Undoubtedly
if the boar has his due, he must take high rank amongst the beasts of the chase. It is even doubtful if he be not entitled to take the first place. For courage, he has no superior: it is much to say that he has any equal. I have myself seen a comparatively small boar fight his way through a pack of hounds; I have seen a broken-backed sow worry a dog nearly as large as herself; I have known a mortally wounded boar to lie in ambush for his enemy and kill him just before the dawn came and his own life was spent, while Major Shakespear (in the Wild Sports of India) writes of the boar's "utter recklessness of life" and of the "fierceness that will make him run up the hunter's spear, which has passed through his vitals, until he buries his tusk in the body of the horse," &c.
Z2 And again, the native Shikarees affirm "that the wild boar (of India) will quench his thirst at the river between two tigers."
This is even more strongly put by Col.
Heber Percy, who writes in the Badminton volumes on Big Game that several cases are on record in which an old boar has beaten off a tiger, and some in which the latter has been killed by a boar. As a matter of fact the old wild boar knows no fear, and whenever he does condescend to trot away from an intruding sportsman, he goes somewhat leisurely, under protest, and with an exceedingly savage gleam in his eye, plainly hinting that he would rather stop and fight than get up and run. And in this estimate of the boar's courage both ancient and modern authorities are agreed, from Holinshed, who speaks of boarhunting as "a verie dangerous exercise," to Col. Kinloch (Large Game Shooting in Thibet), who proved that it was so by "about fifty wounds from one boar" in a single round. Nor is the boar's courage his only claim to high rank amongst beasts of the chase. He has not only courage, but pace, and in India offers to the sportsman that perfection of sport known as pigsticking, in which riding, racing, hunting, and fighting are so happily blended that even an Irishman would be content with its glorious opportunities for fun and sudden death.
Pig-Sticking.-Naturally, with all these good qualities, English sportsmen delight in killing him, and have surrounded his obsequies with many rules and much ceremony. In India it is a maxim that the only sportsmanlike way of killing him is with a spear: it is a law that no boars shall be shot within forty miles of rideable ground.
And to the average Englishman these laws and customs will at once appear to be founded on right reason. There is probably more danger in pig-sticking than in any other form of sport. The ground over which the riding has to be done is as little adapted to riding as it well could be; nothing annoys an old boar more than to be hustled at top pace before he has had time to digest his food; a spear is infinitely more difficult to kill with than a rifle; and if the hunter is in real luck, an angry boar may give him fifty wounds in five minutes that take nearly forty minutes to sew up and dress; a sow may run up his spear and fasten on his horse's chest, or at any rate his horse will be so knocked about by the rocks amongst which he has ridden that he won't be able to go out of the stable again for a fortnight. Hence it comes that hog-hunting is the most popular sport in [BOAR, WILD India, and for those anxious to study it in all its details, numerous volumes have been written.
Here it must suffice to say that the boars are either intercepted in the early morning on their way from their feeding-grounds to their lairs in the foot-hills, or are driven from their lairs by beaters. Along the edges of the covert, horsemen armed with spears are stationed in dumb expectancy until the boar breaks. Then the signal to ride is given, and such as are within reasonable distance of the quarry press him as hard as their horses can before he has time to get his wind or gain covert, and despatch him, if they are lucky enough to get within range of him, by spear thrusts, delivered from the saddle, the honours of the run going to the man who draws first blood, or, as they say, takes the first spear, although it is by no means probable that the first spear will finish the business. On the contrary, a good boar is likely to give employment to most of those engaged before he dies. The spear used in this sport varies in the different districts from six and a half to seven feet long in Bengal, to eight or nine feet in the Bombay Presidency. [See PIG-STICKING.] There would seem at all times and in all countries to have been a remarkable consensus of opinion as to the propriety of killing wild swine with a spear. Formerly in Britain it was used both on foot and on horseback; and in Hawaii, where they claim an indigenous pig and good rideable country, it is used to-day. In Britain it would seem from certain paintings and written records which have been preserved to us that the boar was not ridden down in the open as in India, but was first driven to bay by hounds, and then killed with a heavy jobbing spear, a sufficiently dangerous pastime even so, as is in some sort proved by the records of lands granted to certain gentlemen and corporations by the King for the destruction of notable boars which had committed great depredations, and by a curious clause, quoted by Mr.
Harting from the Book of the Rights and Privileges of the Kings of Erin, which restrains one of the kings of Ulster from going into the wild boar's hunt or being seen to attack it alone." One cannot help wondering whether, being Irish, that good king did not avail himself of the companionship of courtiers who were discreetly blind upon occasion. In Spain, in the old days (according to Mr. Abel Chapman), the "javato" was hunted on horseback with spear, pike, and lance, and even now in Estremadura is hunted 66 BOAR, WILD] with horse and hound "during the stillness of a moonlight night when the acorns are falling from the oaks in the magnificent Estremenian woods."
Shooting. But there are many places where the boar cannot be ridden down even by Englishmen, places where no horse could gallop, and in these the boar gives very fair sport with the rifle, either to the stalker or the leather-lunged sportsman who with a small pack of hounds (three or four) drives him to bay in such mountain fastnesses as may be found on the shores of the Black Sea, or through such forest tangles as abound on the Caspian. In Russia, as I believe in Austria and Germany, the wild swine are shot in the great forest drives; but though they form fine picture crashing through the frosted undergrowth, it is a poor way of killing them.
