XVII. How far is it to Babylon? Three score miles and ten. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes, there and back again. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). XVIII. How many miles to Babylon? Three score and ten. Can you get there by candle-light? O yes, and back again. --Hanbury, Staffordshire (Miss E. Hollis). XIX.
See Fivestones. Green Grass [Music] --Middlesex (Miss Collyer). [Music] --London (A. B. Gomme). [Music] --Congleton (Miss A. E. Twemlow). 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.
If the dealer reshuffles the pack after it has been properly cut, he loses his deal. _=10.=_ Beginning on his left, the dealer must give to each player in rotation _=two=_ cards on the first round, and _=three=_ on the second; or three to each on the first round, and two on the second. Five cards having been given to each player in this manner, the next card is turned up for the trump. The deal passes to the left. _=11.=_ There must be a new deal by the same dealer if any card but the trump is found faced in the pack, or if the pack is proved incorrect or imperfect; but any previous scores made with the imperfect pack stand good. _=12.=_ The adversaries may demand a new deal if any card but the trump is exposed during the deal, provided they have not touched a card. If an adversary exposes a card, the dealer may elect to deal again.
--Henderson s _Folk-lore_, p. 84. See Nur and Spell. Mag A game among boys, in which the players throw at a stone set up on edge.--Barnes (_Dorset Glossary_). Magic Whistle All the players but three sit on chairs, or stand in two long rows facing each other. One player sits at one end of the two rows as president; another player is then introduced into the room by the third player, who leads him up between the two rows. He is then told to kneel before the one sitting at the end of the row of players. When he kneels any ridiculous words or formula can be said by the presiding boy, and then he and those players who are nearest to the kneeling boy rub his back with their hands for two or three minutes. While they are doing this the boy who led the victim up to the president fastens a string, to which is attached a small whistle, to the victim s coat or jacket.
Those interested in the subject will find it exhaustively treated in George Lowbut’s “Game of Hazard Investigated.” POKER DICE. If ordinary dice are used, the aces rank above the sixes, the deuces being the lowest. Any number of persons may play, and five dice are used. Each in turn takes the box and has three throws, the first being made with all five dice. After the first throw the caster may lay aside any of the five dice he chooses, putting the others back in the box for a second throw. The same process of selection is allowed for the third throw, any or all five of the dice being available for the last throw. The second and third throws have the same effect as the draw at Poker, except that the dice player may draw twice if he wishes to, and may put back all or any of the dice that he kept on the first or second throws, or he may stand pat on any throw. The object of the game is to secure pairs, triplets, full hands, and four or five of a kind. Straights do not count in Poker Dice.
W. Gregor). See Cock s-headling. Cockle-bread Young wenches have a wanton sport, which they call moulding of Cocklebread; viz. they gett upon a Table-board, and then gather-up their knees and their coates with their hands as high as they can, and then they wabble to and fro with their Buttocks as if the[y] were kneading of Dowgh, and say these words, viz.:-- My Dame is sick and gonne to bed, And I le go mowld my cockle-bread. In Oxfordshire the maids, when they have put themselves into the fit posture, say thus:-- My granny is sick, and now is dead, And wee l goe mould some cockle-bread. Up with my heels, and down with my head, And this is the way to mould cocklebread. --Aubrey s _Remains_, pp. 43, 44.
It is often called Drop-handkerchief, from the signal for the chase. The more general way of playing (either with or without words), as seen by me on village greens round London, is, when the handkerchief has been dropped, for the player to dart through the ring and in and out again under the clasped hands; the pursuer must follow in and out through the same places, and must bring the one he catches into the ring before he can legally claim the kiss. Elworthy (_West Country Words_), in describing this game, says: The person behind whom the handkerchief is dropped is entitled to kiss the person who dropped it, if he or she can catch him or her, before the person can get round the ring to the vacant place. Of course, when a girl drops it she selects a favoured swain, and the chase is severe up to a point, but when a girl is the pursuer there often is a kind of donkey race lest she should have to give the kiss which the lad takes no pains to avoid. Mr. Elworthy does not mention any words being used, and it is therefore probable that this is the Drop-handkerchief game, which generally has no kissing. It also, in the way it is played, resembles French Jackie. In the Wolstanton game, Miss Keary says: If the owner of the handkerchief overtakes the one who is bitten as they run round, they shake hands and go into the middle of the ring, while the others sing the marriage formula. In Berkshire (_Antiq._ xxvii.
