The joker stands for the 8 of clubs. Another player holding the actual 8 of clubs could move the joker to the position of the 5 and add his 8. Or if he had the 4 of clubs, he could move the joker to represent the 5 and add his 4 to the sequence, or he might add both 8 and 4 if he held those cards. On account of the privilege of laying out as many cards at a time as the player pleases, and adding as many as he can to other combinations, this is a much livelier game than the ordinary single-pack rum. The settling is the same, the winner getting the pip value of each player’s hand. In case no one has all his cards down before the stock is exhausted, which is very unusual, however, the discards are turned face down and drawn from again. CANFIELD. This form of solitaire is often confused with Klondike, but there is a marked difference both in the layout and the play. The full pack of fifty-two cards is used. After it has been thoroughly shuffled and properly cut, thirteen cards are counted off, face down, and placed at the player’s left, face up.
If one answers wrongly, a box on the ear with the handkerchief was the consequence; but if they all replied correctly, the one who broke silence first had that punishment. For similar rhymes see Dump, Mother, may I go out? Hey Wullie Wine I. Hey Wully wine, and How Wully wine, I hope for hame ye ll no incline; Ye ll better light, and stay a night, And I ll gie thee a lady fine. Wha will ye gie, if I wi ye bide, To be my bonny blooming bride, And lie down lovely by my side? I ll gie thee Kate o Dinglebell, A bonny body like yersell. I ll stick her up in the pear-tree Sweet and meek, and sae is she: I lo ed her ance, but she s no for me, Yet I thank ye for your courtesy. I ll gie thee Rozie o the Cleugh, I m sure she ll please thee weel eneugh. Up wi her on the bane dyke, She ll be rotten or I ll be ripe: She s made for some ither, and no me, Yet I thank ye for your courtesy. Then I ll gie ye Nell o sweet Sprinkell, Owre Galloway she bears the bell. I ll set her up in my bed-head, And feed her wi milk and bread; She s for nae ither, but jist for me, Sae I thank ye for your courtesy. --Mactaggart s _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.
If you have Q J 10 of a suit in which partner leads King, play the Jack, so that he will count you for Q or no more, and will not go on with the Ace. _=IN GENERAL.=_ Both the adversaries of Dummy should adopt the usual tactics for unblocking, etc., especially in no-trumpers, and in some cases Dummy’s exposed cards will make the matter more simple. For instance: You hold A Q alone, of a suit which partner leads. If you are the pone, and Dummy has not the King, play Ace and return the Queen. _=FOURTH HAND.=_ There is only one difference from the usual methods in playing fourth hand, and that is in indicating sequences by winning with the best and returning the lowest to show the intermediate cards. For instance: Fourth player, holding K Q J x, wins with King and returns the Jack. Or with A K Q, wins with Ace and returns the Queen.
Any player, except the dealer, can bet what he pleases on any packet. After all the bets are made all the packets, including the dealer’s, are turned face up, exposing the bottom card of each. Any packet disclosing a card lower than the dealer’s loses all bets placed upon it. Any packet showing a card better than the dealer’s wins from him. The dealer takes all ties. The deal then passes to the next player on the left. Sometimes only three packets are cut, one of which is pushed to the dealer. This game is a great favourite with card-sharpers, especially on ocean steamers. They use packs in which the cards are trimmed long and short, so that a confederate may cut them by the ends or by the sides for high or low cards, afterward pushing one of the high cuts toward the dealer. CHINESE FAN TAN.
I ll come for that. The Dog then comes. The girls have been previously told not to laugh whilst the one who stands out is talking to the Dog. Then the girl says to the Dog-- All the birds in the air, All the fishes in the sea, Come and pick me out (for example) The girl with the golden ball. If the girl who desired the golden ball laughs, the Dog picks her out. If nobody laughs, he guesses who the girl is that has wished for the golden ball. If the Dog guesses correctly, she goes and stands behind him, and if he guesses incorrectly she goes and stands behind the one who has been asking the questions. They continue this until they get to the last girl or girl at the end of the row, who _must_ have desired to be-- A brewer or a baker, Or a candlestick maker, Or a penknife maker. Then the questioner says-- All the birds in the air, All the fishes in the sea, Come pick me out A brewer or a baker, Or a candlestick maker, Or penknife maker. If the Dog guesses the right one, he takes that girl on his side, she standing behind him.
