Cobble A name for See-saw. --Jamieson. Cobbler s Hornpipe This was danced by a boy stooping till he was nearly in a sitting posture on the ground, drawing one leg under him until its toe rested on the ground, and steadying himself by thrusting forward the other leg so that the heel rested on the ground; the arms and head being thrown forwards as far as possible in order to maintain a balance. The thrust-out leg was drawn back and the drawn-in leg was shot out at the same time. This movement was repeated, each bringing down to the ground of the toe and heel causing a noise like that of hammering on a lapstone. The arms were moved backwards and forwards at the same time to imitate the cobbler s sewing.--London (J. P. Emslie). [Illustration] Cob-nut The children in Yorkshire have a game which is probably an ancient English pastime.
Long Terrace. Loup the Bullocks. Lubin. Lug and a Bite. Luggie. Luking. MAG. Magic Whistle. Magical Music. Malaga Raisins.
Suppose six play in a jack pot. A passes, and B opens it by quietly putting up his counters. C and D pass, and E, pretending not to know that B has opened it, announces that he will open it for the limit, although he has not a pair in his hand. He is of course immediately informed that it has been opened, upon which he unhesitatingly raises it for the limit. Whatever the others do, E stands pat, and looks cheerful. The author has never known this bluff to be called. Holding a strong hand, a player may often coax another to raise him, by offering to divide the pool. The successful bluffer should never show his hand. Even if he starts the game by bluffing for advertising purposes, hoping to get called on good hands later, he should not show anything or tell anything that the others do not pay to see or know. Bluffing is usually more successful when a player is in a lucky vein than when he has been unfortunate.
In the Southampton version, after the carrying of Jenny by her head and feet to the grave, and the other children following and standing round, Jenny Jones rises up and pursues the children. She is called the Ghost. The children run away in affected terror, calling out, The Ghost! Whoever she catches becomes Jenny Jones in the next game. This incident is also played in the Barnes, Northants, Annaverna, co. Louth, Enborne and Liphook versions. (_c_) This game is played very generally throughout the country, and I have other versions collected from Earls Heaton (Mr. H. Hardy), Barnes (A. B. Gomme), Cambridge (Mrs.
] Forby has, _Morris_, an ancient game, in very common modern use. In Shakespeare it is called nine men s _morris_, from its being played with nine men, as they were then, and still are called. We call it simply _morris_. Probably it took the name from a fancied resemblance to a dance, in the motions of the men. Dr. Johnson professes that he knew no more of it than that it was some rustic game. Another commentator speaks of it as common among shepherds boys in some parts of Warwickshire. It cannot well be more common there than here, and it is not particularly rustic. Shepherds boys and other clowns play it on the green turf, or on the bare ground; cutting or scratching the lines, on the one or the other. In either case it is soon filled up with mud in wet weather.
A lot of it was thin, red nose and buck teeth. You ll lose, darlin Billy, she said. Pull those chips back! I said. Her eyebrows shrugged, but she did as I told her. I came out, and tipped the dice to eleven. I kept the dice, but lost my chips, which is what I wanted. Throwing six more down on the Don t Pass side, I rattled the ivories in my left hand. Tears began to roll down her unhealthy cheeks. Lose! she cried nasally, and sniffled. Billy Joe! Listen to me, darlin Billy! You ll lose! Her eyes rolled up toward the top of her head as I ignored her and came out.
Addy (_Sheffield Glossary_) says knur is a small round ball, less than a billiard ball. It is put into a cup fixed on a spring which, being touched, causes the ball to rise into the air, when it is struck by a trip-stick, a slender stick made broad and flat at one end. The knur is struck by the broad part. The game is played on Shrove Tuesday. Brogden (_Provincial Words of Lincolnshire_) gives it under Bandy. It is called Knur, Spell, and Kibble in S.-W. Lincolnshire.--Cole s _Glossary_. The following letter relating to this game is extracted from the _Worcestershire Chronicle_, September 1847, in Ellis s edition of Brand:-- Before the commons were taken in, the children of the poor had ample space wherein to recreate themselves at cricket, _nurr_, or any other diversion; but now they are driven from every green spot, and in Bromsgrove here, the nailor boys, from the force of circumstances, have taken possession of the turnpike road to play the before-mentioned games, to the serious inconvenience of the passengers, one of whom, a woman, was yesterday knocked down by a _nurr_ which struck her in the head.