The Caucasian peasants' methods a are better. Like most other forest beasts, the boar is more or less nocturnal in his habits; and it is in the with darker colour; as he grows older, he loses the stripes; and as an old warrantable boar, he becomes a grizzled grey with an undercoat of black. As far as my own knowledge of him goes in the Caucasus and Russia, he is at all times a clean feeder, living upon roots, chestnuts, acorns, and the different fruits and crops, but some authorities maintain that he will devour a carcass if he comes across it. Night is his feeding time. In the day-time he lies up in thick scrub, generally near some soft ground in which he can wallow, and not necessarily near his feeding-ground, for he is a great traveller.
Measurements and Weight. In weight and size he varies perhaps more than in any other particular, and from such data as I have been able to obtain I should imagine that the Caucasian boar, amply fed upon the fallen chestnuts and maizefields by the Black Sea, is perhaps the largest of his Prostillness of the [Photo. ly W. W. Rouch. night that those A STAND IN THE FOREST. who watch learn most about him. When the moon is up and the pears are down, in August, the natives sally out with their old muzzleloaders and catch the boar feeding under the pear trees, or with a white string knotted round their gun's muzzle for a sight, lie in wait by his path through the reeds to the water. Many of the guns used are poor things, the bullets and charges both light, the shooting inaccurate, and the light bad, and as in addition to this the boar's hide is at certain seasons almost impenetrable in places, this hunting is dangerous work.
Not a few of the old Cossacks who indulge in it are badly scarred, and as for their hounds, unless they develop an extraordinary degree of caution and activity early in life, their careers are short.
Appearance and Habits. Throughout his wide range, the wild boar varies little in habits, size, or appearance. As a As youngster, he is of a reddish-brown striped a race. fessor Raddle, of the Tiflis Museum, once wrote to me as follows: "The largest solitary boars, measured at the shoulder, and measured straight, stand about 105 centimetres, and their total weight, not dressed, rarely exceeds 15 puds (i.e., 600 lbs.)." In India, on the authority of Captain Baldwin, Major Shakespear, and others, we have it that a boar which stands 40 inches high at the shoulder has attained to the maximum size of his race.
Hawaii, I have a record of a boar killed and weighed by my friend Mr. Purvis, which dressed 325 lbs., and judging (at hazard) from the records of certain tusks taken, the old English wild boar was not far behind the Caucasian beast.
In Captain Baldwin, a very careful writer, gives the measurement of a boar killed by him in the Himalayas as five feet ten inches in length, and over three feet at the shoulder, but adds that boar in the Himalayas frequently exceed this. Tusks. As to the size of tusks, the principal trophies of the boar, Baldwin writes that "the tusks of a very fine Indian boar sometimes reach eight and a half and nine inches in length, but anything above this is exceptional"; whilst in Mr. Rowland Ward's book on Horn Measurements a pair of 10-inch tusks, secured by Sir Samuel Baker in India, are the largest recorded.
I have reason to believe that larger tusks than these have been taken in Hawaii, and I have myself measured a pair in the possession of a Caucasian Governor (Col. Verubof of Naltchik) which went 111/2 inches round the outside curve. Certainly 9-inch tusks, and even IO, are not uncommon there; and I have myself secured a pair not unduly curved, well over 92 inches. When the upper tusk has been lost by accident, it not unfrequently happens that an abnormal growth takes place, the lower, or fighting, tusk growing round and so attaining greater length, whilst it becomes useless as a weapon.
But perhaps there is no tusk on record at present to surpass those recorded by Boethius as taken from a boar killed in Scotland 1124 (or thereabouts), twelve inches long and three in their greatest width.
CLIVE PHILLIPPS-WOLLEY.
BOAR-SHOOTING.- In considering the pursuit of the boar with the rifle on foot instead of with horse and spear, according to the orthodox fashion, it must be borne in mind that there are large tracts of forest in India swarming with pig that are absolutely unrideable from a pig-sticking point of view. These are so remote from ground on which that grand sport may be obtained that it cannot even be contended that they act as nurseries to maintain the supply of pig for the rideable districts. In these forests, Indian though they be, wild boar are perfectly fair game for the rifle.
In all forest-stalking it is hopeless to hunt in the middle of the day; the animals are then lying down, and if stumbled upon by accident, a rush through the scrub and a confused vision of vanishing sterns offer the sole chance of a shot. Early in the morning it is very different. The hunter, moving slowly and noiselessly in his indiarubber or felt-soled boots, either catches sight of a sounder (a herd) feeding on some grassy glade, or hears them rooting among the bamboos at the bottom of a ravine; sometimes he will intercept an old gray hog returning from his night's foray [BOAR, WILD among the crops in the jungle clearings, or catch the sharp clashing sound of a heavy boar whetting his tusks, and be able to creep up within easy range for a shot.
