Introduction
This evening, my blog theme is Scottish lawn bowls. This is a very popular game, particularly with the senior section of the community.There are hundreds of bowls clubs in communities all around Scotland.
Information on Lawn Bowls
The game dates back to at least the 16th century and became increasingly popular in the 17th and 18th centuries with the first bowling club formed in 1709. The rules were codified in 1864 subsequent to which the Scottish Bowling Association was established in 1892 followed by the first National Championship in 1892.
The game is played on a square grass bowling green divided into 6 rinks. Bowls can be any colour and weight is maximum 1.50kg.
Participants can play as singles or in teams. Aim of the game is to get the bowls closest to the jack.
Lawn bowls is popular in Scotland and elsewhere with 7500 clubs around the world. In Scotland the game tends to be patronised by seniors. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games Scotland’s Rosemary Lenton won a gold medal at the age of 72. The victory was in the women’s pairs B6-B8 final alongside Pauline Wilson.
History of Lawn Bowls
The following information has been sourced from the website of Federation Francaise de Lawn Bowls:
Lawn bowls, boulingrin in French, is a game that originated in England. It is commonly practiced throughout the Commonwealth but remains virtually unknown in other countries. It is a bowling game that is similar to lawn curling, or any other ball sport such as boule lyonnaise or raffa volo. Lawn bowls distinguishes itself by the shape of its balls and by the type of its turf or green carpet, which is almost 40 meters long.
Although it is estimated that this game goes back to ancient times, it is from the XIIth century that it started becoming popular in England. While establishing its colonies, England helped make the sport popular in Australia, Canada and the United States.
As lawn bowls is played by men and women alike, the games are often played in the mixed format. It is an elegant sport, and one where teamwork is of utmost importance.
The World Bowls Federation, based in Edinburgh, comprises more than 50 countries. Lawn Bowls is one of the most played bowling sports in the world with more than 7,500 clubs. Australia is one of the countries where lawn bowls is extremely popular. Hong Kong, meanwhile, founded its Federation in 1961.
After boule lyonnaise, raffa volo and pétanque, it is now lawn bowls that is the latest rage in China, the only country to have its capital of bowl sports.
Key Dates
Key dates
- 1880: Creation of the Royal Victorian Association (Australia)
- 1892: Creation of the Scottish Bowling Association (Scotland)
- 1924: Creation of the Bowls Canada Boulingrin (Canada)
- 1930: First Commonwealth Games (Canada)
- 1961: Creation of the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association (Hong Kong)
- 2016: Creation of the French Federation of Lawn Bowls
- 2018: 21st Commonwealth Games (Australia)
- 2019: First European medal for the French team (silver in mixed fours in Guernsey)
- 2020: First participation in the World Championship for France in Australia
More information
The publication, Visitors’ Guide to Scotland extends to nearly 800 pages and provides a wide range of information on Scotland.. ISBN is 978-1-9161332-0-4. Also available via Kindle.