Balls bounding from the cushions go for naught. DUCK PIN GAME. THE PINS ARE SPOTTED THE SAME AS THE AMERICAN GAME OF TEN PINS. A regulation Duck Pin shall be 9 inches high, 1½ inches in diameter at the top, 3½ inches in diameter at the body of the pin, and 1⅜ inches in diameter at the base; shall taper gradually from the bottom to the largest part of the body, and shall be as near uniform in weight as possible. No ball exceeding 4½ inches in diameter can be used in games. Each player to roll three balls to each frame, and each player to roll two frames at a time. A line shall be drawn ten feet beyond the regular foul line, and any ball delivered beyond the first named line shall be declared foul. All other rules of the American Bowling Congress govern. KINSLEY CANDLE PIN. The Count--Two balls shall be allowed for frame.
I thought _I_ was her darlin Billy. Talk about Double-think! Will you miss never having a man again? I mean, once you ve been a wife-- I added, letting it drift off. God has been good to me, she said out of the dark. He let me see my own future, that he would give me a husband again. That was a curve. Isn t that an even worse breaking of vows? I said. I mean, if in God s sight you re still married to Billy Joe? Would be, she conceded from the black, now right next to me. But He told me that the man I should seek _would be_ Billy Joe--hit s a miracle worked for me. Her voice lowered. A miracle that come to pass tonight, my darlin Billy.
In Holiday s play of the _Marriages of the Arts_, 1618, this sport is introduced, and also by Herrick (_Hesperides_, p. 44). Barley-break is several times alluded to in Massinger s plays: see the _Dramatic Works of Philip Massinger_, 1779, i. 167. We ll run at barley-break first, and you shall be in hell (Dekker s _The Honest Whore_). Hee s at barli-break, and the last couple are now in hell (Dekker s _The Virgin Martir_). See Gifford s _Massinger_, i. 104, edit. 1813. See also Browne s _Britannia s Pastorals_, published in 1614, Book I.
_=22.=_ If no one will name a new trump, the deal is void, and passes to the next player on the dealer’s left. _=23.=_ _=IRREGULARITIES IN THE HANDS.=_ If any player is found not to have his correct number of cards, it is a misdeal; but if he has played to the first trick the deal stands good, and he cannot score anything that hand. _=24.=_ _=EXPOSED CARDS.=_ The following are exposed cards, and must be left face up on the table, and are liable to be called by the adversaries: I. Every card faced upon the table otherwise than in the regular course of play. II.
The couple a-1 always sit still; the ladies go to the next higher letter of the alphabet, and the men to the next higher number; _=h=_ going to _=b=_, as _=a=_ sits still; and 8 to 2. [Illustration: N N N N +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ | 6 | | 3 | | f | | c | W|a 1 2|E W|d 2 8|E W|1 3 b|E W|4 4 h|E | g | | e | | 6 | | 5 | +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ S S S S ] One hand is dealt at each table, and overplayed at each of the others. A different point of the compass should deal at each table, in order to equalise the lead. _=Scoring.=_ The score of each four hands should be added up by each individual player, and the results tabulated at the end of every four hands, in the manner described for eight individuals. The winner is the player who loses the fewest tricks. This is the only known system for deciding whether or not a man can play whist better than his wife. _=PROGRESSIVE DUPLICATE WHIST=_ is the generic name by which those systems of duplicate are known in which the purpose is to have as many as possible of the players meet one another during the progress of the match. 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_.
If he leads a small card from small cards, some high-card combination must be in the declarer’s hand. In such cases it is useless for you to finesse. If you have any sequence superior to the card led, cover with the lowest. There should be no false-carding in this, because your partner is the only one that can be deceived. With A K and others, play the King, whatever Dummy leads. With A Q and others, Dummy having nothing higher than the 9, play the Ace. With K Q 10, play the Queen on a small card led, unless Dummy has the Jack. With A J 10 x, play Ace if Dummy has no honour in the suit. But if Dummy leads the 9, cover with the 10; if it loses, you lie tenace over the declarer. With A J x, play the Jack on a 9 led.
When the pack has been properly cut and reunited, the cards must be dealt, one at a time, face down, from the top of the pack, the first to the player at the left of the dealer, and each successive card to the player at the left of the one to whom the last preceding card has been dealt. The last, which is the trump card, must be turned and placed face up on the tray, if one is used; otherwise, at the right of the dealer. SEC. 2. There must be a new deal-- (a) If any card except the last is faced or exposed in any way in dealing; (b) If the pack is proved incorrect or imperfect; (c) If either more or less than thirteen cards are dealt to any player; (d) If, after the first trick has been turned and quitted on the original play of a deal, one or more cards are found to have been left in the tray. 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.
