Hurling A game played with a ball. The players are divided into two equal parties, each of which tries to secure and keep the ball in their possession. The prize is a ball made of cork, covered with silver.--Courtney s _West Cornwall Glossary_. In Taylor s _Antiquitates Curiosæ_, p. 144, it is stated:-- The game of hurling consisted in throwing or hurling a ball of wood about three inches in diameter, and covered with plated silver, sometimes gilt. On the ball was frequently a Cornish motto allusive to the game, and signifying that fair play was best. Success depended on catching the ball dexterously when dealt, and conveying it away through all the opposition of the adverse party, or, if that was impossible, to throw it into the hands of a partner, who, in his turn, was to exert his utmost efforts to convey it to his own goal, which was often three or four miles distant from that of his adversaries. T. Durfey s _Collin s Walk through London_, 1690, p.
(A. B. Gomme). Strutt describes a handball game played during the Easter holidays for Tansy cakes (_Sports_, p. 94). Halliwell gives rhymes for ball divination (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 298) to determine the number of years before marriage will arrive. Miss Baker (_Northamptonshire Glossary_) says, The May garland is suspended by ropes from the school-house to an opposite tree, and the Mayers amuse themselves by throwing balls over it. A native of Fotheringay, Mr. C.
Dossy, dossy green grass, Dossy, dossy, doss, Come all ye pretty fair maids And dance upon the grass. I will give you pots and pans, I will give you brass, I will give you anything For a pretty lass. I will give you gold and silver, I will give you pearl, I will give you anything For a pretty girl. Take one, take one, the fairest you can see. You shall have a duck, my dear, You shall have a drake, You shall have a young man Apprentice for your sake. If this young man shall wealthy grow And give his wife a feather, The bells shall ring and birds shall sing And we ll all clap hands together. --Roxton, St. Neots (Miss Lumley). VI. Walking up the green grass, A dust, a dust, a dust! We want a pretty maiden To walk along with us.
In the lives of some men the tide of fortune appears to be a long steady flood, without a ripple on the surface. In others it rises and falls in waves of greater or lesser length; while in others it is irregular in the extreme; splashing choppy seas to-day; a storm to-morrow that smashes everything; and then calm enough to make ducks and drakes with the pebbles on the shore. In the lives of all the tide of fortune is uncertain; for the man has never lived who could be sure of the weather a week ahead. In the nature of things this must be so, for if there were no ups and downs in life, there would be no such things as chance and luck, and the laws of probability would not exist. The greatest fallacy in connection with luck is the belief that certain men _are_ lucky, whereas the truth is simply that they _have been_ lucky up to that time. They have succeeded so far, but that is no guarantee that they will succeed again in any matter of pure chance. This is demonstrated by the laws governing _=the probability of successive events=_. Suppose two men sit down to play a game which is one of pure chance; poker dice, for instance. You are backing Mr. Smith, and want to know the probability of his winning the first game.
Tournée in diamonds 5, in hearts 6, in spades 7 and in clubs 8. Solo in diamonds 9, in hearts 10, in spades 11 and in clubs 12, Turned grand 12, gucki grand 16, solo grand 20 and open grand 24. Gucki nullo 15, open gucki nullo 30, solo nullo 20, open solo nullo 40, and revolution, if played, 60. Uno and duo, if played, shall be worth 20, or if played open 40. 2. When there are trumps, the unit value of the game shall be multiplied as follows: 1 for game; 2 for schneider; 3 for announcing schneider, or for making schwarz without having made any announcement; 4 for schwarz after having announced schneider; and 5 for announcing schwarz. To each of these multipliers shall be added one for each matadore, “with” or “without.” 3. In tournées, if the player says “passt-mir-nicht” to the first card and takes the second, he loses double if he loses his game. In guckis, whether grand or nullo, the player loses double if he loses his game.
The spade Queen, for instance, may be used in a marriage, in binocle, and in four Queens, and these melds may be made in any order. Cards once used in combinations cannot again be used in melds of equal value belonging to the same class; and combinations once broken up cannot be re-formed by the addition of fresh cards. For instance: Four Kings have been melded, and one of them has been used in the course of play. The player cannot add a new King to the three remaining, and meld four Kings again. A marriage in hearts has been melded, and the King played away. A new King will not make another marriage with the old Queen. A binocle has been melded, and the Jack has been played; another Jack will not make a new binocle with the old Queen. _=Double Declarations.=_ When a player makes a meld containing certain cards which will form a counting combination with other cards already on the table, it is called a double declaration, that is, a meld in two different classes at the same time. For instance: A player has melded and scored four Kings, and on winning another trick he melds binocle.
