Bowls

"Bowls" generally refers to a game played with biased balls on a rectangular pitch called a bowling green. The objective of the game is to roll the bowls so that they come to rest close to a smaller target ball known as the "jack" or "kitty." Players or teams score points based on the proximity of their bowls to the jack.

It is an indoor and outdoor game played as singles, pairs, triples, or fours. 

The origin of the game is still a matter of conjecture. Even Stone Age man must have enjoyed a very crude version of the bowls. Probably all he did was aim stones at other stones to pass his time.

Finds in Egyptian tombs, proved the existence as early as 5200 BC of a game that consisted of rolling balls or other rounded objects such as a coconut, a clay ball, or a stone) toward a chosen mark.

The sport of bowls spread to ancient Greece and Rome. The Caesars knew some type of the game, calling it boccie, a term that still survives in Italy.

Bowling was popularized by German churchgoers in the third and fourth century who would roll a ball at a kegel, a club used for protection, and if hit they would be absolved from sin.

The earliest recorded reference to a bowling green relates to Southampton, England in 1299. As the Southampton Town Bowling Club, it is still in existence and its members play on the original green.

Somehow bowls became a game closely associated with gambling. People played it not as much as a pastime, but to place wagers and enrich themselves "the easy way." Edicts, as issued by the governments of Edward III and Richard II, made bowling illegal. An Act of 1511 still forbade the playing of bowls to "artificers, labourers, apprentices, servants and the like - at any time except Christmas and then only in their master's house and presence."

In 1513, Henry VIII of England and Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire joined forces to fight against France in the War of the League of Cambrai. Henry VIII took with him a 90ft by 8ft indoor bowling shed.

In 1541, Henry VIII forbid the working class from bowling—except on Christmas, when they were allowed to bowl in their master's house.

In 1555, Queen Mary again cancelled the permits as the game of bowls had become "an excuse for unlawful assemblies, conventicles, seditions, and conspiracies."

Francis Drake and other commanders were playing bowls in Plymouth Hoe when news was bought that the Spanish Armada was sailing up the channel. Drake insisted on finishing the game before setting sail.

Dutch settlers brought lawn bowls and ninepins to the New World in the early 17th century.

Glasgow solicitor William Mitchell (1803-84) was credited with developing the rules for modern bowls in 1848. Mitchell's rules addressed various aspects of the game, including the size and weight of the bowls, the dimensions of the bowling green, and the scoring system. These standardized rules ensured consistency and fairness across different bowling clubs and competitions. 

The English cricketer W.G. Grace was fond of lawn bowls and founded the English Bowling Association in 1903.

Sources Europress Encyclopedia