ORIGIN OF BOWLS

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 110, 7 February 1928, Page 8

ORIGIN OF BOWLS

WHEN SCOTS PLAYED WITH HUMAN HEADS

Bowlers now know why an “end" in bowls is called a “head.” This was explained by tlie Mayor (Mr. G. A. Troup) at the Dutliie Cup contest luncheon yesterday. Mr. Troup said that there was a legend to the effect that the ancient Kings of Scotland —the Malcolms and the like —instituted the game by playing with the heads of slain enemies, and he assumed that the first notion of bias in a bowl was caused through the nasal protuberance. That was a ghastly business, and as their culture improved they played with stone bowls, probably for some hundreds of years. Then from stone they turned to wood, and with the change of material so the game became more refined in spirit and exact in laws. Lv Tudor times bowls became so very nopular that the Government had to issue an edict forbidding all reputable citizens to play the game, as so much time was occupied in the pastime that the practice of archery, on which the safety of the Kingdom depended, was neglected. Mr. Troup snid that he was very much surprised to find, on visiting America, that the game was not played there, because so many Scotchmen had taken tin their residence in that country.. Tie rean nn account an American visitor to Rotorua, who. after dilating on the wonders of the hot ‘springs and boiling mud. said: “Then rn the lawns in front of the bath-house, we saw a number of men in white woollen fUannels. throw a little white hall up the green, and then follow if un with large black hal’s. Then they went un to the other end. and repeated it all over again. This went on for hours. Still, ns the poor fellows seemed nerfectly harmless, we didn’t interfere!”