J. P. Emslie, are inserted in order to assist the reader to understand the different actions, and in one or two instances I have been able to give a facsimile reproduction of representations of the games from early MSS. in the Bodleian and British Museum Libraries. Although none of the versions of the games now collected together are in their original form, but are more or less fragmentary, it cannot, I think, fail to be noticed how extremely interesting these games are, not only from the point of view of the means of amusement (and under this head there can be no question of their interest), but as a means of obtaining an insight into many of the customs and beliefs of our ancestors. Children do not invent, but they imitate or mimic very largely, and in many of these games we have, there is little doubt, unconscious folk-dramas of events and customs which were at one time being enacted as a part of the serious concerns of life before the eyes of children many generations ago. As to the many points of interest under this and other heads there is no occasion to dwell at length here, because the second volume will contain an appendix giving a complete analysis of the incidents mentioned in the games, and an attempt to tell the story of their origin and development, together with a comparison with the games of children of foreign countries. The intense pleasure which the collection of these games has given me has been considerably enhanced by the many expressions of the same kind of pleasure from correspondents who have helped me, it not being an infrequent case for me to be thanked for reviving some of the keenest pleasures experienced by the collector since childhood; and I cannot help thinking that, if these traditional games have the power of thus imparting pleasure after the lapse of many years, they must contain the power of giving an equal pleasure to those who may now learn them for the first time. ALICE BERTHA GOMME. BARNES COMMON, S.
=_ Those solos are easiest which are declared by the eldest hand, or by the dealer; the hardest being those called by second hand. The safest solos are those called on trump strength; but average trumps and winning cards in the plain suits are more advantageous if the caller is not eldest hand. To call a solo on plain suits alone, with only one or two trumps, is extremely dangerous; and a solo called on a single suit must have at least five or six good trumps in order to succeed. _=PLAYING.=_ When a call has been made entirely upon trump strength, it is much better to make tricks by ruffing, than by leading trumps. There is little use for a solo player to hold a tenace in trumps, hoping it will be led to him. If he has good suits, he should make sure of two rounds of trumps by leading the Ace. When the solo player is depending on the plain suits for tricks, and has one long suit, he should make what winning cards he has in the other plain suits in preference to leading trumps, for his only danger is that his long suit will be led often enough to give his adversaries discards in the other suits. If a proposal was made before the solo was called, it is better for the solo player to sit on the left of the player that proposed. The caller should never play single honours second hand, unless he has only one small card of the suit, or the honour is the Ace.
cccxxxv., to which the following rhyme applied:-- My father was a Frenchman, He bought for me a fiddle; He cut me here, he cut me here, He cut me right in the middle. Feed the Dove An undescribed game mentioned in an old poem called _Christmas_ (i. 285), quoted in Ellis s Brand, i. 517: Young men and maidens now at Feed the Dove (with laurel leaf in mouth) play. Find the Ring O the grand old Duke of York He had ten thousand men, He marched them up the hill ago And he marched them down again. And when they were up they were up, And when they were down they were down, And when they were half-way up the hill They were neither up nor down. --Sheffield (S. O. Addy).
It is practically the same game as Drop Handkerchief, played without words. It is described by Strutt, p. 381, who considers Kiss-in-the-Ring is derived from this Cat and Mouse. Catchers One bicken is required in this game, and at this a lad must stand with a bat and ball in hand. He hits the ball away along the sand. Another boy picks it up and asks the striker How many? who replies-- Two a good scat, Try for the bat. The ball is then thrown to the bicken, and if it does not come within the distance named--two bats--the striker again sends the ball away, when the question is again asked-- Three a good scat, Try for the bat. And so on until the boy standing out throws the ball in to the required distance.--Old newspaper cutting without date in my possession (A. B.
