For this reason Baccara is a very slow game when there is not much money in the bank. After all the players have made what bets they wish, outsiders may place bets on the result if they choose to do so. Either the players or the gallery may bet on either side of the table, which is divided down the middle by a line dividing it into two parts, right and left; hence the name, Baccara a deux tableaux. A person wishing to bet on both sides at once places his money _=à cheval=_; that is, across the line. If one side wins and the other loses, a bet placed in this manner is a stand-off; if both sides lose, the bet is lost, and if both win the bet is won. A common form of dishonesty at Baccara, and one for which a distinguished Englishman was recently tried, is to place a stake very close to the line, and if it is seen that the side on which it is placed has probably lost, to push the stake onto the line, so that it may be saved if the other side wins. The Englishman in question worked this little game on the Prince of Wales for some time before he was detected. When the banker loses, he pays the players in their order, right and left alternately, beginning with those who hold cards, until his capital is exhausted. Any further bets are disregarded. If any player bets on the opposite side of the table to that on which he is seated, his bet is not paid until all five of the players on that side have been settled with, because such a bet is regarded as that of an outsider, not belonging to that side of the table.
For every point the single player gets over 60 he must be paid a counter by each of the others who held cards. But if he does not get 60, he must pay each of the others at the table, including those who held no cards, if any, a counter for every point his adversaries get over 60. _=Chico=_ outbids Frog. The player offering this game can name any suit for the trump except hearts, but he must not touch the widow, although the points in it will count for him at the end. Each point under or over 60 is worth two counters in Chico. _=Grand=_ outbids Chico, and is the highest bid possible. Hearts must be trumps, and the player offering this game must not touch the widow until the play is finished. Every point under or over 60 in a Grand is worth four counters. The bidder must play the game he names. He cannot bid Frog and play Chico, or bid Chico and play Grand.
This game is now covered by the official laws for auction, which see. _=BRIDGE FOR THREE.=_ Sometimes called _=Dummy Bridge=_, or _=Cut-Throat=_. The lowest cut deals the first hand and plays the Dummy. If the dealer will not declare on his own cards, he passes, and Dummy must declare according to a fixed schedule. With three or four aces; no-trumps, no matter what the rest of the hand may be. With less than three aces, Dummy cannot make it no-trumps under any circumstances; but must name the longest suit. If two suits are equal, the pips on each are counted, reckoning aces as 11 each, other honours at 10 each, and the larger number of pips is the suit. If this is still equal, the more valuable suit must be declared. No one but the eldest hand may double, and no one but the dealer may redouble.
One good Fight to a Finish game we tried as follows: We made the Country, tossed for choice, and then drew curtains across the middle of the field. Each player then selected his force from the available soldiers in this way: he counted infantry as 1 each, cavalry as 1-1/2, and a gun as 10, and, taking whatever he liked in whatever position he liked, he made up a total of 150. He could, for instance, choose 100 infantry and 5 guns, or 100 cavalry and no guns, or 60 infantry, 40 cavalry, and 3 guns. In the result, a Boer-like cavalry force of 80 with 3 guns suffered defeat at the hands of 110 infantry with 4. SIZE OF THE SOLDIERS The soldiers used should be all of one size. The best British makers have standardised sizes, and sell infantry and cavalry in exactly proportioned dimensions; the infantry being nearly two inches tall. There is a lighter, cheaper make of perhaps an inch and a half high that is also available. Foreign-made soldiers are of variable sizes. IV THE BATTLE OF HOOK S FARM AND now, having given all the exact science of our war game, having told something of the development of this warfare, let me here set out the particulars of an exemplary game. And suddenly your author changes.
