Bowls

According to Nietzsche, the German philosopher, "The belly is the main reason why man does not mistake himself for a god." All is not lost, however, for though many Canadians are groaning under a heavy burden, the Commonwealth Games will encourage them to become fit. Bowls, also known as lawn bowling, is one of two sports seen at the Commonwealth Games, but not at the Olympics. The object of the game, which is played on a large, level green, is to roll the bowls as near as possible to a stationary ball called a jack. The pastime is rooted in prehistory, though one should not forget that historians tend to trace nearly every sport back to the Stone Age. Nevertheless, a rudimentary but recognizable form of bowls had evolved by the thirteenth century. Sixteenth century enthusiasts added a bias to the balls, causing them to travel in a curved rather than a straight line. For a seemingly sedate game, bowls enjoyed a surprising amount of notoriety. In 1361 King Edward III banned it and other sports to promote archery, a skill vital for national defence. Naturally, bowls thrived. It fell into disrepute only in the seventeenth century when besmirched by excessive gambling and drinking. In the nineteenth century the Scots resurrected the pastime and this perhaps accounts for its similarity to curling. Indeed, the resemblance is so strong that it is hard to explain why Canadians devote themselves to the one while largely ignoring the other. This Commonwealth Games stamp were designed by Stuart Ash of Toronto. The se-tenant 30-cent stamp feature the sport of lawn bowling. All four stamps retain the background of silver horizontal bands used in the earlier issue of Commonwealth Games stamps on 31 March 1978.