--Peacham s _Thalia s Banquet_, 1620. Nares (_Glossary_) suggests that this game and blow-point resembled the game of Push-pin. See also Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Eller Tree A number of young men and women stand in a line, a tall girl at one end of the line representing the tree. They then begin to wrap round her, saying, The old eller tree grows thicker and thicker. When they have all got round her (the tree), they jump all together, calling out, A bunch of rags, a bunch of rags, and try to tread on each other s toes.--Sheffield, Yorks (S. O. Addy). (_b_) The tree is the alder.
The game is at an end when one player gets rid of all his dominoes, or all four players are blocked. The pips remaining in the hands of the partners are then reckoned, and the side having the lower number wins the difference. Another variation is for each to play for himself, but instead of playing only one domino at a time in each round, a player may go on as long as he can follow suit to either end of the line. _=DRAW GAME.=_ In this variation of the Block Game, each player has the option of drawing any number of dominoes from the bone-yard except the last two, which must always remain in stock. He may draw while he is still able to play, or not until he is blocked; but when he is blocked he is compelled to draw until he obtains a domino that can be played, or has drawn all but the last two in the bone-yard. _=MATADORE GAME.=_ This is another variety of the Block Game. Each player takes seven bones, and the highest double or the heaviest domino sets. The object is not to follow suit to the ends, but to play a number which will make the end and the number played to it equal _=seven=_.
9. Should a player pocket the cue ball twice in succession without striking any object bail, he shall forfeit the game. 10. Should a player while upon his carroms pocket any ball, the hand is out, and he loses any points he may have made on that run. 11. Whenever, except on the final stroke, the cue ball is pocketed or forced off the table, the hand is out, the points scored on that run are lost, and the cue ball is in hand for the following player, who must play on a ball outside the string line, or else on some point of the cushion outside the line. 12. Should the spot on which any pocketed ball belongs be occupied, said ball shall be left off the table until the spot is free and the balls are at rest, with this exception--that should the 1 ball be pocketed, and its spot occupied, any player who is exactly 100, and whose turn it is to play, may demand that all the object balls be spotted and he shall play with ball in hand. 13. It is a foul if the player touch any ball with his person or clothing.
A penalty of two points may be scored by the adversary for each card so taken up again, whether it is returned to the player’s hand or not. If either player confuses his cards in any manner with those of the crib, his adversary scores two points, and may also claim a fresh deal. If it is not discovered until he comes to lay out for the crib, that a player has too many cards, the same rules apply that are given for misdealing; but if he has too few cards there is no remedy, as he has lifted his hand. He must lay out two cards for the crib and play with what remain, his adversary scoring two points penalty at the same time. _=THE STARTER.=_ Both players having discarded for the crib, the non-dealer cuts the remainder of the pack, and the dealer lifts the top card from the portion left on the table, turning it face up. The two portions being again united, the turned card is placed face up on the pack, and is known as the starter, because it forms the starting-point in the count for every hand and crib. At least four cards must be left in each packet in cutting for the starter. If the starter is found face up, there must be a new deal. If the starter is a Jack, the dealer immediately pegs two points _=for his heels=_.
Y. B. Z., the letters used to distinguish the positions of the four players at Whist; A-B being partners against Y-Z., and Z. having the deal. Backgammon. If a player throws off all his men before his adversary has thrown off any, and while one or more of the adversary’s men are still on the side of the board next the winning player, it is a backgammon, or triple game. Bath Coup, holding up Ace Jack on a King led by an adversary. Battre, F.
O. Addy says the following lines are said or sung in a game called T Bull s i t Barn, but he does not know how it is played:-- As I was going o er misty moor I spied three cats at a mill-door; One was white and one was black, And one was like my granny s cat. I hopped o er t style and broke my heel, I flew to Ireland very weel, Spied an old woman sat by t fire, Sowing silk, jinking keys; Cat s i t cream-pot up to t knees, Hen s i t hurdle crowing for day, Cock s i t barn threshing corn, I ne er saw the like sin I was born. Bulliheisle A play amongst boys, in which, all having joined hands in a line, a boy at one of the ends stands still, and the rest all wind round him. The sport especially consists in an attempt to heeze or throw the whole mass on the ground.--Jamieson. See Eller Tree, Wind up Jack, Wind up the Bush Faggot. Bummers A play of children. Bummers--a thin piece of wood swung round by a cord (_Blackwood s Magazine_, Aug. 1821, p.