36, gives a slightly different version of the verses, and says they were sung by children at their sports in Glasgow. Mactaggart alludes to this game as Bumpkin Brawly, an old dance, the dance which always ends balls; the same with the Cushion almost. Wha learned you to dance, You to dance, you to dance, Wha learned you to dance A country bumpkin brawly? My mither learned me when I was young, When I was young, when I was young, My mither learned me when I was young, The country bumpkin brawly. The tune of this song is always played to the dance, says Mactaggart, but he does not record the tune. _To bab_, in Lowland Scottish, is defined by Jamieson to mean to play backward and forward loosely; to dance. Hence he adds, Bab at the bowster, or Bab wi the bowster, a very old Scottish dance, now almost out of use; formerly the last dance at weddings and merry-makings. Mr. Ballantyne says that a bolster or pillow was at one time always used. One correspondent of _N. and Q.
If A plays the 4-5, B gets rid of all his dominoes before A can play again. If A plays the 4-0 on the blank end, he will have to play again with his 4-5; but if he plays it on the 4 end he blocks himself. Whether to block the game or not depends on the probable comparative value of the dominoes held by A and B. If A blocks the game by making both ends blank, both players show their remaining dominoes, and the one with the greater number of pips loses as many points as he has pips in excess of the other player. In order to judge whether to block or play, it should be remembered that as there are 147 pips in the entire set, the average value of each domino will be 5¼. If A blocks the game, he will have 17 pips left in his hand, which is above the average value of two dominoes; but his adversary will have four dominoes to count, and it is probable that they will be worth about 21 points. The fact that the seven dominoes already played are 13 pips above the average will reduce the probable value of B’s dominoes to about 20. On the other hand, A knows that B has no blanks, which would slightly increase the weight of B’s dominoes. If A blocks the game, as he should do with the odds in his favour, he will win 7 points, the difference between his 17 and B’s 24. If he does not block, he must follow the 4-0 with the 5-4.
These two trumps have no special rank. The Ten will win the Nine, and the Six will take the Five. In some places all the cards in the pack are dealt out, which makes a much better game in any form of Pedro. The eldest hand sells, as at Auction Pitch. If a player’s first bid is raised he may raise again in his proper turn. Fifty points is game, and the players are usually provided with two varieties of counters for scoring; one worth five points, and the other worth one. The rank of the points in scoring is; High, Low, Jack, Ten (Game), Five, and Nine. The revoke penalty is to be set back the number of points bid, or ten points if there is no bid, and the player in fault cannot score anything that hand. In all other respects the rules are the same as in Auction Pitch. In _=Dom Pedro, or Snoozer=_, the Joker is added to the pack, and the Three, Five, and Nine of trumps count their pip value in scoring.
I have never allowed my children to learn it, for I have seen too much of its evil results. Draughts is a better game, if you must have a game.” Chess is generally believed to have originated in India, and in its primitive form was called Chaturanga. It is mentioned in the Hindoo Puranas, at least 3000 years B. C. The game seems to have spread eastward long before it came West, going through Burmah to Thibet, Siam, China, Malacca, Java, and Borneo. Owing to the better preservation of historical records in China, many persons have been led to credit that country with the invention of chess, but recent investigations have shown that the Chinese got it from India. At some remote period of the world’s history the game was taken from China to Japan, and there are to-day many points in common between the games played in these two countries, especially in the arrangement of the pieces, although the Japanese board has eighty-one squares. Chess came westward through Constantinople, it having passed through Persia sometime during the sixth century. The Arabs seem to have learned the game, and taken it to Mecca and Medina, afterward passing it along to Syria and the Byzantines, sometime during the seventh century.
The general rules with regard to irregularities in the deal are the same as at Whist, except that a misdeal does not lose the deal. The misdealer must deal again with the same pack, after the players have sorted their cards into suits. It is a misdeal if the dealer fails to present the pack to the other players to cut, or neglects to cut it himself. Should the dealer expose any of his own cards in dealing, that does not invalidate the deal. The deal passes in regular rotation to the left, each pack being used alternately. _=MAKING THE TRUMP.=_ The deal being complete, the player opposite the dealer cuts the still pack, and the player on his right turns up the top card for the trump. The suit to which this card belongs is called _=First Preference=_, and the suit of the same colour is called _=Second Preference=_, or _=Colour=_. The two remaining suits are known as _=Plain Suits=_ for that deal. The cards having been dealt, and the trump turned, each player carefully sorts and counts his cards, to see that he has the correct number, thirteen.
