History of Billiards
Billiards Of many suggestions as to how billiards began, the least likely but most amusing is linked with a sixteenth-century London pawnbroker, William Kew. ... Yet, they add some flavor to the many unconfirmed, unfounded, if not indeed altogether false tales told about the date, the place, and the circumstances of the birth of billiards and its nomenclature. The history of billiards links fact and fiction, winding its way from the green lawns of early bowling to the green cloth of a table, no doubt a reminder of its "natural" roots. ... “No wonder that the complex past of billiards confused early writers, among them Charles Cotton, the friend of Izaak Walton. His was the first English description of billiards. Tracing this most genteel, cleanly and ingenious game in his Compleat Gamester, in 1674, Cotton wrote that billiards was first played by the Italians, but then, strangely, also says that Spain was its birthplace.”(Reeves) “Billiards from Spain at first derived its name both an ingenious and a cleanly game. ... “Frequently cited as the oldest reference to billiards is a passage dealing with Anacharsis, a mythical Scythian prince of the sixth-century BC and a contemporary of Solon. On one of his journeys through Greece he is said to have watched players engaged in a pastime very much like modern billiards. ... “Another tradition asserts that Catkire More, second-century Irish king and ruler of Leinster, engaged in billiards. ... However, this claim, made by Abbe McGeoghegan in his History of Ireland, cannot be true. ... “Shakespeare, the source of so many quotations, has been equally cited as an authority on billiards. ... In Antony and Cleopatra (Act II, scene 5) written in 1607, the Queen of Egypt invites Charmian, her attendant: "Come, let us to billiards . ... " This passage has been quoted as evidence that 2,000 years ago, in Cleopatras days, billiards must have been a common pastime. ... All these various and contradictory claims show that no one really knows exactly where and when billiards originated. ... “Billiards was well established when Captain Mingaud, one of Napoleons officers, was imprisoned in the Bastille. ... Billiards owes him a tremendous debt for his inventions. ... “Having completed the task, he left prison and spent most of his free time displaying his new skill and his cue wherever billiards was played in Paris. His splendid shots with the novel stick aroused great enthusiasm among spectators, and billiards became the rage. ... And knowing the psychology of crowds, he was able to amass a fortune - through billiards! ... Carrs stroke became part of billiards and is still referred to as putting "English" on the ball. ... In 1829 he published a book called The Game of Billiards - Scientifically Explained and Practically Set Forth in a Series of Novel and Extraordinary, but Equally Practical Strokes. ... “The philosopher, Herbert Spencer, one of Englands greatest thinkers, became passionately fond of billiards.