You, and you [points], but specially you [or sometimes, but specially Sue], Or else I ll beat you black and blue. One child is selected for Gipsy, one for Mother, and one for Daughter Sue. The Mother says the lines, and points to several children to emphasise her words. During her absence the Gipsy comes in, entices a child away, and hides her. This process is repeated till all the children are hidden, when the mother has to find them.--Halliwell (_Nursery Rhymes_, p. 228). See Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils Over, Witch. Gled-wylie The name of a singular game played at country schools. One of the largest of the boys steals away from his comrades, in an angry-like mood, to some dykeside or sequestered nook, and there begins to work as if putting a pot on a fire.
) We decided that one player should plan and lay out the Country, and the other player choose from which side he would come. And to-day we play over such landscapes in a cork-carpeted schoolroom, from which the proper occupants are no longer evicted but remain to take an increasingly responsible and less and less audible and distressing share in the operations. [Illustration: Showing the war game in the open air] [Illustration: The war game in the open air] We found it necessary to make certain general rules. Houses and sheds must be made of solid lumps of bricks, and not hollow so that soldiers can be put inside them, because otherwise muddled situations arise. And it was clearly necessary to provide for the replacement of disturbed objects by chalking out the outlines of boards and houses upon the floor or boards upon which they stood. And while we thus perfected the Country, we were also eliminating all sorts of tediums, disputable possibilities, and deadlocks from the game. We decided that every man should be as brave and skilful as every other man, and that when two men of opposite sides came into contact they would inevitably kill each other. This restored strategy to its predominance over chance. We then began to humanise that wild and fearful fowl, the gun. We decided that a gun could not be fired if there were not six--afterwards we reduced the number to four--men within six inches of it.
Should two Nines be shown by different players, the one on the dealer’s left takes the turn-up trump. Even if the dealer has a Nine himself, he is not allowed to keep the turn-up trump. If the same player holds both Nines he may score twenty on winning a trick. A player with 990 up is not out if he turns up the Nine. He must win a trick. _=Melds.=_ All the combinations have the same value as in the ordinary game, but all melds are laid upon the table before a card is played. When he lays down his cards, a player may make as many combinations with them as he can, just as he would in the ordinary game if he had plenty of time. If he has the trump sequence, he may lay down the marriage first, then the A 10 J. If he has double binocle, he may lay down the single first, and then the other, claiming the count for both.
* Whist, or Bumblepuppy, by “Pembridge.” Whist Developments, by “Cavendish.” * Whist of To-day, by Milton C. Work. * _Whist à Trois_, by Ch. Lahure. [Dummy.] x Whist, and its Masters, by R.F. Foster.
It is a general law in all games of chance that you should never do a thing which you would not be willing to repeat under the same circumstances a hundred times. The best example of the application of this law is in drawing to bobtails. If you have a four-card flush to draw to, the odds against getting it are about four to one; and unless you can obtain the privilege of drawing to it by paying not more than one-fifth of the amount in the pool, you will lose by it in the long run. The best players never draw to four-card flushes except when they have the age, and the ante has not been raised. There are some players who pretend to be so guided by probabilities that they never go into a pool unless the chances in favour of their having a good hand after the draw are at least equal to the odds they have to bet by going into the pool. This is all nonsense; for no player knows when he goes into a pool how much it will cost him to get out, and the value of his individual hand is an unknown quantity at the best, because it cannot be compared to the others. One thing only is certain, and that is that in the long run the player who goes in with the strongest hand will still have the strongest hand after the draw. This is an important thing to remember in jack pots, in which the value of at least one hand is known. If you draw to a pair smaller than Jacks, you do so with the full knowledge that the pair itself is not strong enough to win. Now what are the odds against your winning the pool? Suppose you hold tens, and draw three cards.
Three to twelve players may form a table. There are two methods of playing Commerce; with and without a widow. We shall take the older form first. _=Without a Widow.=_ The counters have a money value, and each player deposits one in the pool. The dealer then distributes the cards one at a time, face down, until each has three. The players then examine their cards, and each in turn, beginning with the eldest hand, may exchange one card. If he trades _=for ready money=_, he gives his card and one white counter to the dealer, and receives another card, face down, from the top of the pack. The discard is left on the table, and the counter is the dealer’s perquisite. If he trades _=for barter=_, he passes his discard to the player on his left, who must give one of his own in exchange before looking at the one he is to receive.
To play this game there are seventeen pieces called Geese, and another one either larger or distinguished from the Geese by its colour, which is called the Fox. The Fox occupies the centre hole, and the Geese occupy nine holes in front, and four on each side of him. The vacant holes behind are for the Geese and Fox to move in. The game is for the Geese to shut up the Fox so that he cannot move. All the pieces can be moved from one spot to another in the direction of the lines, but cannot pass over two holes at once. The Geese are not permitted to take the Fox. 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.