No. 4 contains four fifteens in addition to the four runs of three and two single pairs, and is therefore worth 24 points. The best combination that can be held in hand or crib is three Fives and a Jack, with the Five of the same suit as the Jack for a starter. We have already seen that the four Fives by themselves are worth 20, to which we must add the four extra fifteens made by combining the Jack with each Five separately, and one more point for his nobs, 29 altogether. If the Jack was the starter, the combination would be worth 30 to the dealer, but his heels would have to be counted before a card was played. _=Flushes.=_ In addition to the foregoing combinations, if all four cards in the hand are of the same suit the player can peg four points for the flush; if the starter is also the same suit, five points. A flush does not count in the crib unless the starter is the same suit, and then it counts five points. Flushes are never made in play. _=Laying Out for the Crib.
_=44. False Hands.=_ If a false opener does not discover his mistake until after he has drawn cards, his hand is foul, and must be abandoned. As a penalty he must put up an ante for each of the other players at the table for another Jack. _=45. Betting the Hands.=_ The opener makes the first bet; or, if he has withdrawn, the player next on his left. Should the opener decline to bet after the draw, he must show his openers before abandoning his hand. He need not show the cards he has drawn. If no bet is made, the last player holding cards takes the pool without showing his hand.
36. When the pack is cut, should the dealer shuffle the cards, he loses his deal. A NEW DEAL. 37. There must be a new deal-- I. If during a deal, or during the play of a hand, the pack be proved incorrect or imperfect. II. If any card, excepting the last, be faced in the pack. 38. If, whilst dealing, a card be exposed by the dealer or his partner, should neither of the adversaries have touched the cards, the latter can claim a new deal; a card exposed by either adversary gives that claim to the dealer, provided that his partner has not touched a card; if a new deal does not take place, the exposed card cannot be called.
The rank of the suits has no influence on their trick-taking powers, nor on the value of the Zahlkarten; but it increases or diminishes the value of the “game” played for. When any suit is made the trump, it takes the precedence of the three others only in so far as trumps will win other suits, and the suits which are not trumps are equal in value so far as trick-taking is concerned. As the four Wenzels are always the highest trumps, there will always be eleven cards in the trump suit, and seven in each of the plain suits; so that if clubs were trumps, the rank of the cards would be:-- [Illustration: 🃛 🂫 🂻 🃋 🃑 🃚 🃞 🃝 🃙 🃘 🃗 ] In any of the other suits the rank would be:-- [Illustration: 🂡 🂪 🂮 🂭 🂩 🂨 🂧 ] _=Matadores.=_ The club Jack is always the best trump, and every trump card in unbroken sequence with the club Jack is called a Matadore, provided the sequence is in the hand of the same player. This rule holds whether the sequence was in the hand originally dealt to him or part of it is found in the Skat, should he become possessed of the Skat cards. For instance: Clubs are trumps, and a player holds these cards:-- [Illustration: 🃛 🂻 🃋 🃑 🃚 🃘 🃗 ] He has only one Matadore; but as the Skat cards will belong to him if he has made the trump, he may find in them the spade Jack, which would complete his sequence, giving him six Matadores, instead of one. As one side or the other must have the club Jack in every deal, there must always be a certain number of Matadores, from one to eleven. If the player who makes the trump has them, he is said to play _=with=_ so many; if his adversaries hold them, he is said to play _=without=_ just as many as they hold. The difficult thing for the beginner at Skat to understand is that whether a player holds the Matadores or not, the number of them has exactly the same influence on the value of his game. If one player held these cards [Illustration: 🃛 🂫 🂱 🂺 🂷 ] and wished to make hearts trumps, he would be playing “with two.
[Illustration] It is foul if more than two successive shots are made on balls both of which are within any one of the eight interdicted spaces. Both balls being within the space, the striker can play on them once without sending either out; his next stroke must send at least one out. Should it return, and both balls be again inside, he can play one shot, as before, without sending either out. This process may be repeated _ad libitum_. Should the second stroke fail to send a ball out it does not count, the striker’s hand is out, and the next striker plays at the balls as he finds them. [Illustration] The great art in baulk-line nursing is to get the object and carrom balls astride the line, and then to follow the principle of the rail nurse. The _=anchor=_ shot is now barred in championship games. It consisted in getting two balls frozen to the cushion astride of one end of a line, and then just rubbing their faces with the cue ball. In the baulk-line nurse there are three principal positions, and two turns, as shown in the diagram. In No.
