Steve Whiting

Legend has it, when the barbarians were plundering Europe, they found it relaxing after a (successful) battle to set up a game strikingly similar to our bowls. Agreeing on a target object, they would sever the heads of their unhappy opponents and roll them ever so gently across the battle terrain – aiming to get them as close as possible to whatever they chose as a target. Hence, presumably, the expression ‘Be up to the head’!