king-pin Part II

Mon May 21 10:47:48 UTC 2012

We have this to wonder about.

http://goo.gl/CnxRh
The Modern Pocket Hoyle: Containing All The Games of Skill and Chance,
As Played in This Country at the Present Time. By "Trumps" [William
Brisbane Dick]. New York: 1868
Ten-pins. p. 337
> This game is played on smooth platforms, about sixty feet in length
> and four in width, called alleys, at the end of which the pins, ten in
> number, are set up in a triangular arrangement, with the apex of the
> triangle toward the player, as in the diagram. The foremost pin is
> called the /King-pin. /At the end of the alley there is a padded
> cushion to stop the balls sent down the alley. Each player in the
> match game has ten rolls, with three balls, if requisite, to each
> roll, making thirty balls in all, and the game is kept on a slate or
> black-board, with ten divisions for each player, each division
> representing the aggregate number of pins knocked down with the balls
> of that division.

The terminology, of course, is completely congruent with
bowling--whether regular or candlepin (smaller, more cylindrical pins,
symmetrical between top and bottom, and smaller balls that are
palm-rolled rather than finger-rolled).

The arrangement of pins (if visible) is as follows, with the king-pin
facing the bottom, in this case:

* * * *
* * *
* *
*

In this game (i.e., bowling), all pins are equivalent, but one is in the
lead. If we take this one as a basis for the metaphor, then it makes
sense to use "leader" or "man in charge" as "king-pin". But then this
would not explain the other meaning (similar to "linch-pin"). Of course,
there's a lot more information that's still missing. Let me fill a
couple of voids.

http://goo.gl/Buozy
Sporting Magazine. Volume 3, Second Series (15). London: July 1831
On the Manly Exercise of Skittle-Playing. pp. 171/2+
> The modern game of Skittles has little affinity to its original, or,
> as it is called in some places, /Nine-pins. /The old method had a
> great deal of art and science in it, though the players or inventors
> had probably no view at first in forming it, but, like the origin of
> all rural sports, was the result of mere chance.
> The number of pins in the old game was nine as at the present day, but
> of different values or counts, in proportion to their height and place
> in the frame. The pin which stood in the middle had a head upon it in
> the form of a hat-crown, with the lower part like the modern ones, but
> the whole pin, composed ofthe body and head, was higher than any of
> the others by the head: this head was generally called /King, /or some
> other cant phrase of similar signification, such as /His Majesty, Pin
> Royal, /&c., and counted for five.
pp. 172/2+
> The bowl and tip in this game were nearly alike, for the same number
> might be got in both.The king-pin was made heavier than any of the
> others by almost one half, and the bowl as heavy, or very nearly so,
> as the king, or as 8 to 9.
>
> * The difference between /bowling /and /tipping /is this: the first is
> performed at a given distance: and the second, standing close to the
> frame upon which the pins are placed, and throwing the bowl through in
> the midst of them.

Aha! Here, the King-pin is not only the leading pin, but also the
largest and the most important--and counts for most points when struck
down, plus being involved in other point-scoring (points were scored
based on which pin--or bowl--tipped the another pin).

p. 173/1-2
> A curious piece of antiquity shewing the original law of this game was
> discovered about a century ago on the taking down of an old hall near
> Ribchester in Lancashire. This was a window of twelve feet square, the
> frame of which had been a skittle-frame, from the evident marks upon
> it descriptive of the rules of the game. Each side of the frame was
> nine inches broad, with inclinations of fifty, sixty, seventy, and
> eighty degrees respectively. Upon the upper edges of the frame were
> sixty-one holes, in two rows, one of which had a blank of six after
> forty with these lines round the frame:
>
> "Bowl strong, hit the frame without, and miss the same within;
> The king, two lords, with their attendants, the game will bring.
> A.D. 1486."
>
> From this inscription may be inferred the antiquity of the game of
> Skittles; and from it also we may collect that the bowl was to hit the
> king and two lords, with whom and their attending rolls the game would
> be won.

If this is indeed the case, we may be talking about the king-pin in a
game as early as 1486. However, both the verse and the rest of the text
simply refer to the "king" rather than the more elaborate "king-pin".
The rest of the article describes different historical versions of
similar games, including a Chinese (25-pin) and a Persian (17-pin)
version, culminating in "Dutch-pins" and "Four Corners".

p. 176/2
> /Dutch-pins /is a pastime much resembling /Skittles, /but the pins are
> taller and slenderer, especially the middle pin, which is higher than
> the rest, and called the King-pin. The pins are nine in number, and
> placed upon a frame in the manner of skittles; and the bowls used by
> the performers are very large, but made of a light kind of wood.

