.

    Source: Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, Club history (pschs.org) · recall

  6. The galleries call it the oldest club of its kind in Britain; the Skating Minister was a member.

    Source: National Galleries of Scotland, Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, NG 2112 · recall

  7. Haines added figures such as the sit spin and designed a skate that artistic skaters used for decades.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  8. 1770, 1849, 1861 and 1924, at the Philadelphia Ice Palace; it hosted them again in 1934.

    Source: Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, Club history (pschs.org) · recall

  9. The Schuylkill River served it into the early 1900s, the Ice Palace from 1910 and Ardmore from 1938.

    Source: Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, Club history (pschs.org) · recall

  10. The red-jacketed club loved skating as an art; its member J. Garcin published Le Vrai Patineur in 1812.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl) · applied

1.18Skating in Books

Hans Brinker's silver skates, Mr Pickwick on the ice, Amy March in the river, Levin and Kitty, Wordsworth's boyhood and the first skating manual.

Test 1Skating on the pageTake a test

  1. The girls are the first to hear of the match, and of skates with straps, silver bells and buckles.

    Source: Mary Mapes Dodge, Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  2. Hans's little sister, who skated on worn-out shoes, flies over the ice to take the prize.

    Source: Mary Mapes Dodge, Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  3. Peter has cut his own strap nearly in two while making a new hole; with Hans's strap he goes on to win.

    Source: Mary Mapes Dodge, Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  4. An impostor too, Pickwick adds, after having Sam Weller take the skates off.

    Source: Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, chapter XXX (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  5. Laurie lies flat and holds her up while Jo drags a rail from the fence, in chapter eight.

    Source: Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, chapter VIII (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  6. Kitty's cousin greets him there as the first skater in Russia and tells him to put his skates on.

    Source: Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, Part One (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  7. Levin nearly falls at the bottom, recovers, and skates off laughing while Kitty watches.

    Source: Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, Part One (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  8. After the crack only his hat, gloves and handkerchief were left floating on the water.

    Source: Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, chapter XXX (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  9. Their games on the ice copied a hunt, with the horn, the pack and the hare.

    Source: William Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book First (Project Gutenberg) · recall

  10. The lieutenant of artillery closes his chapters with the figure of a heart, after the flying Mercury.

    Source: Robert Jones, A Treatise on Skating, London 1772 (Internet Archive scan of the first edition) · applied

1.19Skate Makers of the Past

From village smiths to factories: Sheffield and John Wilson, Remscheid, Philadelphia's first all-metal skate and a clamp from Halifax.

Test 1Who made the skatesTake a test

  1. Skate making in North America grew from about 1850, and speed skates followed after the 1880s.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  2. Skating had reached Canada with the British, after they took French Nova Scotia in 1713.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  3. Its factories sold mainly to other European countries and North America.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  4. Fen skates were still forged by village blacksmiths at the same time.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  5. It says she reportedly asked for them for herself and her husband, and calls Wilson a royal toolmaker.

    Source: National Trust Collections, NT 82656, skating boots marked John Wilson, Marsden Bros & Co, Sheffield · recall

  6. The record belongs to brown leather skating boots of about 1900-1930, marked John Wilson, Marsden Bros & Co.

    Source: National Trust Collections, NT 82656, skating boots marked John Wilson, Marsden Bros & Co, Sheffield · recall

  7. His son Minne, a theology student, won the 200 km tour on 2 January 1909.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Elfstedentocht: the tour of tours (schaatshistorie.nl) · recall

  8. 1551, 1848, 1865 and 1896.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, The word 'skate' (schaatshistorie.nl); Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl); National Trust Collections, NT 82656, skating boots marked John Wilson, Marsden Bros & Co, Sheffield · recall

  9. The Haynes firm bought the combined business in 1898 and by 1914 made skates, edge tools and saws.

    Source: National Trust Collections, NT 82656, skating boots marked John Wilson, Marsden Bros & Co, Sheffield · recall

  10. A is a bone runner, B a wooden skate with an iron, C a skate made wholly of metal and D a modern boot.

    Source: Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl); Stichting Schaatshistorie, The first wooden skates (schaatshistorie.nl) · applied

1.20Fen Skating

Races for money and mutton in the Fens, the Smarts of Welney, skaters against a train and the association founded in Cambridge.