It should be observed that if a player had 4 originally, and draws a 9, his point is not 13, but 3, because all 10’s count for nothing. There is no such thing as being créve, as at Vingt-et-un. _=Irregularities.=_ If the banker gives two cards, face up, to the player on his right, the player may retain which he pleases, throwing the other into the waste basket. If two cards are given to the player on the left, he may select which he pleases, and the banker must take the other. _=Order of Playing.=_ The coup finished, and all bets paid, the cards which have been used are all thrown into the waste basket, and the stakes are placed for the next coup. The banker deals again, from the top of the stock, without any further shuffling or cutting of the cards. If the player on the right won the first coup, the banker deals to him again; but if he lost, the banker deals to the next player beyond him; that is, the second from the banker, on his right. The same with the player on the left.
I would suggest painted blocks of wood. On a large lawn, a wide country-side may be easily represented. The players may begin with a game exactly like the ordinary Kriegspiel, with scouts and boxed soldiers, which will develop into such battles as are here described, as the troops come into contact. It would be easy to give the roads a real significance by permitting a move half as long again as in the open country for waggons or boxed troops along a road. There is a possibility of having a toy railway, with stations or rolling stock into which troops might be put, on such a giant war map. One would allow a move for entraining and another for detraining, requiring the troops to be massed alongside the train at the beginning and end of each journey, and the train might move at four or five times the cavalry rate. One would use open trucks and put in a specified number of men--say twelve infantry or five cavalry or half a gun per truck--and permit an engine to draw seven or eight trucks, or move at a reduced speed with more. One could also rule that four men--the same four men--remaining on a line during two moves, could tear up a rail, and eight men in three moves replace it. I will confess I have never yet tried over these more elaborate developments of Little Wars, partly because of the limited time at my disposal, and partly because they all demand a number of players who are well acquainted with the same on each side if they are not to last interminably. The Battle of Hook s Farm (one player a side) took a whole afternoon, and most of my battles have lasted the better part of a day.
At the beginning of the game the counters are placed on the left of the player, and are passed from left to right as the points accrue, exchanging smaller denominations for higher when necessary. Many persons find it more convenient to peg the game on a pull-up cribbage board, starting at 21, counting each peg as 10 points, and going twice round to the game hole. _=STAKES.=_ Bézique is played for so much a game, 1,000 points up; or for so much a point, the score of the loser being deducted from that of the winner. When a partie of five games is agreed upon, it is usual to have an extra stake upon the odd game, and when three games have been won by the same player, the partie is at an end. It is usual to count it a double game if the loser has not reached 500 points. _=PLAYERS.=_ Bézique is played by two persons, one of whom is known as the _=dealer=_, and the other as the _=pone=_. They cut for choice of seats and deal, the player cutting the highest card having the first choice, and electing whether or not to deal himself. In cutting, the cards rank as in play, and the ace is the highest.
133. II. There camed a lady from other land, With all her children in her hand-- Please, do you want a sarvant, marm? Leave her. I leaves my daughter zafe and zound, And in her pocket a thousan pound, And on her finger a goulden ring, And in her busum a silver pin. I hopes when I return, To see her here with you. Don t e let her ramble; don t e let her trot; Don t e let her car the mustard pot. The Mistress says softly-- She shall ramble, she shall trot, She shall carry the mustard pot. --_Dorset County Chronicle_, April 1889; _Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 228. III.
This is continued until all the spaces are occupied. If the paper goes a second time into a space already occupied by a head, the player adds a larger round to the head, to represent a body; if a third time, a stroke is drawn for a leg, and if a fourth time, another is added for the second leg; this completes a man. If three complete men in one space can be gained, the player makes arms; that is, two lines are drawn from the figures across the space to the opposite side of the plan. This occupies that space, and prevents the other player from putting any men in it, or adding to any already there. When all the spaces are thus occupied by one player, the game is won. Should the paper be blown on to a line or _outside_ the plan, the player is out; the other player then begins, and makes as many men in her turn, until she goes on a line or outside. Should the paper go into London, the player is entitled to make a head in every space, or to add another mark to those already there.--Westminster (A. B. Gomme).