Going back a bit further, but sticking with skittles,

http://goo.gl/AdX7L
The General Weekly Register of News, Literature, Law, Politics and
Commerce. Volume 6. London: May 12, 1822
[Review of] The Lollards: a Tale founded on the persecutions which
marked the early part of the fifteenth century. By the Author of the
"Mystery ; or, Forty Years Ago ;" and of "Calthorpe ; or Fallen
Fortunes.". p. 231/1
> But the game of skittles, as then played, differed essentially from
> that which constitutes the amusement of the industrious classes of the
> present day. The skittle-court of Sir Ricliard was a square enclosure,
> in the centre of which a large frame of the same shape was laid down.
> About a foot within this frame, the pins were ranged in three rows.
> These, ludicrous as it must sound, represented tbe three branches o f
> the British Constitution, king, lords, and commons. Such were the
> names given to the skittles, and in knocking them down, they counted
> according to their rank. The king pin still retains its name and
> station, and part but not all of its original glory in the modern
> game. It stood in the centre, decorated with the representation of a
> crown, and was three inches taller than the four corner skittles,
> nobles as tbey were called, which surpassed in tbe same degree the
> commons, or skittles placed at the edge of the frame between the
> corners. The nobles had small round heads--the commons lacking such
> distinction. Whenever the king fell the player scored five. Each noble
> contributed three towards bis game; a commoner gave but two.

Skittles is listed from 1634 (individual pins are listed as "skittle"
from 1680). Kayles, which appears to be a version of skittles, is listed
from c1325 (and is supposedly related to Middle Dutch "keghel", which is
a direct antecedent of the Russian word for bowling pins "kegli",
although the Russian word more likely arrived via the Baltic republics,
which received it from Swedish or German). Ninepins is listed from 1580,
but "Dutch pins" is only traced to the same 1801 source as for king-pin
1., which makes me wonder if the identification in that definition is
correct (should be with skittles or skittles-like games, not
specifically with kayles).

Earlier edition of Hoyle's differs in content, but gives similar
terminology. [A quick aside: foul adj. III. 14.a. refers to the use of
"foul" in the context of sports, specifically mentioning--but without
any examples--the baseball "foul ball"; "foul shot" for basketball is
added in a Draft Addition, but the rest of the quotations are from 1797,
then a1861--the one below, for "foul bowl" from 1814, deserves to be on
that list. Also, Draft Addition March 2004 adds "bowling bag" to bowling
n., but there is still no entry for "bowling ball" or "bowling shoes"--I
suppose, they are transparent, but so is "bowling bag", if that's the
case--in skittles, however, whether the bowling object is a ball or a
bat, it is called the "bowl", which explains the idea of "bowling". Also
note that "bowling alley" only covers the enclosure for skittles, not an
establishment for bowling.]

Hoyle's games improved: consisting of practical treatsies on whist etc.
By Edmond Hoyle. Revised and corrected by Charles Jones. New expanded
edition. London: 1814
Skittles. The Game of Skittles. pp. 421+
> 2. If the bowler throws the bowl so as to cause it to run double, (as
> commonly called) and any one of the opposite party calls out, /A foul
> bowl; /if it has not reached the pins, the player must bowl again: but
> if it arrived at the frame before the opposite party called out /foul,
> /whatever numbers are bowled down must be scored.
> ...
p. 424
> He must strike his first or second pin in the middle or largest part,
> and with the same motion and instant of time deliver his bowl at the
> fourth or bowl-pin. Striking them in this manner generally has the
> following effect: hitting the first pin not quite full, forces it
> against the middle or fifth pin, from thence to the seventh, and will
> frequently rebound to the eighth without any roll. The second pin, if
> struck well, will knock down the third ; and the fourth, or bowlpin,
> will strike the sixth; and, if the pins are good, the ninth is often
> brought down by some of the rolling ones.
> When the learner is to tip for four upon game, he should choose the
> pins No. 8, 7, 6, and 4; placing his left foot by the side of the
> frame, with his toe nearly in a line with the bottom of the seventh
> pin, and right foot behind him; he must strike the three side pins at
> one motion, at the same time throwing the bowl at the pin No. 4.
> To tip for five: let him place his left foot a little to the left of
> the pin No. 9, and his other foot behind. He should strike the ninth
> pin to hit the seventh, the fifth to the fourth, and the bowl must
> knock down the sixth.
Dutch-Pins. pp. 425+
> 4. The king pin thrown down from the mark counts for 9, but when tipt
> is reckon'd as 1 only.
> ...
> 7. When all nine are not bowled down, the bowl, if rolling out of the
> frame, is to take its course, and be tipt from the resting place, with
> the'same exactness as in bowling, except when the king-pin can be
> reached by a step without otherwise moving from the spot where the
> bowl stopped ; then the player is entitled to tip in the frame.
> ...
> 12. Every pin thrown down before the bowl quits the frame is fair, as
> also are all which fall by the rolling of others.

-->>

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