=_ The game score should be kept on a whist marker, using the four large keys on one side for single points, and the single large key on the opposite side for five points. The three small keys are used to show how many games of the rubber have been won by that side. [Illustration: TWO GAMES WON, AND 2 POINTS SCORED ON THE THIRD.] The method of using counters for scoring 10-point games has already been described in connection with Whist. In addition to either markers or counters, there must be a sheet of paper to keep the final results of the games. In scoring, the revoke penalty counts first, tricks next, and honours last. The side first reaching 10 points wins a _=quadruple=_, or game of 4, if their adversaries have not scored; a _=triple=_, or game of 3, if their adversaries have not reached 4; a _=double=_, or game of 2, if the adversaries have not reached 7; and a _=single=_, or game of 1, if their adversaries are 8 or 9 up. These game points are put down on the score-sheet, and all the points on the _=adversaries’=_ marker are then turned down. If the winners make any points in excess of 10, such points are left to their credit on the marker, and count toward the next game. For instance: The score is A-B, 6; and Y-Z, 8; shown on the markers thus:-- [Illustration: A-B 6 POINTS.
We made the end of a war 200, 300, or 400 or more points up, according to the number of games we wanted to play, and we scored a hundred for each battle won, and in addition 1 for each infantry-man, 1-1/2 for each cavalry-man, 10 for each gun, 1/2 for each man held prisoner by the enemy, and 1/2 for each prisoner held at the end of the game, subtracting what the antagonist scored by the same scale. Thus, when he felt the battle was hopelessly lost, he had a direct inducement to retreat any guns he could still save and surrender any men who were under the fire of the victors guns and likely to be slaughtered, in order to minimise the score against him. And an interest was given to a skilful retreat, in which the loser not only saved points for himself but inflicted losses upon the pursuing enemy. At first we played the game from the outset, with each player s force within sight of his antagonist; then we found it possible to hang a double curtain of casement cloth from a string stretched across the middle of the field, and we drew this back only after both sides had set out their men. Without these curtains we found the first player was at a heavy disadvantage, because he displayed all his dispositions before his opponent set down his men. And at last our rules have reached stability, and we regard them now with the virtuous pride of men who have persisted in a great undertaking and arrived at precision after much tribulation. There is not a piece of constructive legislation in the world, not a solitary attempt to meet a complicated problem, that we do not now regard the more charitably for our efforts to get a right result from this apparently easy and puerile business of fighting with tin soldiers on the floor. And so our laws all made, battles have been fought, the mere beginnings, we feel, of vast campaigns. The game has become in a dozen aspects extraordinarily like a small real battle. The plans are made, the Country hastily surveyed, and then the curtains are closed, and the antagonists make their opening dispositions.
” In reply the dealer may either accept the proposal by asking: “_=How many?=_” or he may refuse, by saying: “_=Play=_.” If he gives cards, he may also take cards himself, after having helped his adversary. If he refuses, he must win at least three tricks or lose two points; and if the pone plays without proposing, he must make three tricks, or lose two points. The hands on which a player should stand, and those on which the dealer should refuse are known as _=jeux de règle=_, and will be found in the suggestions for good play. A proposal, acceptance, or refusal once made cannot be changed or taken back, and the number of cards asked for cannot be corrected. _=DISCARDING.=_ If the pone proposes, and the dealer asks: “How many?” the elder hand discards any number of cards from one to five, placing them on his right. These discards, once quitted, must not again be looked at. A player looking at his own or his adversary’s discards can be called upon to play with his cards exposed face upward on the table, but not liable to be called. The number of cards discarded must be distinctly announced, and the trump is then laid aside, and the cards given from the top of the pack, without further shuffling.