It is a misdeal-- I. Unless the cards are dealt into four packets, one at a time in regular rotation, beginning with the player to the dealer’s left. II. Should the dealer place the last (_i.e._, the trump) card, face downwards, on his own, or any other pack. III. Should the trump card not come in its regular order to the dealer; but he does not lose his deal if the pack be proved imperfect. IV. Should a player have fourteen cards, and either of the other three less than thirteen.
=_ This is the regular 5, 7 or 10 point whist, with or without honours, except that whichever suit is cut for the trump on the first deal of the rubber is called _=the favourite=_. Whenever the suit turns up for trump, after the first deal, tricks and honours count double towards game. There must be a new favourite at the beginning of each rubber, unless the same suit happens to be cut again. A variation is to attach a progressive value to the four suits; tricks being worth 1 point when Spades are trumps; when Clubs 2; when Diamonds 3; and when Hearts 4. Honours do not count, and the game is 10 points, made by tricks alone. The hands are played out; the winners score all tricks taken, and the winners of the rubber add 10 points for bonus. The value of the rubber is the difference between the scores of the winners and that of the losers. For instance: If the rubber is in A-B’s favour with the score shown in the margin A-B win a rubber of 8 points. 1st game; 10 to 6 2nd game; 4 to 16 3rd game; 14 to 8 Rubber; 10 -------- Totals 38 to 30 This is a good game for superstitious people, who believe that certain trump suits are favourable to them. TEXT-BOOKS.
=_ 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. In order to make this fair for both sides, it is usual to let the pone sort and declare on Dummy’s cards, so that the dealer shall not see them until the first card is led. No matter what points are made for tricks, the dealer only can score them below the line, to count toward game.
Three-card Monte. A game in which three cards are dexterously thrown on the table by a gambler, and the victim is induced to bet that he can pick out one which has been previously named and shown. Three-echo, an echo on a trump lead when holding three only. Three-on-a-side, a system of playing Faro, in which cards are bet to win or lose an odd number of times. Tournée, F., see Round. Trailing, playing a card which accomplishes nothing. Trash, to discard. Tric, F., the odd trick at Whist or Mort.
A cross, x, placed after the piece moved shows that it captured something, and the letters following the cross do not give the square to which the piece is moved, but show the piece that is captured. K B x Q P, for instance, would mean that the adversary’s Queen’s Pawn was to be taken from the board, and the King’s Bishop was to occupy the square upon which the captured Queen’s Pawn had stood. Beginners usually have some difficulty in following the moves of the Knights, because it frequently happens that the same square can be reached by either of them. The Bishops cannot be confused in this way, because they never change the colour of the square they stand upon. In some sets of chessmen the Knights are distinguished by putting a small crown on the King’s Knight, but this is never done in the regulation Staunton model. The beginner will find it very convenient, when following out the play of published games, to screw off the bottom of one white and one black Knight, and to exchange the bases. The white King’s Knight will then have a black base, and the black King’s Knight will have a white base, and they can be easily identified at any period of the game. _=GERMAN NOTATION.=_ Many of our standard chess books, and some of the best edited chess columns, are in German, and the student should be familiar with the German notation, which is much simpler than the English. The white men are always considered as the side nearer the player; the vertical columns are designated from left to right by the letters a b c d e f g h; and the horizontal rows by the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, beginning at the bottom, or white side.
