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BOWLS , the See also:oldest See also:British outdoor pastime, next to See also:archery, still in See also:vogue. It has been traced certainly to the 13th, and conjecturally to the 12th See also:century. See also: See also:Book of Prayers in the See also:Francis See also:Douce collection in the Bodleian library at See also:Oxford contains a drawing in which two pe=rsons are shown, but they bowl to no mark. See also:Strutt (See also:Sports
and Pastimes) suggests that the first player's bowl may have been regarded by the second player as a See also:species of jack; but in that See also:case it is not clear what was the first player's See also:target. In these three earliest illustrations of the pastime it is See also:worth noting that each player has one bowl only, and that the attitude in delivering it was as various five or six See also:hundred years ago as it is to-day. In the third he stands almost upright; in the first he kneels; in the second he stoops, halfway between the upright and the kneeling position.
As the game See also:grew in popularity it came under the See also:ban of See also: In See also:Mary's reign (1555) the licences were withdrawn, the See also:queen or her advisers deeming the game an excuse for " unlawful assemblies, conventicles, seditions and conspiracies." The scandals of the bowling alleys grew rampant in Elizabethan London, and See also:Stephen See also:Gosson in his School of Abuse (1579) says, " See also:Common bowling alleys are privy moths that eat up the See also:credit of many idle citizens; whose gains at See also:home are not able to weigh down their losses abroad; whose shops are so far from maintaining their play, that their wives and See also:children cry out for See also:bread, and go to See also:bed supperless often in the See also:year."
Biased bowls were introduced in the 16th century. " A little altering of the one See also:side," says See also:Robert See also:Recorde, the mathematician, in his See also:Castle of Knowledge (1556), " maketh the bowl to run biasse waies." And See also:Shakespeare (Richard II., Act. III. Sc. 4) causes the queen to remonstrate, in reply to her See also:lady's See also:suggestion of a game at bowls to relieve her ennui, "'See also:Twill make me think the See also:world is full of rubs, and that my See also:fortune runs against the See also:bias." This passage is interesting also as showing that See also:women were accustomed to play the game in those days. It is pleasant to think that there is See also:foundation for the See also:familiar See also:story of See also:Sir Francis See also:Drake playing bowls on See also:Plymouth See also:Hoe as the See also:Armada was beating up Channel, and See also:finishing his game before tackling the Spaniards. Bowls, at that date, was looked upon as a legitimate amusement for Sundays,—as, indeed, were many other sports. When See also: During this period gambling had become a See also:mania. John See also:Aubrey, the See also:antiquary, See also:chronicles that the sisters of Sir John Suckling, the courtier-poet, once went to the bowling-green in 'Piccadilly, crying, " for fear he should lose all their portions." If the Puritans regarded bowls with no friendly See also:eye, as Lord See also:Macaulay asserts, one can hardly wonder at it. But even the Puritans could not suppress betting. So eminently respectable a See also:person as John See also:Evelyn thought no harm in bowling for stakes, and once played at the Durdans, near See also:Epsom, for £ro, winning match and See also:money, as he triumphantly notes in his See also:Diary for the 14th of See also:August 1657. See also:Samuel See also:Pepys repeatedly mentions finding See also:great See also:people " at bowies." But in time the excesses attending the game rendered it unfashionable, and after the Revolution it became practically a pothouse recreation, nearly all the greens, like the alleys, having been constructed in the grounds and gardens attached to taverns. After a long See also:interval salvation came from See also:Scotland, somewhat unexpectedly, because although, along with its See also:winter analogue of See also:curling, bowls may now be considered, much more than See also:golf, the Scottish See also:national game, it was not until well into the 19th century that the pastime acquired popularity in that See also:country. It had been known in Scotland since the close of the 16th century (the See also:Glasgow See also:kirk session fulminated an See also:edict against Sunday bowls in 1595), but greens were few and far between. There is record of a See also:club in See also:Haddington in 1709, of Tom Bicket's green in See also:Kilmarnock in 1740, of greens in Candleriggs and Gallowgate, Glasgow, and of one in See also:Lanark in 1750, of greens in the grounds of See also:Heriot's See also:hospital, See also:Edinburgh, See also:prior to 1768, and of one in See also:Peebles in 1775. These are, of course, See also:mere infants compared with the See also:Southampton See also:Town Bowling Club, founded in 1299, which still uses the green on which it has played for centuries and possesses the See also:quaint See also:custom of describing its master, or See also:president, as " sir," and are younger even than the See also:Newcastle-on-See also:Tyne club established in 1657. But the earlier clubs did nothing towards organizing the game. In 1848 and 1849, however, when many clubs had come into existence in the See also:west and See also:south of Scotland (the Willowbank, dating from 1816, is the oldest club in Glasgow), meetings were held in Glasgow for the purpose of promoting a national association. This was regarded, by many, as impracticable, but a decision of final importance was reached when a consultative See also:committee was appointed to draft a See also:uniform See also:code of See also:laws to govern the game. This See also:body .delegated its functions to its secretary, W. W. See also:Mitchell (1803-1884), who prepared a code that was immediately adopted