C. Bell). II. He was a jolly, jolly sailor boy, Who had lately come ashore; He spent his time in drinking wine As he had done before. Then we will have a jolly, jolly whirl, Then we will have a jolly, jolly whirl, And he who wants a pretty little girl Must kiss her on the shore. --Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (Miss Matthews). III. Here comes one jolly sailor, Just arrived from shore, We ll spend our money like jolly, jolly joes, And then we ll work for more. We ll all around, around and around, And if we meet a pretty little girl We ll call her to the shore. --Northants (Rev.
_=Suggestions for Good Play=_ will be found in Binocle. * * * * * _=CHINESE BÉZIQUE=_ is Rubicon Bézique with six packs of cards shuffled together and used as one. The counts run into enormous figures, and 6000 is not an uncommon score for the winner. In _=CHOUETTE BÉZIQUE=_, one of several players agrees to take all bets, and has the choice of deal and seats without cutting. His adversaries may consult together in playing against him. If the chouette player wins, one of his opponents takes the loser’s place; but if he loses, the same player opposes him for the next game. The adversaries usually cut to decide which of them shall play the first game against the chouette player, the highest card having the privilege. If there are four players, two may play against two, each consulting with his partner and sharing his bets. BINOCLE. The word Binocle is spelt in many different ways, all of which, are, however, phonetic equivalents of the correct one.
And they always will be. I know it s not easy, letting a Partner share your mind-- It s not easy for them, either, said Underhill. Don t worry about them. They re not human. Let them take care of themselves. I ve seen more pinlighters go crazy from monkeying around with Partners than I have ever seen caught by the Rats. How many do you actually know of them that got grabbed by Rats? * * * * * Underhill looked down at his fingers, which shone green and purple in the vivid light thrown by the tuned-in pin-set, and counted ships. The thumb for the _Andromeda_, lost with crew and passengers, the index finger and the middle finger for _Release Ships_ 43 and 56, found with their pin-sets burned out and every man, woman, and child on board dead or insane. The ring finger, the little finger, and the thumb of the other hand were the first three battleships to be lost to the Rats--lost as people realized that there was something out there _underneath space itself_ which was alive, capricious and malevolent. Planoforming was sort of funny.
II. Here are the robbers coming through, Coming through, coming through, Here are the robbers coming through, My fair lady. What will the robbers do to you, Do to you, do to you, What will the robbers do to you, My fair lady? Steal your watch and break your chain, Break your chain, break your chain, Steal your watch and break your chain, My fair lady. Then they must go to jail, Go to jail, go to jail, Then they must go to jail, My fair lady. --Belfast (W. H. Patterson). III. Hark the robbers Coming through, coming through, My fair lady. They have stolen my watch and chain, Watch and chain, watch and chain.
As the four Wenzels are always the highest trumps, there will always be eleven cards in the trump suit, and seven in each of the plain suits; so that if clubs were trumps, the rank of the cards would be:-- [Illustration: 🃛 🂫 🂻 🃋 🃑 🃚 🃞 🃝 🃙 🃘 🃗 ] In any of the other suits the rank would be:-- [Illustration: 🂡 🂪 🂮 🂭 🂩 🂨 🂧 ] _=Matadores.=_ The club Jack is always the best trump, and every trump card in unbroken sequence with the club Jack is called a Matadore, provided the sequence is in the hand of the same player. This rule holds whether the sequence was in the hand originally dealt to him or part of it is found in the Skat, should he become possessed of the Skat cards. For instance: Clubs are trumps, and a player holds these cards:-- [Illustration: 🃛 🂻 🃋 🃑 🃚 🃘 🃗 ] He has only one Matadore; but as the Skat cards will belong to him if he has made the trump, he may find in them the spade Jack, which would complete his sequence, giving him six Matadores, instead of one. As one side or the other must have the club Jack in every deal, there must always be a certain number of Matadores, from one to eleven. If the player who makes the trump has them, he is said to play _=with=_ so many; if his adversaries hold them, he is said to play _=without=_ just as many as they hold. The difficult thing for the beginner at Skat to understand is that whether a player holds the Matadores or not, the number of them has exactly the same influence on the value of his game. If one player held these cards [Illustration: 🃛 🂫 🂱 🂺 🂷 ] and wished to make hearts trumps, he would be playing “with two.” If another player wished to make the same suit trumps with these cards:-- [Illustration: 🂻 🃋 🂾 🂽 🂹 🂸 ] he would be playing “without two,” and the value of each game would be exactly the same, no matter which player actually made the trump. Matadores must be held; they do not count if won from the adversaries in the course of play.
