Bowls is one of Britain's oldest sports, first recorded in the 13th century and played on thousands of greens spread across the nation, several of them hundreds of years old. In Bowled Over, bowls historian Hugh Hornby traces the history of the game and its central place in British culture - from Sir Francis Drake and Charles I to the pristine suburban clubs of 21st century Britain and the indoor greens of modern holiday camps. He explains how different codes of bowling have emerged since Elizabethan times in different parts of the country; for example crown green bowls in Lancashire and Yorkshire, with its undulating greens, professional competitions and gambling culture, and flat green or rink bowls in southern England and Scotland, with its measured formality and amateur ethos. Profusely illustrated with specially commissioned mapping, Bowled Over is the first study of this kind ever undertaken and in the spirit of the Played in Britain series overall brings to life a popular, yet little understood national pastime.

On December 4, 1815, 750 ba' players came together in a mighty contest on the field of Carterhaugh, near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders, for what was advertised as 'a Great Foot-Ball Match'. On December 4, 2015, two bands of dedicated ba' players descended on Carterhaugh to celebrate the bicentenary of the match by joining battle in another no-holds-barred contest. For anyone interested the true origins of the game of rugby in the centuries-old mass ba' games of the Scottish Borders and the North of England - still alive and kicking to this day - here are tales wonderfully told by historians of the game. Cracked crowns, furious duckings, acts of never-to-be-forgotten heroism and unforgivable betrayal - Ian Landles relives the dramas of the original 1815 Carterhaugh Ba' match, recalls Walter Scott's pivotal role in organising it, and in the process rewrites the early history of rugby. The late Hugh Hornby describes the enduring appeal of mass football games today. Billy Gillies explains why the Border ba' game is absolutely not just a game but a serious business, and gives a blow-by-blow account of the 2015 re-enactment. Historic images, verses and letters, alongside photographs by leading Scottish photographers, tell a story that has waited two centuries to be told.

Association football, aka 'soccer', is the world's most popular sport. As is known, its rules were drawn up in England between the 1840s and 1860s, largely at the behest of ex public school and university players. Rugby, another version of football honed between the 1820s and 1870s, split from the Association clubs in the 1870s, and subsequently split itself into Rugby Union and Rugby League in the 1890s. Meanwhile, different versions of football developed in the US and Australia. Ireland has its own version, called Gaelic Football. Amid all these developments, and in stark contrast to the riches and glamour of the modern Premiership and the World Cup, around 25 traditional football games continue to be played in various parts of Britain. Their origins may be traced back to at least the 12th century, when rival group of apprentices would play an early form of mob football on holy days. Despite the geographical spread (from Cornwall to the Shetlands) these folk games share several common strands. There have been previous studies of the Kirkwall Ba' Game and of the Ashbourne Shrove Tuesday game, but Uppies and Downies will be the first book to analyse the games as part of a collective tradition. Uppies and Downies - The title of the book refers to the most common name given to teams playing in these games. Most are played in the streets and fields of small towns and villages. Those living in the upper, or most northerly part of the district, play for the Uppies; those in the lower, or most southerly part, play for the Downies (or Doonies in Scotland). Unlike soccer or rugby, there are no designated pitches or boundaries. The 'goals' are specified locations (a tree, a bridge, a wall, a gate), often two or three miles apart. There is no distinction between spectators and players. Players drop out for a period to watch. Spectators may join in for short periods. Games can take less than an hour, or continue for several hours, often ending in darkness. Once a goal is scored, the game ends.

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