in Scotland as the See also:standard laws. It was in this sense that Scottish bowlers saved the game. They were, besides, pioneers in laying down level greens of superlative excellence. Not satisfied with See also:seed-sown grass or meadow See also:turf, they experimented with seaside turf and found it See also:answer admirably. The 13th See also:earl of See also:Eglinton also set an example of active See also:interest which many magnates emulated.: Himself a keen bowler, he offered for competition, in 1854, a See also:silver bowl and, in 1857, a See also:gold bowl and the Eglinton See also:Cup, all to be played for annually. These trophies excited healthy rivalry in See also:Ayrshire and See also:Lanarkshire, and the See also:enthusiasm as well as the skill with which the game was conducted in Scotland at length proved contagious. Clubs in See also:England began to consider the question of legislation, and to improve their greens. More-over, Scottish emigrants introduced the game wherever they went, and colonists in See also:Australia and New See also:Zealand established many clubs which, in the See also:main, adopted Mitchell's laws; while clubs were also started in See also:Canada and in the See also:United States, in South See also:Africa, See also:India (See also:Calcutta, See also:Karachi), See also:Japan (Kobe, See also:Yokohama, Kumamoto) and Hong-See also:Kong. In See also:Ireland the game took See also:root very gradually, but in See also:Ulster, owing doubtless to See also:constant intercourse with Scotland, such clubs as have been founded are strong in See also:numbers and play. On the See also:European See also:continent the game can scarcely be said to be played on scientific principles. It has existed in See also:France since the 17th century. When John Evelyn was in See also:Paris in 1644 he saw it played in the gardens of the Luxembourg Palace. In the south of France it is rather popular with artisans, who, however, are content to pursue it on any See also:flat See also:surface and use round instead of biased bowls, the bowler, moreover, indulging in a preliminary run before delivering the bowl, after the See also:fashion of a bowler in See also:cricket. A See also:rude variety of the game occurs in See also:Italy, and, as we have seen, John Calvin played it in Geneva, where John Evelyn also noticed it in 1646. There is See also:evidence of its vogue in See also: An accredited team of bowlers from the See also:mother country visited Canada in 1906, and was accorded a royal welcome. Perhaps the most interesting See also:proof that bowls is a true Volksspiel is to be found in the fact that it has become municipalized. In Edinburgh, Glasgow, and elsewhere in Scotland, and in London (through the See also:county See also:council), Newcastle and other English towns, the corporations have laid down greens in public parks and open spaces. In Scotland the public greens are self-supporting, from a See also:charge, which includes the use of bowls, of one See also:penny an See also:hour for each player; in London the upkeep of the greens falls on the rates, but players must provide their own bowls. There are two kinds of bowling green, the level and the See also:crown. The crown has a fall which may amount to as much as 18 in. The game. all round from the centre to the sides. This type of green is confined almost wholly to certain of the See also:northern and midland counties of England, where it is popular for single-handed, See also:gate-money contests. But although the crown-green game is of a sporting character, it necessitates the use of bowls of narrow bias and affords but limited See also:scope for the display of skill and See also:science. It is the game on the perfectly level green that constitutes the See also:historical game of bowls. Subject to the See also:rule as to the shortest distance to which the jack must be thrown (25 yds.), there is no prescribed See also:size for the See also:lawn; but 42 yds. square forms an ideal green. The Queen's See also:Park and Titwood clubs in Glasgow have each three greens, and as they can quite comfortably play six rinks on each, it is not uncommon to see 144 players making their game simultaneously. An under-sized lawn is really a poor See also:pitch, because it involves playing from corner to corner instead of up and down—the orthodoxdirection. For the scientific construction of a green, the whole ground must be excavated to a See also:depth of 18 in. or so, and thoroughly drained, and layers of different materials (See also:gravel, cinders, moulds, silver-See also:sand) laid down before the final covering of turf, 21 or 3 in. thick. Seaside turf is the best. It wears longest and keeps its " See also:spring to the last. Surrounding the green is a space called a ditch, which is nearly but not quite on a level with the green and slopes gently away from it, the side next the turf being lined with boarding, the ditch itself bottomed with wooden spars resting on the foundation. Beyond the ditch are See also:banks generally laid with turf. A green is divided into spaces usually from 18 to 21 ft. in width, commonly styled " rinks "—a word which also designates each set of players—and these are numbered in sequence on a See also:plate fixed in the See also:bank at each end opposite the centre of the space.. The end ditch within the limits of the space is, according to Scottish laws, regarded as See also:part of the green, a regulation which prejudices the general See also:acceptance of those laws. In match play each space is further marked off from its See also:neighbour by thin See also:string securely fastened flush with the turf. Every player uses four lignum vitae bowls in single-handed games and (as a rule) in friendly games, but only two in matches. Every bowl must have a certain amount of bias, which was formerly obtained by loading one side with lead, but is now imparted by the See also:turner making one side more See also:convex than the other, the bulge showing the side of the bias. No bowl must have less than No. 