Test 1Racing in the FensTake a test

  1. The prize money was twenty guineas on the first day and fifty on the second.

    Source: Museum of Cambridge, Capturing Cambridge: The History of Fen Skating (8 September 2021) · recall

  2. About £10 was at stake, half to the winner, when a farm labourer earned eleven shillings a week.

    Source: Museum of Cambridge, Capturing Cambridge: The History of Fen Skating (8 September 2021) · recall

  3. He had seven seconds to spare.

    Source: Museum of Cambridge, Capturing Cambridge: The History of Fen Skating (8 September 2021) · recall

  4. Prizes could be food: a joint of meat hung outside a pub stood for the next day's race.

    Source: Museum of Cambridge, Capturing Cambridge: The History of Fen Skating (8 September 2021) · recall

  5. The Cambridge journalist James Drake Digby sat on its founding committee.

    Source: Museum of Cambridge, Capturing Cambridge: The History of Fen Skating (8 September 2021) · recall

  6. From 1880 to 1933 most championship meetings were held at Swavesey or Lingay Fen.

    Source: Museum of Cambridge, Capturing Cambridge: The History of Fen Skating (8 September 2021) · recall

  7. The museum keeps his skates, along with a three-wheeled version used at Waterbeach.

    Source: Museum of Cambridge, Capturing Cambridge: The History of Fen Skating (8 September 2021) · recall

  8. 1763, 1821, the winter of 1854-55 and 1879.

    Source: Museum of Cambridge, Capturing Cambridge: The History of Fen Skating (8 September 2021) · recall

  9. He won by 30 seconds; days later the lamps stopped the Prince of Wales's train again and again.

    Source: Museum of Cambridge, Capturing Cambridge: The History of Fen Skating (8 September 2021) · recall

  10. Eighteen skaters raced three miles with six turns before about 2,000 people.

    Source: Museum of Cambridge, Capturing Cambridge: The History of Fen Skating (8 September 2021) · applied

Sources

Primary/official sources only, no Wikipedia: museum and gallery records (London Museum, Royal Museums Greenwich, Rijksmuseum, National Galleries of Scotland, National Gallery of Art, Royal Collection Trust, Museum of Cambridge, National Trust), Stichting Schaatshistorie, NYC Parks, the Philadelphia Skating Club, Guinness World Records, and the original texts on Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archive. Every fact is recorded with its source in docs/FIGURE_SKATING_VERIFIED_FACTS.md.