Boys and Girls. Branks. Bridgeboard. Broken-down Tradesmen. Brother Ebenezer. Bubble-hole. Bubble-justice. Buck, Buck. Buck i t Neucks. Buckerels.
If there are only two players, and only two balls on the table, the red and white, if either player makes a miss or goes in the pocket himself, that ends the game; but if there are more than two players another red ball is spotted, as in the American game. The baulk line is no protection, a player in hand being allowed to play on any ball on the table, even if it is behind the D. SHELL OUT. This game should not be confounded with Black Pool. It is simply English Pyramids, but instead of making the player with the lowest score at the end pay for the table, each player equally shares the expense, and the balls are pocketed for so much apiece. If the amount of the shell-out was a shilling, and there were six players, any person pocketing a ball would receive a shilling from each of the others, and would play again. A losing hazard or a miss would compel the striker to pay a shilling to each of the others, instead of putting a ball back on the table. The last ball pays double. HIGH-LOW-JACK-GAME. This game is played with a set of balls the same as used in Fifteen-Ball Pool.
8. Newcomers can enter the table only after the conclusion of a round and with the consent of the other players. The new candidate for play must take his seat so that he shall have the deal. 9. If seats are drawn for, the lowest skat card shall have the first choice. The next lowest shall sit on his left, and so on. In cutting, the cards and suits rank as in play. The one drawing the lowest card shall deal the first hand, and the score shall be kept by the player on his right. 10. The game shall come to an end only at the conclusion of a round, and any player wishing to stop must give notice before the beginning of a round.
--East Kirkby, Lincolnshire (Miss Maughan). The tune sung is the same as the Mulberry Bush. Miss Baker (_Northamptonshire Glossary_) says the Cushion Dance is still continued, with some variations, and generally closes the evening s amusements. One of the young men endeavours secretly to bring in a cushion, and locks the doors, to prevent the escape of the young maidens; then all the party unite hands and dance round three times to the left and three times to the right, after which the company all seat themselves, except the young man who holds the cushion. He advances to the fiddler, and says-- This dance it will no further go. Fiddler: Why say you so? why say you so? Cushion-holder: Because the young women will not come to. Fiddler: They must come to, they shall come to, And tell them I say so. The cushion-holder then goes to the girl he fancies most, and drops the cushion at her feet. She kneels down with him on the cushion, and he salutes her, and they then rise and dance round and round to the fiddler. The girls then go through the same thing, saying, young men, and then a young man, &c.
The winning side is decided by counting the flags and prisoners.--Bitterne, Hants (Mrs. Byford). This is a very general game, and is known as Scotch and English in the north, where some interesting details occur, for which see Scotch and English. French Blindman s Buff The children kneel in a circle, one standing blindfolded in the middle. The kneeling children shout, Come point to me with your pointer. --Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy). See Buff, Dinah, Muffin Man. Friar-rush A Christmas game, mentioned in the _Declaration of Popish Impostures_, 1603. Frincy-francy A game played between the dances at balls in farm-houses.
For instance: The declarer holds Q J x x x of a suit; Dummy having A x x. By leading Q or J, Dummy is enabled to finesse, as if he held A Q J. The declarer holds K J x x x; Dummy having Q x x. The play is to force the Ace, as if the combination of K Q J x x were in one hand. Many opportunities arise for leading the Ace first from a short suit, in order to secure a ruff on the second or third round. _=Second Hand Play.=_ If any card is led by the adversaries which the fourth hand cannot win, the second hand should cover it if possible; for unless he does so, his weakness will be exposed, and the suit will be continued. This is especially true of cases in which the second hand holds single honours, such as Jack and others, or Queen and others. Even the King should be played second hand in such cases, unless it is so well guarded that the Ace must fall before the King can be forced out. If the fourth hand can win the card led, it is seldom necessary to cover second hand.
They were good. But they had limitations. So much depended on the choice of Partners, so much on the sheer luck of who drew whom. THE SHUFFLE Father Moontree and the little girl named West entered the room. They were the other two pinlighters. The human complement of the Fighting Room was now complete. Father Moontree was a red-faced man of forty-five who had lived the peaceful life of a farmer until he reached his fortieth year. Only then, belatedly, did the authorities find he was telepathic and agree to let him late in life enter upon the career of pinlighter. He did well at it, but he was fantastically old for this kind of business. Father Moontree looked at the glum Woodley and the musing Underhill.