3 bias—that is, it should draw about 6 ft. to a 30 yd. jack on a first-rate green: it follows that on an inferior green the bowler, though using the same bowl, would have to allow for a narrower draw. It is also a rule that the See also:diameter of the bowl shall not be less than 4 in. nor more than 54 in., and that its weight must not exceed 31 lb. The jack or kitty, as the See also: He is picked for his skill in playing to the jack. It is, therefore, his business to "be up." There is no excuse for short play on his part, and his bowls would be better off the green than obstructing the path of subsequent bowls. So he will endeavour to be "on the jack," the ideal position being a bowl at rest immediately in front of or behind it. The skip plays last, and directs his men from the end that is being played to. The weakest player in the four is invariably played in the second place (the " soft second "). Most frequently he will be required either to protect a good bowl or to rectify a possible See also:error of the leader. His See also:official See also:duty is to mark the game on the scoring card when the leader announces the result. He keeps a record of the play of both sides. The third player, who does any measuring that may be necessary to determine which bowl or bowls may be nearest the jack, holds almost as responsible a position as the captain, whose place, in fact, he takes when-ever the skip is temporarily absent. The duties of the skip will already be understood by inference. Before he leaves the jack to play, he must observe the situation of the bowls of both sides. It may be that he has to draw a shot with the utmost nicety to save the end, or even the match, or to See also:lay a cunningly contrived See also:block, or to " See also:fire "—that is, to deliver his bowl almost dead straight at the See also:object, with enough force to kill the bias for the moment. The See also:score having been counted, the leader then places the mat, usually within a yard of the spot where the jack lay at the conclusion of the head, and throws the jack in the opposite direction for a fresh end. On small greens play, for obvious reasons, generally takes place from each ditch. The players play in couples—the first on both sides, then the second and so on. The leader having played his first bowl, the opposing leader will play his first and so on. As a rule, a match consists of 21 points, or 21 ends (or a few more, by agreement). Certain points in the play call for See also:notice. In throwing the jack, the leader is See also:bound to throw (i.e. roll) a legal jack. A legal jack must travel at least 25 yds. from the footer and not come to rest within 2 yds. of either side boundary; but it may be thrown as far beyond this as the leader chooses, provided that it does not run within 2 yds. of the end ditch or either side boundary. In English practice the leader is entitled to a second throw if he fail to roil a On Scottish greens the game of points is frequently played, but it is rarely seen on English greens. Its main object is to perfect the proficiency of players in certain departments of bowls proper. There are four sections in the game, namely, drawing, guarding, trailing and See also:driving. In drawing (fig. 1), the object is to draw as near as possible to the jack, the player's bowl passing outside of two other bowls placed 5 ft. apart in a See also:horizontal See also:line 15 ft. from the jack, without touching either of them. Three points are scored if the bowl come to rest within 1 ft. of the jack, two points if,within 2 ft., and one point if within 3 ft. Circles of these radii are usually marked around the jack for convenience' See also:sake. In guarding (fig. 2), two jacks are laid at the far end of the green 12 ft. apart in a See also:vertical line. A See also:thread is then pinned down between them, and on each side of this thread three others are pinned down parallel with it and 6 in. apart from each other. A bowl that comes to rest on the central line, or within 6 in. of it, See also:counts three points, a bowl 12 in. away two points, and a bowl 18 in. off'one point. In trailing (fig. 3), two bowls are laid on the turf 3 ft. apart, and straight lines are chalked from bowl to bowl across their back and front faces, and a jack is then deposited equidistant from each bowl and immediately before the front line. A semicircle is then See also:drawn behind the bowls with a See also:radius of 9 ft. from the jack. Three points are given to the bowl that trails the lack over both lines into the semicircle and goes over them itself. If a bowl trail the jack over both lines, but only itself