After each ball is rolled any pins that have fallen on the alley are called _=deadwood=_, and must be removed before the second ball is rolled. _=Counting.=_ If a player makes a strike in one inning, all that he makes on the next two balls rolled, whether in one inning or not, counts also on the strike, so as to give him the total score on three balls for the frame. Three successive strikes would give him 30 points on the first frame, with a ball still to roll to complete the second frame, and two balls to roll to complete the third. If he got two strikes in succession, and 5 pins on the first ball of the third frame, 4 on the second ball, the first frame would be worth 25, the second frame 19, and the break on the third frame 9; making his total score 53 for the three frames. If the player makes a spare in one inning, all the pins knocked down by the first ball of the next inning count also on the spare. Suppose a spare to be followed by a strike, the frame in which the spare was made would be worth 20. If he made 5 pins only, the spare would be worth 15. Although the player is supposed to have three balls in each inning, and is allowed to count all he makes on three balls if he gets a strike or a spare, he is not allowed to roll three balls on a break. It was formerly the custom to let him roll the third ball on the chance of getting a break of 10.
The object in looking at the cards is to select the pile which is least likely to stop you, or the one having the fewest cards in it. _=TAKE FOURTEEN.=_ Shuffle and cut the pack, and deal the cards one at a time, face upward, into twelve piles, and continue dealing on the top of these twelve until the pack is exhausted. This will give you four piles which contain one card more than the others. Then take off any two of the top cards which will make 14, reckoning the Jack as 11, the Queen as _12_ and the King as 13, all the others at their face value. Only two cards must be used to make 14. If you succeed in taking off all the cards in this manner, you win. You are at liberty to look at the underneath cards in the various piles, but you must not disturb their positions. _=HELP YOUR NEIGHBOUR.=_ Take from the pack the four aces, and lay them face upward on the table in a row.
There is no trump suit in misère, but the bidder, if successful, must lead for the first trick. Any bid once made can neither be amended nor recalled, and there is no second bid. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The player bidding the highest number of tricks has the first lead, and the first card he plays must be one of the trump suit. The players must follow suit if able, but need not win the trick unless they choose to do so. The highest card played of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. The winner of the trick leads again for the next trick, and so on, until all five tricks have been played. After the first trick any suit may be led. The bidder gathers all tricks he wins, stacking them so that they may be readily counted by any player at the table. One of the other side should gather all tricks won by the adversaries of the bidder.
_=Stakes.=_ Sixty-six is played for so much a game, or for so much a point, the loser’s score being deducted from the winner’s. If the loser has not scored at all, it is usually counted a double game. _=Dealing.=_ The cards having been shuffled and presented to the pone to be cut, the dealer gives six cards to each player, three at a time, dealing first to his adversary. There are several ways of making the trump, one of which should be agreed upon before play begins. One way is for the pone to draw a card from the top, the middle, or the bottom of the talon, after the dealer has given each player his six cards. Another way is for the dealer to turn up the seventh card, after dealing the first round of three to each player. Another, and the one generally adopted in America, is for the dealer to turn up the thirteenth card for the trump, after giving six cards to each player. The trump card is left face upward on the table, and is usually placed under the remainder of the pack, which is slightly spread, face down, for the players to draw from.
V. I ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I ve come to see Jenny jo, How is she now? Jenny jo is washing clothes, washing clothes, washing clothes, Jenny jo is washing clothes, You can t see her now. I ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I ve come to see Jenny jo, How is she now? Jenny jo is ironing clothes, ironing clothes, ironing clothes, Jenny jo is ironing clothes, You can t see her now. I ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I ve come to see Jenny jo, How is she now? Jenny jo is sick, my dear, sick, my dear, sick, my dear, Jenny jo is sick, my dear, You can t see her now. I ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I ve come to see Jenny jo, How is she now? Jenny jo is underboard, underboard, underboard, Jenny jo is underboard, You can t see her now. --Lismore (Miss F. Keane, collected from Miss Ward, National Schoolmistress). VI. We ve come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, We ve come to see Jenny Jones, And how is she now? O Jenny is washing, O washing, O washing, O Jenny is washing, And you can t see her now. Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies, Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too.
