_=The Last Twelve Tricks.=_ When the stock is exhausted all announcements are at an end, and the players take back into their hands all the cards upon the table which may remain from the combinations declared in the course of play. Should a player take up his cards before playing to the last trick, he may be called upon to lay his entire hand on the table. The winner of the previous trick then leads any card he pleases; but for the last twelve tricks the second player in each must not only follow suit, but must win the trick if he can, either with a superior card or with a trump. 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 on. The penalty for the _=revoke=_ varies in different places, but the general rule is for the revoking player to lose his entire count for “cards.” The winner of _=the last trick=_ scores ten points for it; and the players then turn over the tricks they have taken, and count their score for “cards.” _=Cards.=_ The five highest cards in each suit count toward game for the player winning them. The Ace is worth 11 points, the Ten 10, the King 4, the Queen 3, and the Jack, 2, no matter what the suit may be, so that there are 240 points for cards to be divided between the players in each deal.
A hole of some extent was made in an uneven piece of ground, and the game was to shoot the marbles at some object beyond the hole without letting them tumble into it. The game occasionally commenced by a ceremony of no very delicate description, which sufficed to render the fallen marble still more ignominious.--Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Isabella [Music] --Ogbourne, Wilts (H. S. May). [Music] --Earls Heaton (H. Hardy). [Music] --London (A. B.
In the _Nursery Songs_ collected by Ed. Rimbault from oral tradition is Little Bingo. The words of this are very similar to the Lancashire version of the game sent by Miss Dendy. There is an additional verse in the nursery song. Bird-apprentice A row of boys or girls stands parallel with another row opposite. Each of the first row chooses the name of some bird, and a member of the other row then calls out all the names of birds he can think of. If the middle member of the first row has chosen either of them, he calls out Yes, and all the guessers immediately run to take the place of the first row, the members of which attempt to catch them. If any succeed, they have the privilege of riding in on their captives backs.--Ogbourne, Wilts (H. S.
| -- |Fairest young lady | -- | | | |ever seen. | | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|Fine pencil as ever | -- | -- | | |was seen. | | | |13.| -- | -- | -- | |14.| -- | -- |[Wash you in butter- | | | | |milk, dress in silk.] | | | | |(After No.
|courts [ ]. | | 4.|He shall court [ ]. |He shall court [ ]. |He courted [ ]. | | 5.|Huddles and cuddles, |Kisses and cuddles, |Huggled andguggled, | | |and sits on his knee. |and sits on his knee. |and took on his knee. | | 6.
The one side cries Heads (when the piece is whirling in the air) and the other Tails, so whichever is uppermost when the piece alights that gains or settles the matter, heads standing for the King s head and tails for the figure who represents Britannia.--Mactaggart s _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_. This is a general form of determining sides or beginning a game all over the country. Hecklebirnie A play among children in Aberdeenshire. Thirty or forty children in two rows, joining opposite hands, strike smartly with their hands thus joined on the head or shoulders of their companion as he runs the gauntlet through them. This is called passing through the mires of Hecklebirnie. --Jamieson. The editors of Jamieson append a lengthy note connecting the name of this game with the northern belief that the wicked were condemned to suffer eternal punishment in Hecla, the volcanic mountain in Iceland. See Namers and Guessers. Hen and Chicken Chickery, chickery, cranny crow, I went to the well to wash my toe, When I got back a chicken was dead.
_=12.=_ When a ball or balls touch the striker’s ball, or are in line between it and the ball he has to play at, so that it will prevent him hitting _any part of the object-ball_, such ball or balls must be taken up until the stroke be played, and, after the balls have ceased running, they must be replaced. _=13.=_ If a ball or balls are in the way of a striker’s cue, so that he cannot play at his ball, he can have them taken up. _=14.=_ When the striker _takes_ a life, he continues to play on as long as he can pocket a ball, or until the balls are all off the table, in which latter case he places his own ball on the spot as at the commencement. _=15.=_ The first player who loses his three lives is entitled to purchase, or _star_, by paying into the pool a sum equal to his original stake, for which he receives lives equal in number to the lowest number of lives on the board. _=16.=_ If the player first out refuse to star, the second player out may do so; but if the second refuse, the third may star, and so on, until only two players are left in the pool, when the privilege of starring ceases.
Limit is 3,000 francs. A cheval between any two of the last mentioned, pays ½ for 1. In addition to the foregoing, all the following chances may be bet upon. They all pay even money. The limit is 6,000 francs. 9. _=Impair.=_ That the number will be odd. 10. _=Pair.
_=When Partner Leads Low Cards=_, the Third Hand should do his best to secure the trick. If he has several cards of equal trick-taking value, such as A K Q, or K Q J, he should win the trick as cheaply as possible. The only _=finesse=_ permitted to the Third Hand in his partner’s suit, is the play of the Queen, when he holds A Q and others; the odds being against Fourth Hand having the King. _=Foster’s Eleven Rule.=_ By deducting from eleven the number of pips on any low card led, the Third Hand may ascertain how far his partner’s suit is from being established. For instance: if the card led is the Seven, Second Hand playing the Eight, and Third Hand holding A J 6 3, from which he plays Ace, Fourth Hand playing the Five; the only card against the leader must be the King or Queen; he cannot have both, or he would have led one. If the Second Hand has not the missing card, he has no more of the suit. The number of inferences which may be made in this manner by observant players is astonishing. A great many examples and exercises in them are given in _=Foster’s Whist Manual=_. _=Third Hand having None of the Suit=_, should trump anything but an Ace or a King on the first round.