That is to say, in 12 pools, he will sacrifice his chances of one simply by holding up. After one or two tricks have been played, the conditions may be such that it becomes necessary to hold up, in order to win the second round. This is especially the case after you have been loaded, and are anxious to keep a certain player out of the lead. For an example see Illustrative Hand No. 4. in which Y holds up the ♢ King to keep A from getting in and leading another round of hearts. In the same hand Z tries hard to make the pool a Jack by holding up the ♣ Q. Had not A been entirely safe in diamonds the stratagem would have succeeded. In following suit it is important to keep count of the cards played, in order to avoid the unwitting lead of a suit of which the other players have none. The suits that need close watching are those in which you have nothing smaller than a six or eight.
If a bidder meets with opposition, he gradually approaches the true value of his game, and the player whose game is worth the most will of course be able to bid the greatest number of points, and must be selected as the player, the two others being his adversaries. _=Games.=_ These games are divided into two principal classes, those in which the player undertakes to win, and those in which he tries to lose. When he plays to lose, it is to lose every trick, there being no trump suit, and the cards in each suit ranking A K Q J 10 9 8 7. These games are called _=Null=_, or Nullo, and _=Null Ouvert=_, the latter being played with the successful bidder’s cards exposed face upward on the table, but not liable to be called. The moment he wins a trick in a Nullo, he loses his game. Nullos are quite foreign to Skat, and appear to have been introduced as a consolation for players who always hold bad cards. When _=Ramsch=_ is played, the object is to take less than either of the other players; but the cards rank as in the ordinary game, except that the four Jacks are the only trumps. In all other games the successful bidder undertakes to win; but his success does not depend on the number of tricks he takes in, but on the total value of the counting cards contained in those tricks. The total value of all the counting cards is 120 points, and to be successful, the single player must win at least 61.
As the cards are withdrawn in this manner a spring pushes the remainder of the pack upward. The first card in sight at the beginning of each deal is called _=soda=_, and the last card left in the box is _=in hoc=_. The first card withdrawn is placed about six inches from the box, and the second is laid close to the box itself. [Illustration] Every two cards withdrawn in this manner are called a _=turn=_, and there are twenty-five turns in each deal, Soda and Hoc being dead cards. In making the first turn, the Soda begins the pile farther from the box, and the next card taken out is called a _=loser=_, which is placed close to the box. The card left face upward in the box is the _=winner=_ for that turn, so that there must be a winner and a loser for every turn; the loser outside the box, and the winner left in it. On the next and all following turns, the winning card on the previous turn will be placed on the same pile as the Soda, so that it shall be possible at any time to decide which cards have won, and which have lost. The _=Object of the Game=_ is for the players to guess whether the various cards on which they place their money will win or lose. They are at liberty to select any card they please, from the ace to the King, and to bet any amount within the established limit of the bank. _=The Layout.
What had her Hegira been like? In what frightful places had she found herself welcome? From her talk, it could have been an Ozark backwater. I didn t want to know what backwoods crone had taught her some mnemonic rendition of the Devil s Litany. Her hands passed up beyond my shoulder, to my neck. It s in yore haid, she said. In yore darlin haid! Fingers worked over my scalp. Oh, there! she gasped. Hit s ahurtin me! Hurtin , hurtin , and I m a draggin it off n yuh! Her backwoods twang sharpened as she aped some contemporary witch. Hurt? She didn t know what it meant. She fired a charge of thermite in my head, and it seared its way down my arm to my fingers. My right arm came off the bed and thrashed like a wounded snake.
_=25.=_ When a ball has been taken up, and any other than the next player’s ball stop on the spot it occupied, the ball so taken up must remain in hand till it can be replaced. But if it be the turn of the ball in hand to play before the one occupying its proper place, the latter must be taken up till there be room to replace it. _=26.=_ If the corner of the cushion should prevent the striker from playing in a direct line, he can have any ball removed for the purpose of playing at the object-ball from a cushion. _=27.=_ When three players, each with one life, remain in a pool, and the striker make a miss, the other two divide without a stroke. _=28.=_ Neither of the last two players can star, but if they are left with an equal number of lives each they may divide the pool; the striker, however, is entitled to his stroke before the division. _=29.