Before leading for the next trick all cards which have been uncovered are turned face up. If any person has played his down card he will have no card to turn up, none having been uncovered. The cards cannot under any circumstances be shifted from their original positions. If a player has five cards face up, covering five cards face down, he cannot shift one of the exposed cards to the empty sixth place, and uncover another card. All covering cards must be got rid of in the course of play. _=PENALTIES=_ for revokes, cards led out of turn, etc., are the same as at Whist. _=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ As in Whist, the object is to win tricks, all above six counting one point toward game. Five, seven, or ten points may be made the game, at the option of the players, but ten is the usual number.
It is called Hy Spy in Patterson s _Antrim and Down Glossary_; Evans _Leicestershire Glossary_, Hide and Wink; Barnes _Dorset Glossary_, Hidy Buck. In Pegge s _Alphabet of Kenticisms_ the game is given as Hide and Fox. _Cf._ Hide Fox, and all after, _i.e._, let the fox hide and the others go to seek him; Hamlet, iv. 2, 32. In Stead s _Holderness Glossary_, Hed-o. In the North Riding it is Lam-pie-sote-it, also called Felto in Robinson s _Whitby Glossary_. He also mentions that the hidden child cries How-ly to the finder.
If the total of the two dice on the first throw is seven or eleven, it is called a _=nick=_, or _=natural=_, and the caster immediately wins the stakes. If the first throw is two, three or twelve, it is a _=crap=_, and the caster immediately loses. If the caster throws any number, 4, 5, _6_, 8, 9, or 10, that number is his _=point=_, and he must continue throwing until he throws the same number again, in which case he wins; or throws a seven, in which case he loses. Two dice may come up in thirty-six different ways, each of which will produce one or more of eleven possible throws, running from 2 to 12. The most common throw is seven, because there are six ways that the two dice may come that will make seven; 6-1, 5-2, 4-3, 3-4, 2-5 and 1-6. The most uncommon are two and twelve, because there is only one way for each of them to come; double aces or double sixes. The numbers of different ways in which each throw may come are as follows:-- 7 may come 6 different ways. 6 or 8 may come 5 different ways. 5 or 9 may come 4 different ways. 4 or 10 may come 3 different ways.
It is always dangerous to bid a nullo without the deuce of the longest suit. If the dealer bids a spade, his partner may safely bid one nullo, because the contract is seldom or never obtained for less than two or three, but he should not persist in the nullo if his partner does not assist it. The greater the opposition from a no-trumper, the more probable that the nullo will succeed, but it is a dangerous declaration in any case. The player with aces and kings is sure to win tricks, regardless of his partner’s hand, but deuces and treys are not sure to lose, as the partner may have all high cards, although not the tops. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR THE PLAY.=_ The declarer should count up the tricks he must win, and as a rule win them early, bunching his high cards as much as possible. Suits with two small cards and two high ones must win one trick, but should escape with that. The great point is to lead losing cards from one hand and discard dangerous cards in other suits from the other hand whenever possible. The opponents of a nullo should lead their shortest suits, so as to get discards later, keeping their eyes on the dummy and forcing it to win tricks whenever possible, but never allowing it to get a discard. The partner’s leads should be returned unless a singleton can be led at once.
| -- | -- | -- | | 7.| -- | -- | -- | | 8.| -- | -- | -- | | 9.|My fair lady. | -- |My fair lady. | |10.| -- |Gay ladies, gay. | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.| -- | -- | -- | |13.
She puppy-dogged behind me to the crap table I had decided needed my attention. It was crowded, but there s always room for one more sucker. And still one more, for the sniffly girl with the hair-colored hair pressed in against my useless right arm when I elbowed my way in between the gamblers, directly across from the dealers. Billy Joe! she said, just loud enough to hear over the chanting of the dealers and the excited chatter of the dice players. Billy Joe! What a corn-ball routine! * * * * * I took stock before beginning to lose my stack of chips. There were more than twenty gamblers of both sexes pressed up against the green baize of the crap layout. Three stick-men in black aprons that marked them for dealers were working on the other side or the table. We had at least one dealer too many for the crowd. That screamed out loud the table was having trouble. Big gambling layouts know within minutes if a table is not making its vigorish.
