Bowls, or BOWLING, is an English pastime of undoubted antiquity. Strutt in his Sports and Pastimes reproduces a picture of two men playing a game with bowls from a MS. of the 13th century (Royal Library), and another from a MS. of the 14th century, representing three men bowling at a 'jack,' very much as the game is now practised, except that the players have only one bowl apiece.
It seems to be a doubtful point whether the ancient game was played in the open air or in closed alleys, or both; or whether, perhaps, there may not have always been two varieties of the game, one the outdoor game as we now know it, and an undercover game of bowling at pins. There is no doubt that, in the 15th and 16th centuries, bowling-alleys were not only very numerous, especially in the city and suburbs of London, but also became public nuisances on account of the gambling and dissipation carried on in connection with them. In the reign of Edward IV. a stringent act was passed forbidding any one to play at, among other games, half-bowl, either in 'house, tenement, garden, or other place,' on account of players being induced to play 'till they be utterly undone and impoverished of their goods.' This game of half-bowl is described by Strutt as still being played in Hertfordshire in his day (1801); fifteen small pins were bowled at with half of a sphere of wood, hence the name.
The name bowls first occurs in several acts passed by Henry VIII., who prohibited any person or persons, 'for his or their gain, lucre, or living, to keep, have, hold, occupy, exercise, or maintain any common house, alley, or place of bowling.' In spite of these acts, however, the game continued to exist, as it was not till the reign of George II. that the gambling alley game, against which the denunciations of the law seem to have been directed, became, more or less, actually suppressed. From about the same time, however, the outdoor game spread with such rapidity, that before the close of the century it was almost universal all over England and Scotland.
Bowling as now played is a delightful summer-evening game, and affords pleasant recreation to thousands who are past the age at which the more violent exertions of cricket or football have charms. Every village has its club and 'green,' and larger towns have them in every district. Its great drawback as a popular game is the expense of preparing the necessary smooth, fine turf-green, this being, according to circumstances, from £100 to £300, or even more. So much, however, is it acknowledged to be a healthful and innocent recreation, that the civic authorities of many towns have prepared public greens, where, for a small charge, players may enjoy the game who are not able to indulge in the luxury of private ground.
The game itself is a very simple one. The requirements are a piece of fine level turf 40 to 60 yards square, surrounded by a shallow ditch, a pair of bowls for each player, and a small white ball or 'jack.' The green is usually sunk below the level of the surrounding ground. The bowls are made of lignum-vitæ, 6 to 7 inches in diameter, turned more or less oval, with one side a little rounder than the other. This gives a bias to the bowl, which rolls in a curved direction instead of straight.
The players are usually arranged into opposing sides of four each, although any number can play. The jack having been thrown by one of the players to a distance of not less than 20 yards from one end of the green, the object of the combatants is to roll their bowls so as to lie as near the jack as possible. The bias gives scope for considerable skill in playing the bowl, as it may be made to curve in, either from the right or from the left, as may seem best in order to dodge round other bowls which may be in the way. When all the sixteen bowls have been played, a point is counted for every bowl belonging to one side which is nearer the jack than the nearest bowl of the other side. The jack is then thrown by the winning side to the other end of the green, another 'end' played as before, and so on till one side or the other becomes game; which may be any number mutually agreed on—usually 21 or 31. The game may also consist of so many ends to be played, the side counting most at the conclusion to be the winner. Each side appoints one of their number 'skip,' who has full authority to direct the play of the others of his side. The game is identical in principle with 'Curling' (q.v.), with the difference, that the distance is always fixed in the latter, while in bowling it is uncertain. There are regularly appointed rules for playing the game, providing for such points as the jack being moved by a bowl, or being thrown into the ditch, and many other details which are beyond our province.
Bowling is also the name applied to a game of ten pins introduced from the United States. It is evidently either an improved variety of the English Skittles (q.v.), or a revival of a game called long-bowling or Dutch rubbers, which was played in England about the middle of the 18th century, and was exactly like the American game, except that nine pins were used. This game of long-bowls again was obviously either a development of the ancient half-bowl or similar game of bowls and pins, or a bodily introduction of the Dutch game of ninepins as played by 'Rip Van Winkle.' The game is becoming common in this country, where, in the suburbs of almost every large town, the 'American Bowling Alley' is a popular resort of the youth of the district. It is played in a covered alley on a prepared board 60 feet long by 4 feet wide. In America the board is slightly convex in the centre, and bevelled to the sides. The ten pins, usually of ash, and about 1 foot high, are arranged as in the figure. Each player in turn rolls three bowls from the other end of the board, trying to knock over as many pins as possible. If he knocks all the ten down before he exhausts his three throws, he is entitled to get them set up again to complete his turn. He may even knock all the pins down with each of his three bowls, in which case he scores the maximum for his turn, 30, being one for each pin down. The other players then have their turn. A game consists of three or more such turns of three bowls for each player; he who knocks over most pins being the winner. The bowls are usually made of lignum-vitæ, are round, and of unlimited size, generally varying from a lb. to 5 or 6 lb. in weight. Such is the principle of the game, but in practice a complicated method of scoring exists. When a player knocks all the pins down with one or two bowls, he has what is called a 'spare' or a 'double spare'—i.e. he has one shot or two shots, as the case may be, to spare. To save time he does not get the pins put up again immediately, but waits for his next turn, when, in the case of a 'spare,' his first shot, and of a 'double,' his first two shots are counted double—viz. once for the spares of the turn before, and once for the current turn. He may even have another double or single spare, when the scoring is carried over into the third turn, and so on. In the last turn of the game, however, the spares must be played off at once. This game is undoubtedly good exercise, but it has the drawback of not being played in the open air, and it is also too often associated with the public-house to be an altogether desirable game for young men. For bowling in cricket, see CRICKET.