With any two high cards in sequence, the lead is a high card when playing against a declared trump. The _=Jack=_ is never led except as a supporting card. It is always the top of the suit, and the suit is usually short. The object of making such an opening is to avoid leading suits headed by two honours which are not in sequence. These are good Jack leads: [Illustration: 🂻 🂺 🂹 🂴 🂫 🂧 ] The _=Ten=_ is led from one combination only:-- [Illustration: 🃎 🃋 🃊 🃆 ] The _=Ace=_ should not be led if it can be avoided; but it is better to lead it from suits of more than four cards, so as to make it at once. If the Ace is accompanied by the King, the King is the card to lead, not the Ace. If the Ace is accompanied by other honours, such as the Queen or Jack, it is better to avoid opening the suit, unless you have five or more cards of it. But if you do lead a suit headed by the Ace, _=without the King=_, be sure that you lead the Ace, when playing against a trump declaration, or you may never make it. All such combinations as the following should be avoided, if possible, as more can be made out of them by letting them alone:-- [Illustration: 🃑 🃝 🃚 🃔 | 🃞 🃛 🃘 🃔 🂱 🂻 🂺 🂴 | 🂽 🂻 🂶 🂴 🂮 🂨 🂧 🂤 | 🂫 🂪 🂩 🂤 🃍 🃆 🃅 🃄 | 🃊 🃉 🃈 🃄 ] But with three honours, A Q J, the Ace should be led. _=Rules for Leading Short Suits.
I see no inconsistency in deploring the practice while perfecting the method. But I am a civilian, and Kriegspiel is not my proper business. I am deeply preoccupied with a novel I am writing, and so I think the best thing I can do is just to set down here all the ideas that have cropped up in my mind, in the footsteps, so to speak, of Colonel Sykes, and leave it to the military expert, if he cares to take the matter up, to reduce my scattered suggestions to a system. Now, first, it is manifest that in Little Wars there is no equivalent for rifle-fire, and that the effect of the gun-fire has no resemblance to the effect of shell. That may be altered very simply. Let the rules as to gun-fire be as they are now, but let a different projectile be used--a projectile that will drop down and stay where it falls. I find that one can buy in ironmongers shops small brass screws of various sizes and weights, but all capable of being put in the muzzle of the 4 7 guns without slipping down the barrel. If, with such a screw in the muzzle, the gun is loaded and fired, the wooden bolt remains in the gun and the screw flies and drops and stays near where it falls--its range being determined by the size and weight of screw selected by the gunner. Let us assume this is a shell, and it is quite easy to make a rule that will give the effect of its explosion. Half, or, in the case of an odd number, one more than half, of the men within three inches of this shell are dead, and if there is a gun completely within the circle of three inches radius from the shell, it is destroyed.
If he misses a hole, his marble is lost to the owner of the Bridgeboard.--Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy). [The owner or keeper of the Bridgeboard presumably pays those boys who succeed in winning marbles.] See Nine Holes. Broken-down Tradesmen A boys game, undescribed.--Patterson s _Antrim and Down Glossary_. Brother Ebenezer Ebenezer is sent out of the room, and the remainder choose one of themselves. Two children act in concert, it being understood that the last person speaking when Ebenezer goes out of the room is the person to be chosen. The medium left in the room causes the others to think of this person without letting them know that they are not choosing of their own free will. The medium then says, Brother Ebenezer, come in, and asks him in succession, Was it William, or Jane, &c.
] Blue then pounds Red s right with his gun to the right of the farm and kills three men. He extends his other gun to the left of the farm, right out among the trees, so as to get an effective fire next time upon the tail of Red s gun. He also moves up sufficient men to take possession of Red s lost gun. On the right Blue s gun engages Red s and kills one man. All this the reader will see clearly in figure 9, and he will also note a second batch of Red prisoners--this time they are infantry, going rearward. Figure 9 is the last picture that is needed to tell the story of the battle. Red s position is altogether hopeless. He has four men left alive by his rightmost gun, and their only chance is to attempt to save that by retreating with it. If they fire it, one or other will certainly be killed at its tail in Blue s subsequent move, and then the gun will be neither movable nor fireable. Red s left gun, with four men only, is also in extreme peril, and will be immovable and helpless if it loses another man.
Wood says there is a rougher game played at country feasts and fairs in which a pig takes the place of the boy with the bell, but he does not give the locality (p. 7). Strutt also describes it (_Sports_, p. 317). Blind Bucky-Davy In Somersetshire the game of Blind Man s Buff. Also in Cornwall (see Couch s _Polperro_, p. 173). Pulman says this means Blind buck and have ye (Elworthy s _Dialect_). Blind Harie A name for Blind Man s Buff. --Jamieson.
Handy pandy, Sugary candy, Which will you have-- Top or bottom? --London (A. B. Gomme). IV. Handy pandy, Jack a dandy, Which hand will you have? --Burne s _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 530. (_b_) The hands are closed, some small article is put in one of them behind the back of the player. The closed fists are then turned rapidly round one another while the rhyme is being said, and they are then placed one on top of the other. A guess is then made by any one of the players as to which hand the object is in. If correct, the guesser obtains the object; if incorrect, the player who performs Handy dandy keeps it.