In periodical literature we find whist taken up in the pages of the “Sporting Magazine” in 1793. The London “Field” has had a card column since December 6, 1862. Proctor’s work first appeared in “Knowledge.” The “Westminster Papers” devoted a great deal of space to whist games and “jottings” every month for eleven years, beginning in April, 1868. “Whist,” a monthly journal devoted exclusively to the game, began publication in Milwaukee in 1891; but gave it up when bridge supplanted whist in popular favor. Whist rapidly became a “newspaper game.” The New York Sunday Sun devoted two columns every Sunday to the discussion and illustration of moot points in whist tactics, and the analysis of hands played in important matches. In a series of articles begun February 23, 1896, this paper gave to the world the first systematic statement of the theory and practice of the short suit game. In 1898 there were at least forty whist columns published in the United States. Two magazines devoted to whist and bridge are now published, one in Boston and the other in New York.
One child represents an old woman, and the other players carry on the dialogue with her. At the end of the dialogue the children are chased by the old woman. See Mother, Mother, may I go out to Play, Witch. Letting the Buck out This game was played seventy years ago. A ring being formed, the Buck inside has to break out, and reach his home, crying Home! before he can be caught and surrounded. Afterwards these words were sung-- Circle: Who comes here? Buck: Poor Johnny Lingo. Circle: Don t steal none of my black sheep, Johnny Lingo, For if you do I shall put you in the pinder pin-fold. --Stixwold, Lines. (Miss M. Peacock).
III THE RULES HERE, then, are the rules of the perfect battle-game as we play it in an ordinary room. THE COUNTRY (1) The Country must be arranged by one player, who, failing any other agreement, shall be selected by the toss of a coin. (2) The other player shall then choose which side of the field he will fight from. (3) The Country must be disturbed as little as possible in each move. Nothing in the Country shall be moved or set aside deliberately to facilitate the firing of guns. A player must not lie across the Country so as to crush or disturb the Country if his opponent objects. Whatever is moved by accident shall be replaced after the end of the move. THE MOVE (1) After the Country is made and the sides chosen, then (and not until then) the players shall toss for the first move. (2) If there is no curtain, the player winning the toss, hereafter called the First Player, shall next arrange his men along his back line, as he chooses. Any men he may place behind or in front of his back line shall count in the subsequent move as if they touched the back line at its nearest point.
It consists of a square, sometimes only a foot diameter, sometimes three or four yards. Within this is another square, every side of which is parallel to the external square; and these squares are joined by lines drawn from each corner of both squares, and the middle of each line. One party, or player, has wooden pegs, the other stones, which they move in such a manner as to take up each other s men, as they are called, and the area of the inner square is called the pound, in which the men taken up are impounded. These figures are by the country people called _nine men s morris_, or _merrils_; and are so called because each party has nine men. These figures are always cut upon the green turf, or leys as they are called, or upon the grass at the end of ploughed lands, and in rainy seasons never fail to be choked up with mud (Farmer). _Nine men s morris_ is a game still played by the shepherds, cow-keepers, &c., in the midland counties, as follows:--A figure (of squares one within another) is made on the ground by cutting out the turf; and two persons take each nine stones, which they place by turns in the angles, and afterwards move alternately, as at chess or draughts. He who can play three in a straight line may then take off any one of his adversary s, where he pleases, till one, having lost all his men, loses the game (Alchorne). The following is the account of this game given by Mr. Douce in the _Illustrations of Shakespeare and of Ancient Manners_, 1807, i.
_=Second Hand.=_ Play the best card you have second hand, and cover everything led if you can. With King and another or Queen and another, it is usually best to put up the honour second hand, on a small card led. _=Trumping.=_ It is seldom right to trump partner’s winning cards, unless he has ordered up the trump, and you think you can lead through the dealer to advantage. In playing against a lone hand, it is sometimes good play to trump your partner’s ace with an unguarded left bower or ace of trumps, as it may prevent the dealer from getting into the lead with a small trump, and may save a King or Queen of trumps in your partner’s hand. If you don’t trump, the dealer will probably get in and swing the right bower, and your trump will be lost. If your partner has ordered, made, or taken up the trump, and you have only one trump, even a bower, trump with it at the first opportunity. Trump everything second hand, unless it takes the right bower for a doubtful trick, or breaks into the major tenace in trumps. _=Discarding.
