1 is For...Kellys Eye
As veteran bingo players, you’ll know that the bingo call for the number 1 is Kellys Eye, but do you know why this is? Here at Littlewoods Bingo we’re unravelling the mysteries behind all bingo calls and giving you an insight into the history of each call!
The bingo call Kelly’s Eye originates from the one-eyed Australian folk hero. Ned Kelly was an Australian bushranger who became an iconic figure in Australian history and has become so notorious across the world that his name has been dedicated to the first bingo call!
Born in Victoria, Australia, Ned Kelly is either recognised as a merciless killer or as a national hero in Australia. Kelly came from a family of petty criminals who grew to become a clan. Ned and his brother, Dan, created the criminal gang who resorted to extreme violence including bank robbery and the murder of three Irish policemen in 1878. According to Ned and his gang who were all of Irish decent, being an Irishman and a policeman was to be a traitor to their nationality and class. Eventually the gang were hunted down in a shoot-out where Ned was the only surviving gang member. In the trial that ensued, Kelly was sentenced to death by hanging which took place in 1880.
The legend that surrounds Ned Kelly made him into a kind of Australian Robin Hood, with his home-made armour and apparently helping out the poor by burning documents detailing their high mortgages and payments owed to the bank. He became the Australian icon for political revolution, resisting against the establishment in his country and vowing to fight against British colonialism.
But why oh why is the bingo called named ‘Kelly’s Eye’? According to legend, Kelly had only one eye and this is why the bingo call has stuck! Nelson’s Column is also a phrase for bingo call 1 because of course, Nelson had only one eye too!
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