Weapon, &c. It may here be observed that a ball gun of the Paradox type is about the best weapon to use. Express bullets are too apt to glance from twigs to be absolutely reliable in forest shooting, and the writer has lost several beasts from this cause. Small-bore bullets also often leave no blood trail, and in forest shooting wounded animals are frequently lost through this defect.
The chief element of risk in boar-shooting is having to follow up a wounded beast in thick covert. The main rules to be remembered in such an event are-to avoid approaching any dangerous animal up hill, and not to be in a hurry, but to give time for the wound to tell on the animal's strength.
The unparalleled courage and ferocity of wild boar are referred to in the foregoing article. Still, it is only fair to admit that a boar will rarely attack unless something has occurred to ruffle its proverbially short temper. The writer, riding on one occasion unarmed over some open downs in Central India, espied a goodly boar making his way home after its night's ramble, and he trotted up to within about forty yards of it. The boar stood still and chucked up its chin defiantly. There was nothing more to be done; it was folly to risk a charge with only a switch to protect the horse; so each party drew off.
Another time, when after other game with a brother officer and two hunters, the sound of a boar whetting its tusks was heard; and on the party advancing in the direction of the noise, a sounder of pig was disturbed. The old sow and her family made off at once through the grass, but the boar ca came trotting back as if to cover their retreat. As it was essential for sport not to disturb the ground by unnecessary firing, no notice was taken of him, and he presently followed the others. The party had not, however, proceeded another twenty yards when the veteran came back again and barred the way with such evident malevolence that the sportsmen had to cock their rifles and place the natives behind them in case of attack.
It was rather a curious sight; on one side of a grassy glade stood four men, two of them armed with rifles, and on the other stood the huge old boar, almost white from age, shaking his head and daring them BONGO] to come on. The utter unreasonableness of the whole affair was too ludicrous. The men had not the smallest intention of hurting him, except in self-defence; and if he declared war and charged across that open glade up to the muzzles of two rifles, the only possible result would have been his death. At last the old fellow seemed to make up his mind either that he had asserted his own authority, or that the enemy were too strong for him, and trotted off again; the bamboos, and the long lean head of an evil-looking pig appeared, facing him, some ten yards off. There was no time to deliberate. The bottom of the ravine, where the writer was standing, was barely two feet wide; the sides were steep, and it was certainly no place to stand a charge, while avoiding one seemed out of the question.
So a quick shot, which placed the bullet between those fierce little eyes, had to settle the matter. It was the old sow, unfor- [Photo. by W. W. Rouch.
MR. WALTER WINANS SHOOTING A RECORD BOAR. but on the party resuming their advance he at once turned and faced them a third time, but only for a few seconds, when, considering he had wasted enough time over them, he trotted off and rejoined his family.
Another rather absurd adventure befell the writer once when, intent on procuring pork for the larder, he had carefully selected a promising squeaker out of a sounder that were feeding among some bamboos at the bottom of a steep ravine. After shooting his selection through the head, so as not to spoil the meat, he clambered down to inspect his prize. He had barely time to examine it when there was a crash among tunately; but the place was too tight for careful discrimination.
R. HEBER PERCY.
BONGO (Boöcercus euryceros). This large and magnificently coloured antelope was long classed with the bushbuck group.
Recent discoveries, however, tend to show that, although in its coloration the Bongo has affinity with the bushbucks, in other characteristics it differs widely from those antelopes. The Bongo resembles the eland in the circumstance that both sexes carry horns, whereas in the bushbucks only the male bears these trophies. Again, the somewhat ox-like tufted tail of the Bongo reminds - one much of the eland. The Bongo stands about 4 feet at the shoulder, and is, for its height, one of the biggest and most massive antelopes found in Africa. The coat is of a bright, shining, chestnut-red, the body coloration being varied by a number of vertical white stripes usually from ten to thirteen. The forehead carries a white chevron; on the breast is to be found a white crescent, and there are two white spots below each eye. The massive horns run in an open spiral, and their brown coloration terminates in yellow points, to be accounted for, probably, by mere use and wear and tear. Good examples of male horns run from 27 to 32 inches, the record head, obtained in Ashanti, measuring 35 inches over the curve. The longest pair of female horns at present recorded reach 30½ inches.
The ears are, as with the Kudu and other bush and forest-loving species, large and broad, and well adapted for carrying sound in the dense jungles in which this antelope makes its habitat.
It was for many years supposed that the Bongo was only found in West Africa, but more recently it has been brought to light in other parts of the continent so far east as British East Africa. The Eastern race, known to naturalists as Boöcercus euryceros isaaci, displays slight differences from its congener of West Africa, the chief points being a heavier and more convex skull, brighter colouring, and more massive horns.
The longest horns of the East African race yet recorded measure 333/4 inches.
These are from the Mau Forest, and are now in the Hon. Walter Rothschild's Museum at Tring. The spoor of the Bongo is described by Captain C. H. Stigand as something between that of an immense bushbuck and an eland's.
From its extraordinarily shy and secluded habits, the Bongo has hitherto almost entirely defied the efforts of white sportsmen to obtain it. The few specimens of skins and horns which have hitherto reached Europe have been obtained in nearly every single instance from native hunters, who trap and snare the animals. In 1907 Lieut.