Please, we ve brought the key back; will you lend us your frying-pan? What to do with? To fry some beans. Where have you got them? Out of your garden. --Earls Heaton (H. Hardy). One child represents an old woman, and the other players carry on the dialogue with her. At the end of the dialogue the children are chased by the old woman. See Mother, Mother, may I go out to Play, Witch. Letting the Buck out This game was played seventy years ago. A ring being formed, the Buck inside has to break out, and reach his home, crying Home! before he can be caught and surrounded. Afterwards these words were sung-- Circle: Who comes here? Buck: Poor Johnny Lingo.
Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell! Last night when we parted I left you broken-hearted, And on a green mountain, There stands a young man. Could you love him? Could you love him? Could you love him? Farewell! Choose one, love, Choose one, love, Choose one, love, Farewell! Take a walk, love, Take a walk, love, Take a walk, love, Farewell! In the ring, love, In the ring, love, In the ring, love, Farewell! Put the ring on, Put the ring on, Put the ring on, Farewell! Go to church, love, Go to church, love, Go to church, love, Farewell! Take a kiss, love, Take a kiss, love, Take a kiss, love, Farewell! Shake hands, love, Shake hands, love, Shake hands, love, Farewell! --Enborne, Newbury (M. Kimber). II. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell! Last night when I departed I left her broken-hearted; Upon the steep mountain There stands a young man. Who ll you choose, love? Who ll you choose, love? Who ll you choose, love? Farewell! Go to church, love, Go to church, love, Go to church, love, Farewell! Say your prayers, love, Say your prayers, love, Say your prayers, love, Farewell! Put your ring on, Put your ring on, Put your ring on, Farewell! Come back, love, Come back, love, Come back, love, Farewell! Roast beef and plum pudding, Roast beef and plum pudding, Roast beef and plum pudding, For our dinner to-day. Kiss together, love, Kiss together, love, Kiss together, love, Farewell! --Ogbourne, Wilts (H. S. May). III.
A player may, of course, rearrange his forces to suit his own convenience; brigade all or most of his cavalry into a powerful striking force, or what not. But more guns proportionally lead to their being put out of action too early for want of men; a larger proportion of infantry makes the game sluggish, and more cavalry--because of the difficulty of keeping large bodies of this force under cover--leads simply to early heavy losses by gunfire and violent and disastrous charging. The composition of a force may, of course, be varied considerably. One good Fight to a Finish game we tried as follows: We made the Country, tossed for choice, and then drew curtains across the middle of the field. Each player then selected his force from the available soldiers in this way: he counted infantry as 1 each, cavalry as 1-1/2, and a gun as 10, and, taking whatever he liked in whatever position he liked, he made up a total of 150. He could, for instance, choose 100 infantry and 5 guns, or 100 cavalry and no guns, or 60 infantry, 40 cavalry, and 3 guns. In the result, a Boer-like cavalry force of 80 with 3 guns suffered defeat at the hands of 110 infantry with 4. SIZE OF THE SOLDIERS The soldiers used should be all of one size. The best British makers have standardised sizes, and sell infantry and cavalry in exactly proportioned dimensions; the infantry being nearly two inches tall. There is a lighter, cheaper make of perhaps an inch and a half high that is also available.
| | 1- 6 | | 18 9 | 18 11 | | | | | 32 27 | | 11-25 | 7-23 | | | | | 6-10 | | 28 24 | 27 18 | | | | | 27 23 | | 5-14 | 9-14 | | | | | 8-12 | | 24 19 | 18 9| | | | | 25 21 | | 6-10 | 5-14 | | | | | 2- 6 | |B wins.|B wins.| | | | | 31 27 | | | | | | | | 3- 8 | | | | | | | | 30 25 | | | | | | | |W wins.| +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ _=LOSING GAME.=_ In this variety of Draughts, the object is to give away all your men before your adversary can give away his, or to block yourself so that you cannot move. The secret of success in Losing Game is to get your men on such squares that they cannot be made to jump to the king row. These squares will be the row next you on your own side of the board, and every second row from that, horizontally. Get your men on those squares as soon as possible, and do not be in too great a hurry to capture your adversary’s men. _=POLISH DRAUGHTS.=_ Although intended for a special board of 100 squares this game can be played on a common checker board.
Thimble s not big enough. Wash by the river side. Suppose the things should float away? Get a boat and go after them. Suppose the boat should be upset? Then you ll be drowned, Drowned, drowned, Then you ll be drowned, And a good job too. --Enborne, Berks. (Miss M. Kimber). XI. Please, mother, buy me a milk-can, A milk-can, a milk-can, Please, mother, do. Where s the money coming from, Coming from, coming from, What shall I do? Sell father s feather bed, Feather bed, feather bed, Please mother, do.
Some one player should be the banker, to sell and redeem all counters. _=PLAYERS.=_ Solo Whist is played by four persons. If there are five candidates for play, they all sit at the same table, each taking his turn to sit out for one hand while the four others play. The dealer is usually selected to sit out. If there are only three players, one suit must be deleted from the pack, or the 2, 3, and 4 of each suit must be thrown out. _=CUTTING.=_ The table being formed, the players draw from an outspread for the deal, and choice of seats and cards. The player drawing the lowest card deals the first hand, and it is usual for him to dictate to the other players what seats they shall occupy with relation to himself. Ties are decided in the same manner as at Whist.