The object of the game is for the last couple to reach the top of the line, each running on different sides, and keeping to the side on which they are standing. The object of the Clapper is to hit the one running on the right side of the line, which, if he succeeds in doing, makes him the Clapper, and the Clapper takes his place. [The next _last_ couple would then presumably try and reach the top.]--East Kirkby, Lincs. (Miss K. Maughan). A similar game to this is played at Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). It is there called Long Tag. The players stand in line behind one another, and an odd one takes her place somewhere near the front; at a given signal, such as clapping of hands, the two at the back separate and try to meet again in front before the one on the watch can catch them; they may run where they please, and when one is caught that one becomes the one out. See French Jackie.
Trailing, playing a card which accomplishes nothing. Trash, to discard. Tric, F., the odd trick at Whist or Mort. Tricon, F., three cards of the same denomination. Tric-Trac, the European name for Backgammon. Trump-showing Leads, a system of private conventionalities in leading plain suits at Whist, to show the number of trumps held by the leader. Unblocking, getting out of your partner’s way when he has more cards of the suit than you have. Underplay, leading a card which is not the best of a suit, when the best would naturally be led; or holding up the best card to let another player win the trick.
(c) Every card, except the trump card, named by the player holding it. SEC. 2. If a player says. “I can win the rest,” “The rest are ours,” “It makes no difference how you play,” or words to that effect, or if he plays or exposes his remaining cards before his partner has played to the current trick, his partner’s cards must be laid face up on the table and are liable to be called. SEC. 3. All cards liable to be called must be placed face up on the table and so left until played. A player must lead or play them when lawfully called, provided he can do so without revoking; the call may be repeated at each or any trick until the card is played. A player cannot, however, be prevented from leading or playing a card liable to be called; if he can get rid of it in the course of a play no penalty remains.
Oh, that, she said. I ought to be over that by tomorrow. I hardly ever get a cold, darlin Billy, and when I do, I throw it off in a few days. Well, I guess it s a cinch I m no PC. THE END *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIGORISH *** Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed. Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark.
There is some finesse in determining whether or not to change the suit often in the leads. If you have a better memory than your adversary, it may be well to change often; but if not, it may assist you to keep at one suit until afraid to lead it again. In Two-Handed Hearts, keeping count of the cards is the most important matter, because the real play comes after the stock is exhausted, and the moment that occurs you should know every card in your adversary’s hand. The exact number of each suit should be a certainty, if not the exact rank of the cards. Until you can depend on yourself for this, you are not a good player. The last thirteen tricks are usually a problem in double-dummy; but the advantage will always be found to be with the player who has carefully prepared himself for the final struggle by preserving certain safe suits, and getting rid of those in which it became evident that his adversary had the small and safe cards. Some very pretty positions arise in the end game, it being often possible to foresee that four or five tricks must be played in a certain manner in order to ensure the lead being properly placed at the end, so that the odd hearts may be avoided. _=AUCTION HEARTS.=_ The cards having been cut and dealt, the player to the left of the dealer, whom we shall call A, examines his hand, and determines which suit he would prefer to play to get clear of. Let us suppose his hand to consist of the ♡ A K 8; ♣ J 6 5 4 3 2; ♢ K 4; and the ♠ 7 3.
=_ It has been found that of the ten numbers that can be dealt, 31 to 40, the number 31 will come oftener than any other. The proportions are as follow:-- 31--13 times, 32--12 times, 33--11 times, 34--10 times, 35--9 times, 36--8 times, 37--7 times, 38--6 times, 39--5 times, 40--4 times. The 31 refait also comes oftener than any other. Although the odds against it are supposed to be 63 to 1, the bankers expect it about twice in three deals, and each deal will produce from 28 to 33 coups. ROULETTE. It is probable that more money has been lost at the wheel than at any other gambling game in the world. In conjunction with Rouge et Noir, it forms the chief attraction at Monte Carlo, and other public gambling casinos. The rage for these games was so great, and the trickery connected with them so common, that they were banished from France by the law of 18 juillet, 1836, and had to take refuge in Baden and Homburg. Before that time the public revenue from the gaming houses amounted to five or six millions a year, all of which was lost by closing them up. The evil was not exterminated, however, for there are to-day hundreds of gambling hells in Europe, which make up for the brevity of their existence by the rapidity with which they fleece their patrons.