H. A. Carter, of the West African Regiment, succeeded in shooting one of these antelopes, which had actually come right up to the barracks at the Batkanu Station on the Uabole River, some seventy miles north-east of Freetown, Sierra Leone. The buck charged at sight, but was luckily stopped by Mr. Carter before it could do mischief. A charge from one of these huge antelopes, armed as they are with formidable and very massive horns, must always be a dangerous one. In East Africa this [BONGO antelope is found ranging in dense forest country, at an altitude of 7,000 feet, where the climate is cold, misty, and damp. In other regions its habitat is in humid jungles and forests, where the temperature is hot and stifling. It feeds mainly at night, and lying down as it does during most of the day, is for that reason very difficult to hit upon in the dark and tangled jungles in which it secretes itself. Notwithstanding its bulk and the size of its horns, the Bongo has no difficulty in making its way through the thickets. The horns are carried well laid back, so much so that, according to Captain Stigand, quite a bare patch is worn on the centre of the back by the horn tips.
On the other hand, the horns are extremely useful as a protection from thorns and creepers, and, fending off as they do such impe.liments, greatly assist the animal in its crouching passage through the bush.
The range of the Bongo, as at present ascertained, is West Africa from Sierra Leone, through Liberia and Fanti, to the Gaboon; thence, eastward, it is found in suitable forest and bush country to East Africa.
H. A. BRYDEN.
BOWLS. If this ancient and historic game did not originate in England, it must have been introduced not long after the Norman conquest. Strutt, after all his researches, could only say that it was probably an invention of the middle ages, confessing his inability to ascertain the time of its introduction, but he traced it back to the thirteenth century, and in his Sports and Pastimes gives a copy of the earliest pictorial representation he had found. The original may now be seen in the British Museum in a MS. (20 D. IV. p. 187) in the Royal Library. It is a well-preserved coloured drawing and shows two players and two bowls and two small cones, one of the latter being placed at either side of the playing ground and evidently serving as alternate marks to bowl at. By the fourteenth century the cones had been superseded by a single small bowl, now and for ages past called "jack," as the object played at, for in a spirited drawing of that period, also copied by Strutt, we find three players with three bowls and a jack. Nowadays each player uses two or more bowls, and, allowing for changes in costume and more numerous players, the game seems to have been played in much the same way then as now.
Abundant records of the intervening centuries show the position held by the game in public estimation. During the sixteenth BOWLS] and seventeenth centuries and the early part of the eighteenth, it was in great favour with royalty, the nobility, clergy, and the well-to-do, but after Queen Anne's time a reaction set in, which continued down to our own day. Of recent years, however, the game has experienced a great revival, and now bids fair to attain and hold the high position it deserves as a gentle and healthful recreation.
The game was established in England long before its introduction into Scotland, where the practice of it has been modified and differs in many important respects, though the main principles and objects of play remain the same. [See BOWLS, Scot- TISH.] It is played upon what are called "bowling greens," grass plots of varying extent usually taking the form of a square or oblong with a width or length of from 40 to 60 yards. Such a space affords ample scope for play, a stretch of 35 or 40 yards from "trig" to "jack" being quite enough to play over, if nicety of play is to be regarded and fatigue avoided. The trig (or footer") is an essential implement in the game, and the starting point of all play. It is usually a piece of leather or matting about 18 in. square, upon which the leading or first player places one foot when throwing off jack, which he must do to a distance of 20 yards at least, but not nearer than a yard to the edge of the green. If the first throw fails he is allowed a second, but, failing again, his opponent is entitled to one throw, and if he also fail, the throw reverts back to the first player, but the order of play is not interfered with by such “ failures.
The jack is sometimes made of ivory, but commonly of wood or earthenware, and is from 2/2 in. to 4 in. in diameter. On some greens biassed jacks are still used, but earthenware straight-running ones are superseding them. The bowls (of which each player uses two in ordinary English play) are of globular form, and much larger and heavier than the jack. They are made of lignum vitæ or other hard and heavy wood, and vary in size and weight; the largest seldom exceeds in circumference the Scotch limit of 16/2 in. and the average weight is about 3 lbs., but there is no minimum limit of size. The most peculiar and interesting feature in bowl-playing is that the bowls are purposely made with a "bias," i.e., a tendency to diverge from the straight line when set running. Every bowl is practically round in the largest circumference or running part, but is shaved down very carefully and evenly on one side by the turning lathe, the effect being to cause the bowl when slackening speed to incline and turn (or draw) towards the reduced side, the divergence corresponding in intensity to the amount shaved off. Formerly the bias was brought about by inserting lead on one side of the bowl, but not so now. Perfectly straight-running bowls are not allowed, so that the player has, in sending a bowl on its journey, to allow for this created bias, the distance to jack, and the amount of force necessary to accomplish the object of his play. Inequalities in the surface of the green must also be taken into account, other- THE DELIVERY. wise elevations, depressions, or slopes will inevitably tell their tale by impeding the bowl or carrying it out of the contemplated course.