It is not good play to lead a single Ace; but a King may be very effective; for if no one plays the Ace on it, that card may be absolutely marked in the caller’s hand. In such a case the adversary with the greatest number of that suit should keep it for the attack. If this player can get into the lead, he is not only sure of preventing the caller from discarding, but of allowing the other adversaries to discard to advantage. With an honour and one small card, a player on the left should lead the small card first; if on the right, the honour should be led first. A long suit containing the deuce should be avoided as long as possible. The caller’s cards may sometimes be inferred if there has been a previous call on the hand. For instance: A misère may be a forced call; that is, the player first called a proposal, and not being accepted, was forced to amend his call, choosing misère in preference to solo. This would indicate a long weak suit of trumps. If the dealer calls misère, the turn-up trump should be carefully noted. It is useless to persevere in suits in which the caller is evidently safe.
LAW IV.--THE TRUMP CARD. SEC. 1. The trump card and the number of the deal must be recorded, before the play begins, on a slip provided for that purpose, and must not be elsewhere recorded. Such slip must be shown to an adversary, then turned face down and placed in the tray, if one is used. SEC. 2. The dealer must leave the trump card face up until it is his turn to play to the first trick; he must take the trump card into his hand and turn down the trump slip before the second trick is turned and quitted. SEC.
He would have it that if the General falls within the zone of destruction of a shell he must go out of the room for three moves (injured); and that if he is hit by rifle-fire or captured he shall quit the game, and be succeeded by his next subordinate. Now as to the Moves. It is suggested that: Infantry shall move one foot. Cavalry shall move three feet. The above moves are increased by one half for troops in twos or fours on a road. Royal Engineers shall move two feet. Royal Artillery shall move two feet. Transport and Supply shall move one foot on roads, half foot across country. The General shall move six feet (per motor), three feet across country. Boats shall move one foot.
Three cards are given to each player the first round, then three for the widow, and then two rounds of four cards each to the players, so that there are three hands of eleven cards each, and three in the widow. _=THE GAMES.=_ Each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, can offer to play one of three games, and the highest offer must be accepted. A player cannot increase his own bid unless he is overbid. The highest bidder becomes the single player, opposed to the two others. _=Frog.=_ In this, hearts must be trumps. The single player turns the widow face up to show what it contained, and then takes the three cards into his hand. He must then discard to reduce his playing hand to eleven cards again. Any points in the cards he lays away will count for him at the end of the play.
) We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day? Poor Jenny is folding, folding, folding, Poor Jenny is folding, you can t see her to-day. When can we see her? At three o clock. (Clock strikes three.) We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day? Poor Jenny is ironing, ironing, ironing, Poor Jenny is ironing, you can t see her to-day. When can we see her? At four o clock. (Clock strikes four.) We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day? Poor Jenny is poorly, poorly, poorly, Poor Jenny is poorly, you can t see her to-day. When can we see her? At five o clock. (Clock strikes five.) We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day? Poor Jenny is dying, dying, dying, Poor Jenny is dying, you can t see her to-day.
Carrying the Queen a Letter The King and Queen have a throne formed by placing two chairs a little apart, with a shawl spread from chair to chair. A messenger is sent into the room with a letter to the Queen, who reads it, and joins the King in a courteous entreaty that the bearer of the missive will place himself between them. When he has seated himself on the shawl, up jumps the King and Queen, and down goes the messenger on the floor.--Bottesford and Anderly (Lincolnshire), and Nottinghamshire (Miss M. Peacock). (_b_) This is virtually the same game as Ambassador, described by Grose as played by sailors on some inexperienced fellow or landsman. Between the two chairs is placed a pail of water, into which the victim falls. Cashhornie A game played with clubs by two opposite parties of boys, the aim of each party being to drive a ball into a hole belonging to their antagonists, while the latter strain every nerve to prevent this.--Jamieson. Castles A game at marbles.