Bones are supposed to have been first played in ancient Egypt.
I've been to a few of those sessions where the bodhráns outnumber everybody. You always have at least two people who don't believe there should be one playing at a time. "We don't need to take turns. We can play fin together. See?" BANGBANGBANGBANG Or what about the guy who is willing to put down his drum periodically, but immediately has to pick up something else. I probably will play bones to 3 tunes over the course of a 2-3 hour session and only if I feel they'll add something. I never play bones for more than 1 tune in a set and I play them pretty quietly. Some people will spend the whole session alternating between BANGBANGBANG and CLACKCLACKCLACK. I used to bring a triangle to sessions, but quit at the request of a friend who said the ringing would linger in his ear and make it hard to play with the other melody players.

Slán,
Rich