Page 12 - Autumn 2018 Final

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KNOW YOUR SPORT
12 KNOW YOUR SPORT
SCOTTISH CARPET
SCOTTISH CARPET
BOWLS
BOWLS
The origin of carpet bowling is basically un-
known but it is believed to have originated
from a form of parlour game which used ce-
ramic bowls known in Scotland as 'Piggies'.
This was extremely popular between 1860
and 1880 as almost every home had a set
of 'Piggies'.
As carpets were rare they used blan-
kets, canvas or even paper; it is recorded where one club played on sawdust spread on a hard
floor. This developed to where groups of young men began to organise events with rules through-
out Scotland. Some of these young
men also played the game of Curl-
ing.
By the1890's the game had de-
veloped with rules invented by some
and copied from the new rules put in
place for curling. The measurement
for the carpet and markings are the
same as that for curling but reduced
from yards to feet thus a third of the
size of a curling rink.
By 1895 the Scottish Carpet
Bowling Association had been
formed with 12 districts within Scotland. In the original form it did not include England. Each dis-
trict had anything between 5 and 10 member clubs. You can see from that that they had a mem-
bership in the region of perhaps 100 clubs with average of 30/40 members each. They were
also responsible for arranging international events which indicated that carpet bowls were being
played elsewhere to the same rules
It was a popular pastime and was encouraged by the churches to "prevent young men
from partaking in alcohol and mischief" and local schoolrooms were often permitted to be used
as bowling halls. In the early days there were no boards, just carpet laid on the floor. Boards
were introduced following the formation of the association as the condition of many of the floors
disadvantaged visiting teams.
Ceramic bowls were used prior to 1895 when the association decided on Lignum or a plas-
tic substance called 'Lawrite composition' and the size was set at no more than 12 inches cir-
cumference. The problem of ceramic bowls hitting the 'wicket' or hoop and shattering could
now be avoided.
The first mention of carpet bowling in England follows the
formation of our club. The Birkenhead Carpet Bowling
Society was formed in 1896 by a group of drapers who
originated from Dumfries. It is believed that the first venue
at that time was a hotel or public house in Market Street,
Birkenhead.
Since then it has had many venues throughout the
town. Although it was formed by Scots it had members
from all sides of the community, English, Irish and Welsh.
In the North West region there soon came several other
clubs, the next formed being Chester.