It is a legitimate artifice in the game to ask for a card you already have in your own hand, although you know it will lose your guess, because it may be the only way to prevent another player from drawing several valuable cards from you. For instance: You hold the Fives of diamonds and spades, and have asked for and received the Five of clubs. If you ask for the heart Five, and miss it, the player with that card may draw all yours; but if you ask for the spade Five, and he gets into the ask, he will at once betray the fact that he holds the fourth Five by asking you for the club Five; but he will never think of asking you for the spade Five, because you asked for it yourself. If you can get into the ask again you can immediately make a trick in Fives. SPECULATION. Any number of persons less than ten can play, each contributing an agreed number of counters to the pool, the dealer paying double. The full pack of fifty-two cards is used, and the cards rank from the A K Q down to the 2. In _=dealing=_, the cards are distributed from left to right, one at a time, until each player has received three. The next card on the top of the pack is turned up, and the suit to which it belongs is the trump, and forms the basis of speculation for that deal. If the turn-up card is an ace, the dealer takes the pool immediately, and the deal passes to the left.
Should a player discard a trump, his partner may call his attention to it, and it may be taken back, provided the player has not been helped to cards, or has not lifted the cards drawn. _=Drawing.=_ The players having discarded, the dealer, beginning on his left, must give to each in turn from the top of the pack, face down, as many cards as may be necessary to restore the number in each hand to six. _=Robbing the Deck.=_ When it comes to the dealer’s turn to draw cards, instead of taking them from the top of the pack, face down, he may search the remainder of the pack, and take from it any cards he pleases to restore the number in his hand to six. Should he find in his own hand and in the remainder of the pack, more than six trumps, he must discard those he does not want, face upward on the table. _=Irregular Drawing.=_ Should a player ask for too many or too few cards, and not discover his error until the next player has been helped, if he has too few he may make his hand good from the discards, but must not take a trump therefrom. If he has too many, the adversaries must be allowed to draw the superfluous ones at random, face down, placing them on the top of the pack. _=Playing.
_=PLAYERS.=_ The number of players, their arrangement at the table, etc., is precisely the same as at Boston. _=CUTTING.=_ Instead of cutting for the first deal, any one of the players takes a pack of cards, and gives thirteen to each player in succession, face up. The player to whom he gives the diamond Jack deals the first hand, and has the choice of seats and cards. The others sit as they please. _=DEALING.=_ The cards are shuffled before every deal. The player on the left of the dealer cuts, and cards are given first to the player on the dealer’s right, dealing from right to left.
=_ The aim of the player is to draw cards from the stock or discard pile until the pip value of the unmatched cards in his hand amounts to 15 or less. Sequences may run to any length, and four, five, or six of a kind is in order. The cards in hand that do not fit any combination of three or more are deadwood, and the object is to reduce this deadwood to less than fifteen. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ Each player in turn to the left of the dealer draws a card from the stock or the discard pile and discards one in its place, face up. No player is allowed to lay down anything until he can show his whole hand, and then only when his deadwood is fifteen or less, and he is not obliged to lay down even then if he prefers to wait until he can reduce his deadwood still further. _=THE SHOW-DOWN.=_ As soon as any player can show down his hand, the game is at an end. He lays out his combinations and pushes them aside. Then he announces the pip value of his deadwood, after discarding a card in place of the one drawn.
If the Cat be struck and caught, the striking party is out, and another of his sidesmen takes his place, if the set be strong enough to admit of it. If there be only six players, it may be previously agreed that three _put outs_ shall end the innings. Another mode of putting out is to throw the Cat home, after being struck, and placing or pitching it into an unoccupied hole, while the in-party are running. A certain number of misses (not striking the Cat) may be agreed on to be equivalent to a put out. The game may be played by two, placed as at cricket, or by four, or I believe more.--Moor s _Suffolk Words_; Holloway s _Dict. of Provincialisms_. Brockett (_North Country Words_, p. 115) calls this Kitty-Cat, a puerile game. Then in his hand he takes a thick bat, With which he used to play at Kit-Cat --Cotton s _Works_, 1734, p.