CURLING has been popular in North Britain for the last three centuries, and is regarded as a Scottish game. It is possible that some of the Flemish merchants brought it into the country toward the close of the sixteenth century, but however that may be, it owes its development to the Scotch, and is now decidedly the national game of Scotland.
DICE are said by some to have had their origin in occult sources, but more reasonably they are ascribed to Psalmedes, of Greece, B.C. 1244. Those exhumed at Thebes are identical with those used to-day, and the games played with them are the simplest and most widely known games of chance in the world.
FOOTBALL was undoubtedly introduced into England by the Romans, and is, therefore, older than the national game of cricket. Varieties of it may be found in many parts of the world. It is known in the Philippines and through the Polynesian Islands, among the Eskimos, the Faroe Islands, and even by the Maoris of New Zealand. The Greeks also played it.
GOLF is popularly supposed to have its origin In Scotland, but there seems to be good reason for believing that it came from Holland. The name itself is undoubtedly of German or Dutch extraction, and an enactment of James I of England, bearing date 1618, refers to a considerable importation of golf-balls from Holland, and at the same time places a restriction upon this extravagant use, in a foreign country, of the coin of the realm.
LACROSSE is the national ball-game of Canada. It came from the aboriginal red men, who doubtless played it for many centuries before the discovery of the New World. Different tribes played it in different ways, and it was usually very rough. The name was given to it by the French Canadians, who saw the resemblance between the curved netted stick used in playing it and a bishop’s crozier or crosse.
PING-PONG is really table-tennis, and had its origin in that game. Its immense popularity lasted only a brief space of time, and its greatest vogue was in France and America.
POKER is probably a development of il frusso, an Italian game of the fifteenth century. A similar game called primiera was played in Italy in the sixteenth century, and thence journeyed into Spain. In France this became ambigu, and later appeared in England under the name of brag. Poker is distinctly an American game, and seems to have descended more directly from the game of brag than from any of the others.
POLO is of Eastern origin, and has been a favorite pastime in Persia, Tatary, and the frontiers of India from prehistoric times. The name of the game varies with the district, and the rules are not the same on minor points, though they are substantially alike on the main issues. China and Japan also have a game closely resembling the Persian sport.
POOL AND PYRAMIDS are both a form of billiards, and their origin from the same source is apparent.
SHUFFLEBOARD probably comes from the same source as quoits, curling, and bowling. It was immensely popular in England during the reign of Henry VIII. Subsequently it was one of the games forbidden by law because it turned the people from the practise of archery.