repræsents

The motion of the table men round thorough the points repræsents the motion of the sun thorough the signes of zodiack. It is therefore likely that tables were at first round, but that beeing found inconvenient for the placing of the men they afterwards came to this oblong figure.

1660–1672, Francis Willughby (edited by David Cram, Jeffrey L. Forgeng and Dorothy Johnston), Francis Willughby’s book of games: a seventeenth-century treatise on sports, games, and pastimes (republished in 2003 by Ashgate Publishing, 9781859284605), page 113