The usual complement of players in the English game is six, who divide into two sides of three, either by choice or by drawing lots. Each side agrees upon one of their number to lead or play first, and we may call him No. 1; he is supposed to be the weakest player, and is followed by the medium player as No. 2, the rear being brought up by the most experienced and skilful player, No. 3. Nos. I on each side toss to see which shall lead, and the game commences by the winner throwing jack within the prescribed limits, and when it has come to rest and is in all respects a valid mark he proceeds to play one of his bowls, and is followed by No. I of the opposing side with one of his; they play their [BOWLS second balls in the same order, and Nos. 2 and 3 on either side alternately so continue the play until all the twelve bowls are played, when an "end" is said to be slightest possible angle, the nearer trig the better. In this position the player has complete command of the bowl, and his eye can detect any unevenness in the ground refinished, and the side owning the bowl lying quiring allowances. A left-handed player nearest jack are said to have the "cast," which reckons one point in the score, and they are allowed another point for every additional bowl of theirs which lies nearer jack than any bowl of their opponents.
The number of available players of course varies. Two may play, opposing each other in what is called "single-handed" play, or four can play, two on each side, after the same manner that six do; but the play single-handed or two of a side being more continuous and involving frequent crossing of the green, is apt to become fatiguing, especially in warm weather. If more than six play in a set, the ground in the neighbourhood of jack becomes so encumbered with bowls that the hindmost players have few openings left for their skill, and their enjoyment is correspondingly lessened.
The game does not consist merely in playing the bowls so as to rest as near jack as possible in unobstructed ground, for second or third player often finds his course obstructed by the bowls already played, and that his own can only approach by passing, sliding from, or removing one or more of them, whilst third player has additional responsibility, the final result of the "end" depending on his play. He is generally equal to the occasion, and by a well-played bowl insinuates his own or a partner's into a winning position or saves something."
His only resource often is "firing" (playing with much force) at jack or bowls or both, either to send jack off the green and SO "void" the end altogether, or so to scatter the bowls as to drive away his opponents or let in one of his partners. Leading players should never be "short," i.e., should not play their bowls so as to stop short of jack; to go beyond it is better, as the jack can be driven to them if desired; the second players should play "well up" unless it is advisable to "block" the ground against the opponents in order to maintain a favourable position. 66 It is most important that the beginner should adopt a good position and attitude for delivering his bowls. If a right-handed player, he should place his right foot firmly on trig, then advance the left about a yard, and, bending the left leg and stooping, bring his body down nearly parallel with the green, leaving just sufficient space to swing his right arm with the bowl in hand clear of the grass, so that the bowl may glide from the hand and strike the turf at the places left foot on trig, and advances the right in the same manner. A right-handed player naturally plays on the right-hand ground, that is, to the right of an imaginary line drawn from trig to jack, and ought to play both bowls on that ground unless blocked by other bowls, when he should 66 change his ground" by playing to the left of the line. It becomes necessary to change the ground in many cases. For instance, your opponents may have a "short" bowl lying a little to the right of jack, and, should your bowl touch it, it may be driven nearer to jack; in such a case you play on the lefthand ground. This changing the ground is necessitated by a variety of circumstances too numerous to specify. In play the bowl should be firmly grasped in the hand, in righthanded play the little finger resting near the biassed side, and the thumb on the other side, which is called "playing finger." If the player decides to change his ground he turns the bowl in his hand and plays with the thumb on the biassed side, and this is called "playing thumb." Beginners often feel a difficulty in playing on both sides, but should never give way to the natural inclination to play only on one side; there never was a good player who did. Occasionally the green is so encumbered with bowls on both sides of the imaginary line that to succeed it is necessary to reduce the natural curve caused by the bias, and this may be done either by playing with extra force, or by 66 setting up" the bowl so that its circumference inclines a bit to one side or the other, a manœuvre in which some players excel.
On the completion of each "end" the players cross over and a fresh one is entered upon by the winning leader throwing jack again from trig, which is placed within one yard of the spot from which jack was taken up in the completed end; the bowls are played as before, and ends succeed each other until one or other side scores seven or any agreed number of points for game.
England has not yet a national or central association of bowling clubs, and consequently there is no uniform standard of playing rules applicable to the whole kingdom, though there are local associations of clubs in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham, Norfolk, Suffolk, and elsewhere, which have framed sets of rules for their respective districts. In these and other parts many clubs exist and flourish independently under BOWLS] their own sets of rules, but scarcely any two of them are alike in all respects. In Scotland, however, the Scottish Bowling Association has provided a set of rules which are generally acted on throughout the country. Scotland has about 35,000 players and 400 greens, with district associations for Edinburgh, Leith, Glasgow, Midlothian, &c. The number of English clubs is unknown, but there are several hundreds of them. They are very numerous in Newcastle, Manchester, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Norfolk, and the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge have several.
The English greens are not usually so both out and home. If each club gets a win a deciding match is played on a neutral green. In Lancashire, however, there are never more than two of a side, and their matches are usually played single-handed, the points gained by each player being added to those gained by the other players of his party, and the club making in all the highest total of points wins. Every club has its own prize meetings, and the associations promote contests between clubs and singlehanded tournaments for individual merit open to all members. The players are generally attended by lads, who pick and clean the bowls for them, receiving Id. each A COMPLETED HEAD. evening from every player; in this way the players are saved much time and trouble, and their attention is not distracted from the game by doing the work themselves.
