Since then it has met in Philadelphia, Belfast, London, Toronto, Glasgow, Washington and Liverpool.
In the interval, Douglas's rights in Aberbrothock had been transferred to James Beaton, archbishop of Glasgow, and he was now without title or temporality.
It had been known in Scotland since the close of the 16th century (the Glasgow kirk session fulminated an edict against Sunday bowls in 1595), but greens were few and far between.
In 1848 and 1849, however, when many clubs had come into existence in the west and south of Scotland (the Willowbank, dating from 1816, is the oldest club in Glasgow), meetings were held in Glasgow for the purpose of promoting a national association.
In Edinburgh, Glasgow, and elsewhere in Scotland, and in London (through the county council), Newcastle and other English towns, the corporations have laid down greens in public parks and open spaces.