See also:cross the first; or if it pass both lines, but the jack cross only the first, two points are awarded. A bowl passing between the jack and either of the stationary bowls, and passing over the back line; or touching the jack, yet not trailing it past the first line, but itself See also:crossing the back line; B i B • SFeet F J 0 I' B B _ 2Feet ___- 'asses s,, 0 J (In every case F is the Footer, B the Bowl, J the Jack.) legal jack at his first See also:attempt; should he fail again, the right to or trailing the jack over the front line without crossing it itself, throw passes to his opponent, but not the right of playing first. receives one point. In no case must the stationary bowls be touched, On Scottish greens the leader has only a single throw. A legal jack or the semicircle crossed by the trailed jack or played bowls. In should not be interfered with except by the course of play. Should the jack be driven towards the side boundary, it is legitimate for a player to cause his bowl to draw outside of the dividing string, provided that when it has ceased See also:running it shall have come to rest entirely within his own space. If it stop on the string, or outside of it, the bowl is " dead " and must be removed to the bank. A " toucher " bowl is a characteristic of the Scottish game to which great exception is taken by many English clubs. Should a bowl running jackwards touch the jack, however slightly, it is called a toucher and must be marked by the skip with a See also:chalk cross as soon as it is at rest. Such a bowl is alive until the end is finished wherever it may See also:lie, within the limits of the space. Even if it run into the ditch or be driven in by another bowl, it will yet count as alive. A bowl, however, that is forced on to the jack by another is not a toucher. The feat of hitting the jack is so common that it really calls for no See also:special See also:reward. Difference of See also:opinion prevails as to the See also:condition of the jack after it has been driven into the ditch. According to Scottish rules, unless it has been forced clean out of See also:bounds, such a jack is still alive. On most English greens it is a " dead " jack and the end void. Every bowler should learn both forehand and back-hand play. In forehand play the bowl as it courses to the jack describes its segment of a circle on the right, in backhand play on the See also:left. In both styles the biased side must always be the inner. In the United Kingdom the See also:regular bowling See also:season extends from May day till the end of See also:September or the See also:middle of See also:October. At its close the green must be carefully examined, weeds uprooted, worn patches re-turfed, and the whole laid under a winter blanket of silver-sand. driving (fig. 4), two bowls are laid down 2 ft. apart, and then a jack is placed in front of them, 15 in. apart from each, and occupying the position of the See also:apex of an inverted See also:pyramid. The player who drives the jack into the ditch between the two bowls scores three. If he moves the jack, but does not carry it through to the ditch, he scores two. If he pass between the jack and either bowl he scores one, although it is not easy to see what driving he has done. The played bowl must itself run into the ditch without touching either of the stationary bowls. It is obvious that the points game demands an ideally perfect green. See W. W. Mitchell, See also:Manual of Bowl-playing (Glasgow, 1880); Laws of the Game issued by the Scottish B.A. (1893, et sqq.); H. J. Dingley, Touchers and Rubs (Glasgow, 1893) ; Sam Aylwin, The See also:Gentle See also:Art of Bowling, with 26 diagrams (London, 1904) ; James A. See also:Manson, The Bowler's Handbook (London, 1906). (J. A. M.)
BOWNESS-ON-See also:WINDERMERE, an See also:urban See also:district in the See also:Appleby See also:parliamentary See also:division of See also:Westmorland, England, on the See also:east See also:shore of Windermere, 14 m. S.W. of Windermere station on the London & See also:North-Western railway. Together with the town of Windermere it forms an urban district (pop. 5o61 in 1901), but the two towns were See also:separate until 1905. Its situation is See also:fine, the See also:lake-shore here rising sharply, while at this point the lake narrows and is studded with islands. The See also:low surrounding hills are richly wooded, and a number of country seats stand upon them. Bowness lies at the head of a small See also:bay, is served by the lake-steamers of the See also:Furness Railway See also:Company, and is a
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