Some clubs, however, dispense entirely with these “helps." level as the Scottish, and several sets may cross each other's lines of play, so that great variety may always be had owing to the constant shifting of the play and the inequalities of the green. English players use only two bowls apiece except in the more northern districts, where three or even four are sometimes allowed. In their club matches a team of twelve players is selected and divided into four sides of three each, and in matches independent of the associations the contest is usually in two parts, the first taking place on the green of the challenged club, the second on that of the challengers. The visitors, of course, have to find out as best they can the peculiarities of each green, and must be skilful to win The game is not much played in Ireland, but we hear of it as practised in some form or other in most European countries, and in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Calcutta, Kurrachee, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand (where there is a Bowling Association) it is rapidly advancing.
E. T. AYERS.
BOWLS, SCOTTISH. -Bowl-playing is one of the oldest games now practised, and 1 66 statistics could very easily be produced to prove that year by year it is still growing in popularity. In the fifteenth century it was unquestionably very popular, and in the next century an Act (33 Henry 8, c. 9) was passed whereby it was declared to be an illegal pursuit, and it was further enacted that no person by himself, factor, deputy, servant, or other shall for his or their gain, lucre, or living, keep, have, hold, occupy, exercise, or maintain any common house, alley, or place of Bowling." It was alleged that it interfered with the practice of Archery, and it was only allowed to exist in the land as a luxury and for the rich. Thus, by the same Act of Parliament, artificers, servants, &c., might play at Christmas time, and a licence might be granted to those worth over one hundred pounds per annum to keep a bowling-green for private play only. Curiously enough, this Act remained unrepealed until 1845, when by 8 and 9 Vict. cap. 109, sec. I, "any game of mere skill, such as Bowling . . .' was declared to be quite lawful. دو Long before the embargo of Henry VIII.'s parliament was removed, the game was widely popular. In the north its progress was more extended and rapid than elsewhere, and in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Scotland it speedily obtained a hold upon the affections of the people which it keeps to this day. According to Mitchell, the first bowling-green in Scotland of which we have any account is that of Glasgow.
So popular has the game now become that many corporations, notably that of Edinburgh and Newcastle-on-Tyne, have provided public bowling-greens. On these greens it is usual to make a charge of one penny an hour, and it is only necessary to mention that during the summer of 1895 no less than 57,646 pennies were collected by the Edinburgh Corporation. Queen's Park, Glasgow, is the home of Bowling in the north, and is the chosen venue for the final stages of the annual championships in connection with the Scottish Bowling Association.
The game of Bowls varies in point of detail in different parts of the country, and even its title is not always the same. According to Mitchell and all the older authorities, the correct name of the game is Bowl-playing, although Mitchell uses the terms Bowl-playing, Bowling, and Bowls indifferently. The game as played in Scotland differs widely from that played in Lancashire and Yorkshire. (Southern English Bowls has been explained in the foregoing article.) [BOWLS The chief differences between the two games are these:- In Scotland the greens are absolutely level, or as nearly level as skilled experts can make them; spherical earthenware jacks are used to play to; the play must be confined to the rink that is, a space usually about seven yards wide, extending the full length of the green; the players in single and double-handed matches invariably use four bowls; and club matches are invariably played with four men a-side, as in curling, each player using two bowls. ،، In Lancashire each green has a crown" varying in rise and slope, so that it is almost impossible to find any two greens alike; the jacks are of wood with bias, much the same as the bowls; the first player can throw the jack to whatever part of the green he likes, the different lines of play thus frequently crossing each other; players only use two bowls; and matches are decided by a series of single-handed games, the rink form of contest being practically unknown.
The Scottish game is gradually extending its sphere beyond Scotland, and in London, Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, Westmorland, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, greens have been made and the game played as in Scotland.
Greens vary considerably in size, from thirty-five to fifty yards square being the usual extremes. Where grounds can be obtained at all, they should not be less than forty yards square, and five yards more each way is a very great advantage. That area permits of plenty of variety in the matter of length, and prevents the ends from becoming worn out, as they inevitably do when the green is so short that the mat has almost invariably to be on the same spot.
In laying a green, particular care must be taken so as to ensure efficient drainage, and the turf used must be fine and wiry in substance, and such as to stand plenty of wear. Experience has taught that the turf found growing on the sand by the seashore is incomparably better than any other for a bowling-green, and so great is the demand for it that a price almost equal to the value of the freehold of the land has to be paid before a sod can be turned. For many years the Ayrshire coast was the chief source of supply, but of late that has become exhausted, and nowadays we frequently hear of turf being brought from such distant isles as Colonsay and Islay. Of course all bowling-greens must be kept closely cut and rolled; and to obtain the best results it is necessary to mow it a few BOWLS] times each season with a specially set scythe. An expert mower with a proper scythe will cut barrowfuls of grass after the closest-set machine can get no more; and the advantage to be obtained, both in the way of keener play and a healthier green, can only be appreciated by those who know from experience.
