Lawn Bowling

A kind of “accurate” sport where the aim is to slightly roll the balls that are radially asymmetrical in shape, lawn bowling is similar to petanque and bocce. It is widely acknowledged in Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia as well as with the countries that are under the Commonwealth. For those who are not familiar, it is an association that comprises of fifty- three autonomous sovereign nations that have been colonized by the British Empire. Moving on, similar to others, this game also has a rich history that can be traced back to the twelfth century.

Lawn bowling was described in Thomas Becket’s autobiography written by William Fizstephen as a summer amusement of the juvenile bachelors. The long holidays in London were filled with wrestling, shooting and leaping as well as in casting of stones. Throwing of javelins was also practiced in which men even employ bucklers as if they were real warriors. He also made mention of “jactus lapidum” where a lot of individuals refer to the sport. On another note, it is also said that the probability of employing round stones were in the earlier years of the game. There was a registry though of utilizing iron but it was already at the latter periods.

Those made of iron in the bygone eras of lawn bowling were usually employed during the festivities in Naim. However, such statements are not that clearly verified. The mention of “jactus lapidum” by William Fitzstephen is believed to refer to the contemporary procedure of “putting the weight” where in the past was dubbed as “placing the stone.” That may be a point of argument but it is already settled that the sport started in the thirteenth century in contrast to twelfth century. It was in those years where a published manuscript containing an illustration that shows two individuals striking a tiny cone instead of a ball.

By the turn of the next century, a manuscript found in the Bodleian Library in Oxford contained another illustration of lawn bowling. Two individuals were still shown but there was a difference though with what seen in a thirteenth century article, there was no bowl to mark. It was explained that the one owned by the first player was mistaken by the second player as a collection of jack but of course, there was no clarity what was target. Even with the inconsistent interpretations, the sport still became popular. But upon the fame of the game, it was also banned by the parliament and monarchy. Both parties were afraid that archery will be tried and tested.

Monarchs really feared the popularity of lawn bowling where the likes of Richard II and Edward III prohibited statutes depicting it. However, the decision of the noble men did not stop the fame of the sport. As a matter of fact, it encouraged the successive “oppressive” legislation especially that a lot of the constructed alleys employed with the game related to taverns usually visited by the lower class in the society. By 1511, Henry VII still agreed with the prevention of sport lawn bowling. Still in 1541, the “diversion” of apprentices, servants, laborers and artificers were forbidden. A penalty was even given to who where seen playing but not until 1845.

During 1845, lawn bowling started to publicized. From the orchards of masters, the sport was already brought to the fields. The game is typically played on a huge ground broken down into parallel strips dubbed as rinks. There is also an indoor version which is done employing a carpet as the base. At this juncture, sport lawn bowling is already experiencing total emancipation as there are already lawn bowling equipment and lawn bowling clothing easily available in the market.