  • Museum of Cambridge, Capturing Cambridge: The History of Fen Skating (8 September 2021)10
  • Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl)7
  • Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, Club history (pschs.org)7
  • Stichting Schaatshistorie, Elfstedentocht: the tour of tours (schaatshistorie.nl)6
  • The Diary of John Evelyn, volumes 1 and 2 (Project Gutenberg)6
  • Rijksmuseum, Hendrick Avercamp (rijksmuseum.nl, Dutch masters story)4
  • Guinness World Records, First ice rink (the Glaciarium, 1876)4
  • London Museum, collection object A1637, bone skate (12th century), with FitzStephen's account of 11733
  • Wiley-Blackwell on Formenti and Minetti, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (ScienceDaily, 26 December 2007)3
  • Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 605929, with Queen Victoria's journal for 30 December 18403
  • NYC Parks, The History of Ice Skating in New York City Parks (nycgovparks.org)3
  • Mary Mapes Dodge, Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates (Project Gutenberg)3
  • National Trust Collections, NT 82656, skating boots marked John Wilson, Marsden Bros & Co, Sheffield3
  • Fordham University, Medieval London: Objects, Ice skates (medievallondon.ace.fordham.edu)2
  • National Gallery of Art, Gilbert Stuart, The Skater (Portrait of William Grant), 1950.18.12
  • National Galleries of Scotland, Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, NG 21122
  • Diary of John Evelyn; Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 605929 and RCIN 2900030; Museum of Cambridge, The History of Fen Skating2
  • Guinness World Records, First ice rink (the Glaciarium, 1876); International Institute of Refrigeration, FRIDOC record 2006-2075 on the Glaciarium and John Gamgee2
  • Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, chapter XXX (Project Gutenberg)2
  • Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, Part One (Project Gutenberg)2
  • Stichting Schaatshistorie, The origin of skating (schaatshistorie.nl)1
  • ScienceDaily 2007 (Formenti and Minetti); London Museum A1637; Schaatshistorie.nl, The first wooden skates and The origin of skating1
  • Stichting Schaatshistorie, The first wooden skates (schaatshistorie.nl)1
  • Stichting Schaatshistorie, The word 'skate' (schaatshistorie.nl)1
  • Stichting Schaatshistorie, Lidwina of Schiedam: on skates or on pattens? (schaatshistorie.nl)1
  • Stichting Schaatshistorie, The word 'skate' (schaatshistorie.nl); Stichting Schaatshistorie, Lidwina of Schiedam: on skates or on pattens? (schaatshistorie.nl)1
  • Stichting Schaatshistorie, Lidwina of Schiedam: on skates or on pattens? (schaatshistorie.nl); Stichting Schaatshistorie, The word 'skate' (schaatshistorie.nl)1
  • London Museum, frost-fair keepsake A9395/5 and broadside A23136 (February 1814); Royal Museums Greenwich, PAH9908 and PAH9909, prints of the 1814 Thames frost fair1
  • London Museum, frost-fair keepsake A9395/5 and broadside A23136 (February 1814)1
  • Royal Museums Greenwich, PAH9908 and PAH9909, prints of the 1814 Thames frost fair1
  • London Museum, object 49.80 (Hondius, 1684) and broadside A23136 (1814); Royal Museums Greenwich, PAH99081
  • The Diary of John Evelyn, volumes 1 and 2 (Project Gutenberg); Royal Museums Greenwich, PAH9908 and PAH9909, prints of the 1814 Thames frost fair1
  • Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Bruegel, Winter Landscape with Skaters and Bird Trap (1565), on Google Arts & Culture1
  • Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Bruegel, 1565); Rijksmuseum (Avercamp); National Gallery of Art 1950.18.1; National Galleries of Scotland NG 21121
  • National Gallery of Art 1950.18.1; Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Bruegel, 1565); National Galleries of Scotland NG 2112; London Museum 49.801
  • The Diary of John Evelyn, volumes 1 and 2 (Project Gutenberg); The Diary of Samuel Pepys, 1 December 1662 (Project Gutenberg)1
  • The Diary of Samuel Pepys, 1 December 1662 (Project Gutenberg)1
  • Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 2900030, the Prince of Wales as Winter (Roger Fenton, 10 February 1854)1
  • Guinness World Records, First ice rink (the Glaciarium, 1876); NYC Parks, The History of Ice Skating in New York City Parks (nycgovparks.org)1
  • Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, chapter VIII (Project Gutenberg)1
  • William Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book First (Project Gutenberg)1
  • Robert Jones, A Treatise on Skating, London 1772 (Internet Archive scan of the first edition)1
  • Stichting Schaatshistorie, The word 'skate' (schaatshistorie.nl); Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl); National Trust Collections, NT 82656, skating boots marked John Wilson, Marsden Bros & Co, Sheffield1
  • Stichting Schaatshistorie, Ice skating history abroad (schaatshistorie.nl); Stichting Schaatshistorie, The first wooden skates (schaatshistorie.nl)1