The aim of every player is to get his bowls-" woods," they are sometimes called -nearer to the jack than his opponent, and immense variety is afforded by "drawing," 66 guarding" a shot or a road, "trailing" a jack to alter the position of an end, striking" to remove an opponent or clear the way, and so on. 66 place, and at some of the larger meetings it is not uncommon to find more than five hundred entries, and the play extending over the best part of a month. It remains to add that the present practice of giving money-prizes is being opposed by an everincreasing host of bowlers, who warmly approve of the strictly amateur position taken up by the Association.
J. B. LITTLE.
BOWLING.-" Booling with bouls," as it is pronounced by Northumbrians, is played on a course whose length varies from 1,150 yards to one mile. The object is to cover the course in the fewest possible MEASURING THE DISTANCES FROM THE JACK.
Up to a few years ago there was no recognised central authority on the Scotch game, but in 1891 one of the best bowlers in the north, Mr. James Brown, acting upon a suggestion dropped by the present writer, founded the Scottish Bowling Association.
Already it has organised a couple of championships each season, one for singlehanded play, and the other for rinks, and the prizes offered are looked upon as the highest honours in the Bowling world. In Scotland all inter-association, inter-county, and inter-club matches are played in rinks, but at tournaments the play is almost invariably single-handed, although there are occasionally some for "pairs," and there is also the Association rink contest. Never a season passes but several tournaments take throws. For each throw a short run may be taken up to the "trig," which is a line fixed by the referees at right angles to the course, at the point where the ball last fell.
The length of the trig is about two yards.
The arm may be swung completely round before the bowl leaves the hand in the final lurch. The weight of the balls, which are mostly of stone, sometimes of concrete, varies from 3 oz. to 50 oz. Weights are, of course, specified before a match. Where the players are to be handicapped, the heavier balls are given to the better players.
In Newcastle the game is played largely by pitmen on the Town Moor, which consists of 927 acres of undulating grass land. Saturday afternoon is, naturally, a favourite time. Another Northumbrian course is at Newbiggin. The knots of pitmen who play it are extraordinarily keen and excited over it, and it is well not to balk them by illtimed crossing of the course. RULES.
The Game of Bowls as played by the Norfolk and Suffolk Bowling Association. 1. No player shall change his bowls after commencing a game, unless with his opponents' consent. The circumference of a bowl not to exceed 162 in. 2. On commencing a game, the footer must be placed by the leader before he throws the jack. by the leader before he throws the jack. 3. On changing ends, the leader, before he throws the jack, must place footer within one yard of the spot previously occupied by the jack, and from thence play must be resumed. 4. The footer must not be taken up until the last bowl has been played. If the footer has been taken up, and the last bowl by reason of a rub or set, has to be played again, it must be replaced as nearly as possible in its former position. 5. If the jack is struck off the green, the footer must be placed one yard from the edge opposite to where it had been struck; but if half the bwols have not been played, they must be returned, and play resumed from where the footer lay. 6. If the player who has to throw the jack fails in two trials to throw a mark, one of the opponents must then throw it. The defaulter (not the thrower) must play the first bowl. If the opponent nent at one trial fails to throw a mark, the again takes the lead. 7. If the jack in its course be impeded in any way, or stops on the land of any other players, , or stops on the land of any other players, it must be removed or thrown again. 8. If two jacks are thrown near the same place, the one that is last stationary must be pronounced not a mark, and must be removed or thrown again. 9. If a bowl be played before the jack is at rest, it must be taken off the green. 10. If a played bowl has reached its destination before the jack is pronounced not a mark, the end proceeds. 11. The jack must not be thrown so as to stop near the centre of the green and obstruct other players. 12. A jack, if delivered a yard from the boundary of the green, must not be played along the edge of the green, so as to rest at the same distance from the boundary. If the jack is at rest four yards from the edge, in a line with its course, it is a mark. A jack delivered four yards from the edge may rest at a distance of one yard. 13. The player on delivering a bowl must place his right or left toe on the footer, according as he plays with his right or left hand. Any bowl not so played may be stopped and played again. Any bowl not so played a second time, must be taken off the green. 14. A player after delivering a bowl must not follow it up in such a manner as to impede the sight of his opponent; if, after being cautioned, he persist in doing so, the opponents shall have the option of playing out the end, or declaring it void. 15. If a bowl be played out of turn, it may be stopped by an opponent; or, at his request, be played again in its proper turn; if, however, it has reached its destination, it must remain, and the opponent may play two bowls in succession if he has them. 16. If an opponent's bowl be played by mis- [BOWLS take, it may be stopped; but if it has reached its destination, it must be replaced by the right bowl if requested. 17. If a bowl be played whilst the preceding one is in motion, it becomes a dead bowl. 18. A player may retain possession of the footer until his bowl has ceased running. 19. Players, when at the end where the jack lies, must not stand within the radius of the bowls as they are played, or directly behind the jack, so as to obstruct the sight of the other players. 20. When an end is finished, neither the jack nor a bowl that scores must be removed (unless with the consent of an opponent) until the casts are all counted and the players satisfied; otherwise the end may be declared void. 21. A person may be chosen to keep the score and declare it at each end; but if no scorer be chosen, the leader, before he throws the jack, must declare the state of the game by pronouncing his own score first, and loud enough to be heard by his opponents. 