This is simply called “game,” and as it must always be either won or lost, it is a constant factor. The value of the game is 1, and each better game is numbered in regular order, the five varieties being as follows: The Game, 1. Schneider, 2. Schwarz announced or Schwarz, 3. Schwarz after announcing Schneider, 4. Schwarz announced, 5. These numbers are added to the number of Matadores, and the total thus found is multiplied by the unit value of the game. For instance: A player has obtained the privilege of playing on a bid of thirty. His game is a Solo in hearts, in which he holds the three highest Matadores and announces schneider in advance. His game multiplier is therefore 3 (for the announced schneider), to which he adds 3 more for the Matadores, 6 altogether.
His adversary then draws the next card, so that each restores the number of cards in his hand to nine. This method of playing, announcing, and drawing is continued until the stock is exhausted. If a player who has already announced carte blanche finds that the first card he draws from the stock is not a King, Queen or Jack, he shows it to his adversary, and scores another fifty points for another carte blanche. This may be continued until he draws one of those cards. Carte blanche cannot be scored at all unless held before a card is played; that is, it must be dealt to the player originally. All combinations announced and scored must be left face upward on the table, but the cards still form part of the player’s hand, and may be led or played at any time, although they must not again be taken in hand until the stock is exhausted. The first marriage announced and scored, no matter by which player, makes the _=trump suit=_ for that deal; but a player with a marriage on the table is not obliged to announce it if he does not wish to make that suit the trump. _=Irregularities in Play.=_ If a player leads out of turn, and his adversary plays to the lead, whether intentionally or otherwise, the trick stands good. If the adversary calls attention to the error, the card led out of turn may be taken back without penalty.
_(b)_ A girl being blindfolded, her companions join hands and form a ring round her. At the word Yonder the blindfolded girl points in any direction she pleases, and at line three names one of the girls. If the one pointed at and the one named be the same, she is the next to be blinded; but, curiously enough, if they be not the same, the one named is the one. Meanwhile, at line four, she is not picked up, but is shaken by the shoulders by the still blindfolded girl; and at line five she is given by the same bread and cheese, _i.e._, the buds or young leaves of what later is called May (_Cratægus oxyacantha_); and at line six she is taken up under the blinded girl s arm and swung round.--Warwickshire (_Notes and Queries_, 6th Ser., viii. 451). Gilty-galty (or gaulty) A boy s game.
There are two principal varieties of this game; straight bridge, in which the dealer or his partner must make the trump, their opponents having nothing to say about it except to double the value of the tricks. The dealer’s partner is always the dummy, and either side may score toward game by making the odd trick or more. Auction bridge, in which the privilege of making the trump is bid for, the highest bidder playing the hand with his partner as dummy, regardless of the position of the deal, and his side being the only one that can score toward game, the adversaries scoring nothing but penalties in the honour column if they defeat the contract. As this is the more popular form of bridge at the present time, it will be given first. Since the adoption of the higher value for the spade suit under the name of royal spades, and the change in the value of the suits, the game gradually came to be known as royal auction, but as that change is now universal, the name has slipped back to its original title. AUCTION BRIDGE, OR AUCTION. _=CARDS.=_ Auction is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, ranking A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2, the Ace being the highest in play, but ranking below the deuce in cutting. Two packs should be used, the one being shuffled while the other is dealt. _=MARKERS=_ suitable for scoring the various points made at Bridge have not yet been invented.
It is played on a board whereon are marked three squares, one being denominated the pound. It is sometimes played with pegs, bits of paper, or wood, or stone. It is called Peg Morris by Clare, the Northamptonshire poet. The ancient game of Nine Men s Morris is yet played by the boys of Dorset. The boys of a cottage, near Dorchester, had a while ago carved a Marrel pound on a block of stone by the house. Some years ago a clergyman of one of the upper counties wrote that in the pulling down of a wall in his church, built in the thirteenth century, the workmen came to a block of stone with a Marrel s pound cut on it. Merrels the game was called by a mason.--Barnes _Additional Glossary; Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 233. Nine Men s Morris, in Gloucestershire called Ninepenny Morris, was, says a correspondent in the _Midland Garner_, largely practised by boys and even older people over thirty years ago, but is now, as far as I know, entirely disused.
=_ During the deal, or at any time before he looks at any card in his hand, the player to the left of the age may straddle the blind by putting up double the amount put up by the age. Should he straddle, the player on his left may double the amount again, provided he has not seen any of his cards; and so on, until the limit of the straddling is reached. This limit must not exceed one-fourth of the betting limit. Should any player in his turn refuse to straddle, no other player on his left can straddle. _=18. The Ante.=_ After the cards are dealt, each player in turn, beginning with the one to the left of the age, or to the left of the last straddler, if any, must either abandon his hand or put into the pool twice the amount of the blind, or of the last straddle. When it comes to the turn of the age, and the straddlers, if any, they must either abandon their hands, or make the amount they have in the pool equal to twice the amount of the blind, or of the last straddle, if any. _=19. Raising the Ante.
