Most of the systems we have been describing belong to this class. * * * * * There are at present only two works on Duplicate Whist; but a number of articles on the subject may be found in “_Whist_.” Duplicate Whist; by John T. Mitchell, 1896. Foster’s Duplicate Whist; 1894. Whist; Jan., 1892; Jan., 1894; Aug., 1894; Oct., 1894; Jan.
When the mother runs after them and buffets them.--Northall s _English Folk Rhymes_, p. 393. Battledore and Shuttlecock See Shuttlefeather. Bedlams or Relievo [Illustration: Fig. 1.] [Illustration: Fig. 2.] [Illustration: Fig. 3.
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This is a part of the subject which we shall go into further when we come to the suggestions for good play. The dealer has the first say in making the trump. If he does not feel himself strong enough to make it no trump, or red, although his hand may be black enough to promise a good score in clubs or spades, he should transfer to his partner the privilege of making the trump by saying: “I leave it to you, partner.” Guided by this indication, his partner must fix on some suit for the trump or go no-trumps, and must announce it. Either the dealer or his partner may elect to play without a trump, if he has sufficient strength in all the suits to do so. _=IRREGULARITIES IN DECLARING.=_ If the dealer’s partner makes a declaration before being asked to do so, either adversary may demand that the declaration shall stand, or that there shall be a new deal. In England, only the eldest hand, A, may exact the penalty. If the dealer’s partner passes the declaration to the dealer, either adversary may claim a new deal or may insist that the player in error shall make the declaration. In England, the eldest hand exacts this penalty.
These are then thoroughly shuffled and presented, face down, to the players to draw from. The ladies take only the red-back cards, and the gentlemen only the blue. The number of pips on the card drawn indicates the number of the table at which the player is to sit, and those drawing cards of the same suit are partners for the first game. _=Playing.=_ All being seated, the deal is cut for at each table, and play begins. There is no cutting for partners, that being settled in the original drawing. Five points is a game, and after that number is reached by either side at the head table, the bell is struck. Lone hands are usually barred at the head table, so as to give the other tables time to make a certain number of points, and so to avoid ties. Upon the tap of the bell all play immediately ceases, even if in the middle of a deal. If the players at any but the head table have reached five points before the bell rings, they play on, counting all points made until the bell taps.
Lang Larence That is, Long Lawrence, an instrument marked with signs, a sort of teetotum. A Long Lawrence is about three inches long, something like a short ruler with eight sides; occasionally they have but four. On one side are ten x s, or crosses, forming a kind of lattice-work; on the next, to the left, three double cuts, or strokes, passing straight across in the direction of the breadth; on the third, a zig-zag of three strokes one way, and two or three the other, forming a W, with an additional stroke or a triple V; on the fourth, three single bars, one at each end and one in the middle, as in No. 2, where they are doubled; then the four devices are repeated in the same order. The game, formerly popular at Christmas, can be played by any number of persons. Each has a bank of pins or other small matters. A pool is formed; then in turn each rolls the Long Lawrence. If No. 1 comes up the player cries Flush, and takes the pool; if No. 2, he puts down two pins; if No.
Nothing is more common among advantage players than turning up Jacks every few deals. _=Begging=_ is resorted to by a player who holds no trumps, or such indifferent ones that it is very unlikely they will be either High or Low. If he has anything better, such as very high or low cards in other suits, such a hand is called, “a good hand to run to,” and the player begs, hoping the new trump will better fit his hand. If he has nothing better in other suits than in the turn-up, it will still be slightly in his favour to beg, unless he has trumps enough to give him some hopes of making the point for Game. It is a fatal error to beg on good cards, and gamblers have a saying that he who begs a point to-day, will beg a stake to-morrow. _=High=_ and _=Low=_ count to the player to whom those cards are dealt, and there is no chance to alter the fortunes of the deal except by begging and running the cards. These two points may both be made by the same card, if it is the only trump in play; because High is counted for the best trump out during the deal, and Low for the lowest, no matter what the cards are. _=Catching the Jack=_, or saving it, is one of the principal objects of the game, and as a rule a player holding the Jack should lose no opportunity to save such a valuable counting card. On the other hand, a player holding higher trumps will often have to use good judgment as to whether to lead them to catch the Jack, if it happens to be out; or to keep quiet until the last few tricks, when if the Jack is not out, such trumps may be useful to win cards that count for Game. _=The Game=_ is generally known as _=the gambler’s point=_, because it is the only point that must be played for in every hand, and its management requires more skill than all the others put together.
I. A dis, a dis, a green grass, A dis, a dis, a dis; Come all you pretty fair maids And dance along with us. For we are going roving, A roving in this land; We ll take this pretty fair maid, We ll take her by the hand. Ye shall get a duke, my dear, And ye shall get a drake; And ye shall get a young prince, A young prince for your sake. And if this young prince chance to die, Ye shall get another; The bells will ring, and the birds will sing, And we ll clap hands together. --Chamber s _Popular Rhymes_, pp. 137-38. II. A-diss, a-diss, a-green grass, A-diss, a-diss, a-dass; Come, my pretty fair maid, And walk along with us. For you shall have a dik-ma-day, You shall have a dr[=a]gon; You shall have a nice young man With princes for his th[=e]gan (or s[=e]gan).
The players, who usually go in and out by turns each time, after a preliminary series of tippings of the spell with the stick in one hand, and catches of the ball with the other, in the process of calculating the momentum necessary for reach of hand, are also allowed two trial rises in a striking attitude, and distance is reckoned by scores of yards. The long pliable stick, with a loose club end, used in the game, is called the tribit or trivit stick. . . . The trevit is, in fact, the trap itself, and the trevit-stick the stick with which the trap is struck. The tribbit-stick is elsewhere called primstick, gelstick, buckstick, trippit, and trevit. Atkinson says that spell is O.N., spill meaning a play or game, and the probability is that the game is a lineal descendant from the Ball-play of the Old Danes, or Northmen, and Icelanders.
, all of which may be learnt from books, or gathered from more experienced players. 2nd. _=Strategy=_; or the advantageous use of the information given by the conventional plays. This is largely dependent on personal ability to judge the situation correctly, and to select the methods of play best adapted to it. _=CONVENTIONAL PLAYS.=_ These may be divided into two parts: those used by the partners who attack, either with their strong suits, or by leading out trumps; and those employed by their adversaries, who are defending themselves against such suits, or wishing to prevent their trumps being drawn. We shall first consider the conventionalities used in attack. _=Leading.=_ The player with the original lead should have a double object in view; to secure the best results for his own hand, and to indicate to his partner where he is in need of assistance. The first matter for his consideration will be whether to begin with a trump or with a plain suit.