If the best sequence is a tie, no sequences can be scored by either player. The value of a sequence is ten more than the number of cards that go to form it, provided that number exceeds four. A tierce counts 3 only, and a quatrième 4 only; but a quinte is worth 15, a sixième 16, and so on. _=Fours, and Triplets.=_ Any four cards of the same denomination, higher than a Nine, is called a Quatorze; three of any kind higher than the Nine is called a Trio, or sometimes a Brelan. As a trio is seldom mentioned without naming the denomination, it is usual to say; “Three Kings,” or “Three Jacks,” as the case may be. The 7 8 and 9 have no value except in point and sequence. The player holding the quatorze of the highest rank may score any inferior ones that he may hold, and also any trios. Should his adversary hold any intermediate ones, they are of no value. In the absence of any quatorze, the best trio decides which player shall count all the trios he may have in his hand, his adversary counting none.
The players then take up the other two cards, without showing them, and proceed to brag on their hands as in single stake Brag. The winner takes the second pool; but those who pass out do not abandon their hands until the third pool is decided. If no bet is made for the second pool, it is won by the dealer. All hands are shown to decide the last pool. Each player counts up the pip value of his three cards, reckoning the aces for eleven, and court-cards as ten each. The player coming nearest to thirty-one takes the third pool. Ties are decided in favour of the eldest hand, as before. In some places a further variation is introduced by allowing the players to draw cards for the third pool, in order to increase the pip value of their hands. Beginning with the eldest hand, each player in turn pays into the pool a counter for each card he draws. These cards are given by the dealer face up, and one player must be given all he needs before passing to the next.
=_ The aim of the players is to get rid of the cards dealt them and those they draw from the stock by laying face upward on the table any combinations of three of a kind, or three in sequence and suit. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The player to the left of the dealer begins by taking into his hand the card that is face up, if it suits him, or the top card of the stock. If he takes the top of the stock, he puts it into his hand without showing it. He may then lay out any combination of three cards that he holds, but he is not obliged to do so. Whether he lays out anything or not, he must discard a card, face up, to take the place of the one drawn. This discard is always placed beside the stock, and of course covers up any card already there. _=LAYING OUT.=_ After drawing from the stock and before discarding, a player may lay out any three cards, but no more than three at one time. Or he may add one card from his hand to any combination already laid out by another player, but he cannot add more than one card in this way.
When _=four=_ play, the partners sit opposite each other. When _=five=_ or _=seven=_ play, the maker of the trump in each deal selects his partners, and they play against the others without any change in their positions at the table. When _=six=_ play, three are partners against the other three, and the opposing players sit alternately round the table. _=STAKES.=_ If there is any stake upon the game, its amount must be settled before play begins. When _=rubbers=_ are played, it is usual to make the stake so much a rubber point. If the winners of the game are five points to their adversaries’ nothing, they win a _=treble=_, and count three rubber points. If the losers have scored one or two points only, the winners mark two points for a _=double=_. If the losers have reached three or four, the winners mark one for a _=single=_. The side winning the rubber adds two points to its score for so doing; so that the largest rubber possible is one of eight points;--two triples to nothing, and two added for the rubber.
After several pretences the child declares an intention to search for it. The Cobblers in the ring then all place their hands under their knees, and pass the slipper secretly from one to another in such a way as to prevent the owner of the shoe getting it for some time. The Cobbler from whom the slipper is taken becomes the owner next time (Barnes, A. B. Gomme). In the Nottinghamshire version (Miss Peacock) the rhyme is-- Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe, Give it a stitch and that will do. Versions from Wakefield, Liphook, Ellesmere, and other places are practically the same as the Barnes game, but Mr. Udal gives an elaboration of the Dorsetshire game in the _Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 238. One Lancashire version (Miss Dendy) reverses the characters by making the Cobbler run round the ring, and the children requiring the shoe to be mended, call out, Blackie, come mend my slipper.