22. If a running bowl be impeded by an opponent, or any other cause, before it reaches the jack, it must be played again; but if impeded by the player or his partner, it must be taken off the green. 23. If a running bowl be impeded by the player or his partner, after passing the jack, it must be taken off the green; but if impeded by an opponent, or a bowl of the player's, it must remain where it stops. 24. If a still bowl be displaced by an opponent, or any other person, or by a bowl or a jack of any other players, it must be replaced as nearly as possible in its original position. 25. If a player touch or displace a still bowl of his own or his partner, it must be taken off the green. 26. If a player take up or remove one of his own, his partner's, or an opponent's bowl, to give himself or partner an advantage in play, he forfeits the game. 27. Before delivering a bowl, a player or his partner, on obtaining permission, may remove a bowl belonging to any other foreign set of players, if it obstructs his play, or they may take it up to prevent a running bowl of their own (but not an opponent) striking it. 28. If the jack is displaced by a bowl or the jack of any other players, or by any exterior cause, or taken up by one of the players whose bowl was nearest to it, before the last bowl is played, the end is void. 29. A player may block an opponent at hand whenever he thinks proper, but he must not play his bowl a less distance than four yards from the footer. The bowl must be played, for, if placed, it becomes a dead bowl. 30. If a player strike the jack with his bowl, and the jack rub or hit his partner, or any other person, or a bowl or the jack of any other players, the end is void; but if it rub or set on a bowl of the player's, it must remain where it stops, and the bowl nearest to it (when the end is finished) scores first cast. 31. Whenever the jack is struck off the green the end is void. 32. If a player touch the jack for the purpose of claiming the game, before the opponents have played their last bowl, or before he has a sufficient number of casts to win, the end is void. 33. The jack must not be turned, but may be touched gently with the finger. 34. If the last player and his partner have a sufficient number of casts laid to win the game, he may decline playing his bowl, or he may re- BOWLS] quest his partner to touch the jack; and if, by then playing, he change the position of the jack or bowls, it does not alter the game. 35. If he play his bowl without the jack being touched, it must not be stopped or the jack touched; and if the position of the jack or bowls is changed, and the casts reduced to less than will make the game, or if he set an opponent's bowl first, it scores, and the game proceeds. 36. If a bowl so played be stopped, or the jack touched by the player or the partner, the end is void. 37. When it is doubtful which bowl is nearest the jack, it must be decided by a standard, if the distance is less than a yard. After the standard is taken by the leader or his partner, the bowl must be removed; then, if the opponents can make it rest on their bowl and the jack, they win the cast. 38. Whenever a bowl rests against another, and the bowl rested against has to be removed to allow the other to be measured from the point nearest the jack, it must be removed by an opponent or a disinterested person, and measured as it settles after such removal. 39. No measuring is to be permitted until the end is finished. 40. A player may instruct his partner, but he must not stand or place any object between him and the jack for the purpose of indicating the land to be taken when he is in the act of playing, neither must he point out to his partner how their opponents' bowls lie, but he may point out their own or request him to inspect their position before playing. 41. Bowls played or struck off the green, or prevented going off by resting against anything at the edge or in the channel, must not be scored. 42. If, during the course of the game, it becomes so dark that the jack cannot be distinctly seen from the footer, any player may have a light exhibited at the jack if he so request. 43. Spectators are not permitted to instruct, or give any intimation whatever to players, and are amenable equally with the players to the rules of the green and the game. 44. No persons, other than players, are allowed on the green, except measurers, at such times as their services are required, and dogs are not to be brought on the green by any person. 45. No bowl to count that is more than 6 ft. from jack. 46. If a bowl be carried by the player four yards from the footer, the bowl to be forfeited.
NOTE. The rules of the game vary considerably in different parts, but the foregoing may be accepted as generally typical.
GLOSSARY.
Alley. Properly a covered green, but sometimes used for any ground on which the game is played.
Auld-bowl. The bowl lying nearest the jack.
Sometimes called Cast-bowl.
Baby.-[See JACK.] Back-hand or Cross-hand. The left-hand side of a right-hand player and vice versa. Used also in description of a throw when the hand is across the body at the moment of delivery and the bias on the right side of the bowl.
Bares. The old name for Greens.
Blocking.-(Also Guarding and Obstructing.) Playing a bowl so that it shall come to rest between the next player and the jack, or any bowl at which he may wish to aim.
Burned. The jack, or bowl, is said to be "burned" when touched, accidentally or deliberately, by any player, or spectator after coming to rest. If by the former, the opposing side choose whether they will begin the "End" (q.v.) again or not, but if by the latter, it must be recommenced. Cast. The unit of scoring; a ball lying within 6 ft. of the jack and nearer to it than any opponent.
Charging.-[See FIRING.] Cot.-[See JACK.] Cote. A sliding touch upon another bowl. [See Kiss.] Cross-hand.- [See BACK-HAND.] Dead length. A bowl stopping exactly on a level with the jack.
Dead bowl. A bowl which is out of the game because :- (1) It did not travel three yards from the "footer" (q.v.); (2) It travelled off the ground, or (3) It was moved by its owner or a partner.