Part l. Of Chris's, "Origins of Billiards," dealt with the history of the game from its obscure beginnings through two distinct types of game - the, "Port," and the, "Skittle," King) and the beginnings of hazard play
Interest in this, "Port and King," form of Billiards seems to have waned in favour of a far more elaborate successor. Fortification Billiards was a development of the simple hoop idea and resulted in a game of encounter like chess, or more appropriately, like modern War Games. It required a small fortress complete with battlements at each end of the table. Each player had three cue-balls, one for attack and three for defence. The game was twenty up, and four points were scored by taking the enemy fort, by passing through it and ringing a bell therein. To the present day player this game conjures up a ludicrous vision of a game more akin to crazy golf than of a game of skill and ingenuity. Players soon reverted to a game without props or gimmicks and relied on the six pockets as the only features on the table. The introduction, around 1770, of the third ball, enabling cannons to be played, arose from the French game of Carombole.
The sticks or maces described in, "The Complete Gamester," make one wonder how a player could do more than give the ball a shove in roughly the right direction:-
"... our sticks ought to be heavy, made of Brasil, Lignum Vitae or some other weighty wood which at the broad end must be tipt with ivory; where note, if the heads happen to be loose you will never strike a smart stroke, you will easily perceive that defect by the hollow deadness of your stroke and faint running of your ball."
Players in those days overcame the inadequacies of the mace by turning it round and hitting the ball with the thin end. Initially this was done only to play a ball that was lying close to the cushion, but some players began using that style for most of the strokes in the game. Despite the obvious advantages of playing, "with the small end," the cue did not overtake the mace in popularity for more than a hundred years and maces continued to be available for another hundred years beyond that.
A Mace. The handle was generally from three to four foot in length.
Could be?
The hoop mentioned in the first of these articles which was known as a"Port"(From the Latin Portus meaning gate) may indicate the origin of the term, 'To Pot -Potting." Port could well have been pronounced as, "Pant," by the dandies of the day, and knocking one's opponent's ball through the hoop known as Porting (Pahting) - thus Potting. (Ed.)
Chris's, "Origin," will be concluded in the February Issue.