Transcript
Two speakers: Heather and Grant
Heather
Hello and welcome! My name is Heather. I am a Visitor Service Assistant here at Falkland Palace.
Grant
My name's Grant and I'm one of the volunteer guides.
Heather
Today we are down at the royal tennis courts, which are the oldest in the world still used to this day and are proudly owned by the National Trust for Scotland.
Grant
We're here to explain some of the rules of this very complex game!
The racquets are wooden with an asymmetric frame, allowing players to hit balls travelling very close to the floor or walls.
Interestingly the balls are still handmade.
Since they are much denser than lawn tennis balls, weighing roughly 71 grams, they do not bounce much.
Heather
There is a penthouse along the tennis court.
The penthouse roof is made of oak and forms an essential part of play.
Below the penthouse roof, there is an open window viewing gallery, which allows spectators to either sit or stand and observe the game.
These viewing sections, the galleries and the doors are protected by strong netting, since players may strategically strike the balls into them during play.
When the balls hit the netting, the winning gallery has a bell in it, which rings.
Directly opposite the winning gallery is the grill, which is a green shutter and also offers a winning point if hit by a ball.
The ground of the tennis court is made of flagstones,and painted onto the flagstones are lines which correspond with similar painted lines and numbers on the wall.
The purpose of these markings on the ground and walls are to help define a chase, which is a very important aspect of the game.
Across the centre of the court there's a net with a height of 5ft at the walls and 3ft at the centre.
This is one of the many aspects of real tennis which has carried on into lawn tennis today.
The other end of Falkland tennis court is quite different to all the others.
Since it is the only surviving example of a jeu quarré court, all others being known as a jeu à dedans court, Falkland does not have a dedans penthouse but instead has four lunes, which are large holes in the wall.
It also has a vertical wooden stave, which is known as an ais.
Hitting the ais or hitting a ball through one of the lunes wins you points.
Falkland also doesn't have a tambour, which is an angled wall, like the other courts and is the only real tennis court in the world without a roof.
Grant
The same terminologies are used in real tennis as in lawn tennis, like love, 15, 30, 40 and Advantage.
Heather
Unlike lawn tennis, in real tennis the server always serves from the same end of the court, ie the side opposite the grill, and there is no automatic change of server at the end of a game.
The served ball must bounce at least once off the penthouse roof beyond the net before landing onto the court, but the receiver does not have to let the served ball bounce before striking it.
It may be volleyed as it comes off the penthouse roof.
To win service, the receiver must lay or mark a chase and a chase is defined by the place where a ball hits the court surface for the second time.
Grant
During play on a real tennis court, points are won by the opponent if a player hits a ball which fails to pass over the net or if the ball is hit out of the court.
A point may also be won if the server successfully defends a chase, not forgetting the automatic winners from balls striking the grill, winning gallery, ais or passing through one of the four lunes.
Heather
In a way very similar to golf handicaps, real tennis handicaps allow fun competition between all levels of players.
The Falkland Royal Tennis Club was established in 1975 and today strives to keep the game of royal tennis alive.
Grant
Do you want to know a fun fact, Heather?
Heather
Go for it!
Grant
Did you know that all racquet sports played today have derived from real tennis?
Heather
Really?
Grant
Yeah! From lawn tennis to badminton, squash and even pickle ball!
Heather
Interesting!
Falkland Palace has the oldest real tennis (also called court tennis or royal tennis) court in Britain. King James V of Scotland ordered it built in late 1538, as one of the final touches to lots of building activity at the palace, as well as at other royal residences such as Linlithgow, Holyrood and Stirling.
James was young and was making a mark to establish himself as a respected European leader. He had married the King of France’s daughter and spent time at the French Court, where he would have played on the tennis court (built in 1530 but now gone).
Tennis was originally played by French monks before it became popular with nobility. The original 14th-century game was called ‘paume’ (palm), because the ball was passed back and forth with a bare hand. A leather glove becoming a later addition to the kit.
When you see the court you will realise that real tennis is very different from the game we know today. There are a series of lines, numbers and crowns marked on the floor and walls, which are all used to calculate scores. All four walls and the roof of the spectator’s gallery are used, plus players gain extra points if they get a ball through a hole in the wall! It is worth experiencing how heavy the racket feels and how difficult it is to play the game.