The Fox s business is to take all, or as many of the Geese as will prevent him from being blockaded. The Fox can take the Geese whenever there is a vacant space behind them, which he passes to, then occupies. This game has been very popular among schoolboys in all ages. Mr. Micklethwaite, in a paper on the Indoor Games of School Boys in the Middle Ages (_Arch. Journ._ xlix. 322), gives instances of finding figures of this game cut in the cloister benches of Gloucester Cathedral and elsewhere, and there are several on the twelfth century tomb at Salisbury, miscalled Lord Stourton s, and also at Norwich Castle. For the date of these boards, Mr. Micklethwaite says for the last three centuries and a half cloisters everywhere in England have been open passages, and there have generally been schoolboys about.
The editor of _Northamptonshire Notes and Queries_, vol. i. p. 214, says, Some readers will remember that Byngo is the name of the Franklyn s dogge that Ingoldsby introduces into a few lines described as a portion of a primitive ballad, which has escaped the researches of Ritson and Ellis, but is yet replete with beauties of no common order. In the _Nursery Songs_ collected by Ed. Rimbault from oral tradition is Little Bingo. The words of this are very similar to the Lancashire version of the game sent by Miss Dendy. There is an additional verse in the nursery song. Bird-apprentice A row of boys or girls stands parallel with another row opposite. Each of the first row chooses the name of some bird, and a member of the other row then calls out all the names of birds he can think of.
Professor Attwell, in _Notes and Queries_, 8th ser., iv. 201, suggests that Hucklebones was introduced into Europe by the Romans, and was spread throughout the countries which formed the empire by means of Roman colonists and soldiers. Mr. Newell (_Games_, pp. 190-93) describes a similar game to Fivestones played in Boston under the name of Otadama, or Japanese Jacks. This game is of Japanese origin, Tedama (that is, Handballs ) being its proper name. He says there can be no doubt that the two forms of this amusement are branches of the same root; and we thus have an example of a game which, having preserved its essential characteristics for thousands of years, has fairly circumnavigated the globe, so that the two currents of tradition, westward and eastward, from Europe and Asia, have met in America. See Checkstones, Dibs, Hucklebones, Jackstones. Flowers Sides are chosen; each side must have a home at the top and bottom of the ground where the children are playing.
In combinations which do not contain the best card, the lead may be varied in some cases to show the number remaining in the leader’s hand, or to indicate cards not shown by the first lead. _=Following King=_, which has been led from these combinations:-- [Illustration: 🃎 🃍 🃋 🃊 | 🃞 🃝 🃛 🃖 ] Leading the Ten on the second round would show both Queen and Jack remaining. Leading the Jack would show the Queen; but not the ten. _=Following the Jack=_, led from this combination:-- [Illustration: 🂾 🂽 🂻 🂷 🂶 ] Leading King on the second round would show five cards in the suit originally. Leading the Queen would show more than five. _=Following the Queen=_, led from this combination:-- [Illustration: 🃍 🃋 🃊 🃄 🃃 ] Leading Jack on the second round shows the suit to have originally contained only four cards; the Ten would show more than four. _=Following the Ace=_, led from these combinations:-- [Illustration: 🃑 🃝 🃛 🃖 | 🂡 🂭 🂫 🂦 🂥 ] Leading the Queen shows the suit was short. Leading the Jack shows that it contained at least five cards. When a player holds both the second and third-best of a suit on the second round, he should always play one of them, whether he is First, Second, or Third Hand. This protects him, by forcing the command of the suit, if it does not win the trick.
As between two such hands, the one containing the highest card would be the better, but either would be outclassed by a hand with a pair in it, however small. A hand with a pair of nines in it would outrank one with a pair of sevens, even though the cards accompanying the nines were only a deuce, three and four, while those with the sevens were an ace, King and Queen. But should the pairs be alike in both hands; such as tens, the highest card outside the pair would decide the rank of the hands, and if those were also alike, the next card, or perhaps the fifth would have to be considered. Should the three odd cards in each hand be identical, the hands would be a tie, and would divide any pool to which each had a claim. Two flushes would decide their rank in the same manner. If both were ace and Jack high, the third card in one being a nine, and in the other an eight, the nine would win. In full hands the rank of the triplets decides the value of the hand. Three Queens and a pair of deuces will beat three Jacks and a pair of aces. In straights, the highest card of the sequence wins; not necessarily the highest card in the hand, for a player may have a sequence of A 2 3 4 5, which is only five high, and would be beaten by a sequence of 2 3 4 5 6. The ace must either begin or end a sequence, for a player is not allowed to call such a combination as Q K A 2 3 a straight.