The Hanbury version is played in a similar way. Two lines stand close together holding handkerchiefs across. The questions are asked and answered by the top and bottom players. Then two children run under the line of handkerchiefs. The Dorset version is played by as many as like standing, two and two, opposite each other, each of them taking with the right hand the right hand of the other; then the two that are the King and Queen say or sing the first question, to which the others reply, and the dialogue ends in this manner. Then all the other pairs hold up their hands as high as they can, and the King and Queen run through the archway and back again, and so on with the next pair, and other pairs in turn. The Isle of Man version is played, Mr. Moore says, the same as other Thread the Needle games. (_c_) The game is evidently dramatic in form, and perhaps is illustrative of some fact of history, such as the toll upon merchandise entering a walled town. The changes in the words of the different versions are not very great, but they show the influence of modern history upon the game.
_=The High Hand=_ jack pot is played whenever a hand of an agreed value, such as a flush or a full, is shown to the board; that is, called. In some places four of a kind calls for _=a round of jacks=_, every player in turn making it a jack on his deal. _=Only Two In.=_ It is a common custom in large parties, say six or seven players, to make it a jack when no one but the dealer will ante. Instead of allowing the blind to make his ante good, and draw cards against the dealer, each player contributes two white counters, the age adding one to his blind, and the cards are redealt for a jack pot. Another variety of this custom is when the blind is opposed by only one ante, to allow the age to make this player take down his two counters, and to pay two counters for him, to make it a jack. For instance: Five play, and A has the age. B and C pass, and D antes two counters. The dealer, E, says: “I pass for a jack.” A then puts up three counters, one of which is added to his blind, the other two paying D’s ante in the ensuing jack.
Any player failing to follow suit or to win a trick, when able to do so, may be compelled to take back his cards to the point where the error occurred, and to replay the hand from that point. In France he is penalised by counting nothing from that point on, either for brisques or for the last trick. The winner of the _=last trick=_ scores fifty points for it immediately. _=SCORING.=_ Each deal is a complete game in itself, and the winner is the player who has scored the most points for carte blanche, combinations, and the last trick. The brisques are not counted, unless they are necessary to decide a tie, or save a rubicon. The value of the game is determined by deducting the lesser score from the higher, and then adding 500 points to the remainder. In this deduction all fractions of a hundred are disregarded. For instance: A’s score is 1830; while B’s is 1260. A wins 1800, less the 1200 scored by B, which leaves 600; to this must be added the 500 points for game, making the total value of A’s game 1100 points.
Suppose you have 10 9 6; Dummy having A 3 2. The K Q J may be distributed in eight different ways, in any of which your partner will pass your Ten if second hand does not cover. In four cases, second hand would cover with the King, and in one with the Queen and Jack. In the remaining three your partner’s hand would be benefited. If Dummy has King and one or two small cards, it is not so disadvantageous to lead up to the King as would at first appear; because it is forced out of his hand on the first round, unless declarer plays Ace, and it is usually good policy to force out Dummy’s cards of re-entry early in the hand. In leading from high-card combinations, the usual bridge leads should be followed; but exceptions must be made on the second round when certain cards are in Dummy’s hand. For instance: With A K J and others, it is usual to stop after the first round, and wait for the finesse of the Jack. This is obviously useless if the Queen is not in Dummy’s hand. So with K Q 10, unless Dummy has the Jack; or K Q 9, unless Dummy has the 10. The lead from A Q J should be avoided if Dummy has the King.
The pinch must be made on the ball about a quarter from the top, the cue being pointed in the direction in which you want the ball to go, which will be to the extreme edge of B, on the line C-D. The cue must be held at an angle of about 70 degrees. A firm but light blow with a well chalked cue will pinch your ball toward E; but the direction of the cue will propel it toward D. If the cue has been held at the right angle, and you have not struck too hard, the ball will feel the effect of these two forces equally, which will make it move toward a point half way between D and E, which will be F. The retrograde motion being stronger than the propulsion of the pinch, will gradually overcome it, and the ball will return toward G. Contact with the ball B will cause it to lose all but the forward motion, and it will roll easily toward H, making the carrom. _=The Side Stroke.=_ It is a popular delusion that the only way to change the course of a ball is by giving it “twist,” “English,” or “side.” Side has little or no influence on the cue ball until it touches a cushion. Striking above or below the centre is all that is necessary.