The dealer then gives six cards to each player, one at a time, beginning on his left. These six cards are then spread face down on the table in front of the players to whom they have been dealt, but without being looked at. Six more are then dealt to each, one at a time, and these are turned face up, and sorted into suits. They are then laid face up on the top of the six cards which are lying on the table face down, so as to cover them. The last four cards are then dealt, one to each player. These last are retained in the hand, and must not be shown or named; they are usually called the “_=down cards=_.” _=MAKING THE TRUMP.=_ After examining the cards exposed on the table, and the down card in his own hand, the dealer has the privilege of naming any suit he pleases for trumps. No consultation with partner is allowed. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.
--Beddgelert (Mrs. Williams). Harie Hutcheon A game among children, in which they hop round in a ring, sitting on their hams.--Jamieson. See Curcuddie, Cutch-a-cutchoo, Hirtschin Hairy. Hark the Robbers [Music] --Tong, Shropshire (Miss R. Harley). I. Hark the robbers coming through, Coming through, Hark the robbers coming through, My fair lady. What have the robbers done to you, Done to you, What have the robbers done to you, My fair lady? You have stole my watch and chain, Watch and chain, You have stole my watch and chain, My fair lady.
Dissy, dissy, green grass, Dissy, dissy, duss, Come all ye pretty fair maids And dance along with us. You shall have a duck, my dear, And you shall have a drake, And you shall have a nice young man To love you for your sake. If this young man should chance to die And leave the girl a widow, The birds shall sing, the bells shall ring, Clap all your hands together. --Yorkshire (Henderson s _Folk-lore, Northern Counties_, p. 27). V. 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.
II. Blackthorn! Blackthorn! Blue milk and barley-corn; How many geese have you to-day? More than you can catch and carry away. --Harland and Wilkinson s _Lancashire Folk-lore_, p. 150. III. Blackthorn! New milk and barley-corn; How many sheep have you to sell? More nor yo can catch and fly away wi . --Addy s _Sheffield Glossary_. IV. Blackthorn! Butter-milk and barley-corn; How many sheep have you to-day? As many as you catch and carry away. --Earls Heaton, Yorkshire (Herbert Hardy).
The thrones on the reverses of the early Royal Seals of England and Scotland consist of swords, spears, snakes, &c., placed in the manner of a King s Cushion. The method used is for both children to grasp the wrist of his left hand with the right, while he lays hold of the right wrist of his companion with his left hand. This way of hoisting or carrying is still used by schoolboys when they desire to honour a boy who has distinguished himself in the playground or schoolroom. See Carry my Lady to London. Kirk the Gussie A sort of play. The Gussie is a large ball, which one party endeavours to beat with clubs into a hole, while another party strives to drive it away. When the ball is lodged in the hole it is said to be Kirkit. --Jamieson. Kiss in the Ring [Music] --Nottingham (Miss Youngman).
[_or_, You can t follow her so.] [Then follow-- Red is for soldiers, White is for weddings, Yellow is for babies.] Black is not deep enough, deep enough, That won t do. What shall we follow in, follow in? We ll follow her in crape, crape [pronounced _cray-ape_]. You may follow her in crape, crape, You may follow her in crape, That will do. --Deptford (Miss E. Chase). XVI. I ve come to see Georgina, Georgina, Georgina, I ve come to see Georgina, how s she to-day? She s upstairs washing, washing, washing, She s upstairs washing, and can t get away. O very well, ladies, ladies, ladies, We ll come another day.