Commit is played by any number of persons, with a pack of fifty-one cards, the Eight of diamonds having been deleted. The players draw for positions at the table and for the first deal, and make up a pool. The cards have no value except the order of their sequence in the various suits. The ace is not in sequence with the King, but below the 2. The dealer distributes the cards, one at a time to each player in rotation, as far as they will go, leaving any odd cards on the table face downward, to form what are known as _=stops=_. As it is desirable to have a number of these stops, it is usual to give only nine cards to each when there are five players. The eldest hand begins by leading any card he pleases which he lays face upward in the centre of the table. If he holds any other cards in sequence above it, he must play them, and when he can no longer continue the series, he says aloud: “Without the Jack,” or whatever the card may be that he fails on. The player on his left must then continue the sequence in the same suit, if he can; or he must say: “Without the Jack.” When the sequence reaches the King, it is stopped, and the player who held the King receives a counter from each player at the table.
In some games Old Nick keeps all he wins for himself, and then most frequently wins the game.--London (A. B. Gomme). See Corsicrown, Kit-Cat-Cannio, Nine Men s Morris. Nur and Spel A boys game in Lincolnshire, somewhat similar to Trap Ball. It is played with a kibble, a nur, and a spell. By striking the end of the spell with the kibble, the nur, of course, rises into the air, and the art of the game is to strike it with the kibble before it reaches the ground. He who drives it the greatest distance wins the game.--Halliwell s _Dictionary_.
The games may be roughly divided into two classes; those in which the result is entirely dependent on chance, and cannot be changed by the player after the cards have been shuffled and cut; and those which present opportunities for judgment and skill, the choice of several ways to the same end being offered to the player at various stages of the game. The first class is of course the simplest, but the least satisfactory, as it is nothing more than a game of chance. Of the many hundreds of patience games, it is possible to give only a few of the best known. _=TAKE TEN.=_ Shuffle and cut the cards, and deal out thirteen face upward in two rows of five each, and one row of three. Any two cards, the pip value of which equals 10, may be withdrawn from the tableau, and others dealt from the top of the pack in their places. Only two cards may be used to form a 10. The K Q J 10 of each suit must be lifted together, none of these cards being touched until all four of the same suit are on the table together. When no cards can be lifted, the game is lost. The object in most patience games is to arrange the cards in sequences.
In Magic the play is just the same as in One-ers, except that instead of only throwing up a single stone and catching it as the others are in turn picked up, the whole number, except those remaining to be picked up, are thrown and caught. In Four Squares, four of the stones are arranged in a square, each of them is then picked up, whilst the remaining stone is flung upwards and caught; the one picked up is then tossed up, and the one originally tossed up is put down in the place of the other, which is caught as it descends, and the process repeated all round the square. Trotting Donkeys is similarly played, except that the four stones are arranged in a line--not in a square--and I believe there is some other slight difference, but I forget what. Fly-catchers is played like One-ers, except that the stone thrown into the air while the others are being picked up, is not simply caught by being allowed to fall into the hand, but by an outward movement of the hand is _pounced on_, hawk-fashion, from above. Magic Fly-catchers is played in precisely the same way, except that as in simple Magic, not one stone, but all are thrown up and caught--that is, if there are four on the ground one only is thrown up for the first, two for the second, three for the third, and so on until they are all picked up. This is, of course, the most difficult part of all, and, in fact, only experts were expected to do it. Every failure means out, and then your opponent has his turn. The winner is the one who gets through first. Such is the game as I remember it, but I have an uneasy suspicion that I have missed something out. I seem to remember one trick in which all the stones on the ground had to be picked up at once _where they lay_--scrambled up so to speak.
Gomme, { Mr. J. P. Emslie, Miss Dendy, Mr. London { J. T. Micklethwaite (_Archæological { Journal_, vol. xlix.), _Strand { Magazine_, vol. ii.
After that the deal must stand, and the packs, if changed, must so remain. 13. It is a misdeal: If the dealer omits to have the pack cut, and the error is discovered before the last card is dealt; or if he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to remedy it before dealing another; or if he counts the cards on the table, or those remaining in the pack; or if it is discovered before all have played to the first trick that any player has not his proper number of cards, the pack being perfect. 14. A misdeal loses the deal unless one of the other players has touched his cards, or in any way interrupted the dealer. 15. If, after the first trick is played to, any two players are found to have more or less than their correct number of cards, the pack being perfect, the one having less shall draw from the hand of the one having more, and each shall pay a forfeit of five counters into the pool. 16. If a player omits to play to any trick, and plays to the following one, he shall not be allowed to correct the error; but shall be compelled to take in the last trick, with whatever hearts it may contain. 17.
These cards must be exposed face up on the table, so that all may see who has to double the various pools. If any of the layout cards are in the stock, the pool simply remains, without doubling. There are a great many variations of Pope Joan. Sometimes a layout very similar to that in Matrimony is used, Pope taking the place of Pair, and Game that of Best. A trump is turned by the dealer, and Matrimony is King and Queen of trumps, Intrigue Queen and Jack of trumps, Confederacy, King and Jack of trumps. The player holding these cards will of course be able to play both of them if he can play one in a sequence, and will take the pool for the combination. If he holds one card and another player holds the other, they divide the pool. If one of the cards is in the stock, the pool remains. In some places it is the custom to remove the Eight of diamonds, as at Commit, to form an extra and known stop. The player first getting rid of his cards takes the pool on Game, and the holder of Pope takes that pool if he can get rid of the card in the course of play, if not, he must double the pool, just as with the honours in trumps.
_=When five or seven play=_, there are special scores for lone hands. When all five tricks are taken by one side, but not by an individual playing a lone hand, it is simply a march, and counts two points, no matter how many are playing. When two or three are playing, a march must of course be a lone hand, as there are no partnerships. As we shall see later, there are some varieties of Euchre in which a lone hand may play against a lone hand, but this is not permitted in the ordinary game. No one but the individual player who makes the trump can play alone. Except in five and seven-handed Euchre, the player or side first reaching five points wins the game. If three are playing, and two of them reach five points simultaneously by euchreing the third, they both win a game. If they are playing for stakes, they divide the pool. _=TAKING UP THE TRUMP.=_ After the trump is turned up, each player in turn examines his cards, and if he does not care whether the trump suit remains unchanged or not, he says: “_=I pass=_.
.The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Game of Rat and Dragon This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title: The Game of Rat and Dragon Author: Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger Release date: August 5, 2009 [eBook #29614] Language: English Credits: Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Adam Buchbinder, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAME OF RAT AND DRAGON *** Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Adam Buchbinder, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.
Gomme); _Strand Magazine_, ii. 519 (F. H. Low). This game belongs apparently to the ball games used for purposes of divination. Mr. Newell (_Games_, p. 181) describes a similar game to this, in which the player whose name is called drops the ball; he must pick it up as quickly as possible while the rest scatter. He then calls Stand! upon which the players halt, and he flings it at whom he pleases. If he misses his aim, he must place himself in a bent position with his hands against a wall until every player has taken a shot at him.
Another important point is the great value attached to honours, and the maker of the trump should never forget that he can better afford to risk his adversaries winning 2 by cards with a trump in which he has three honours, than he can to risk a trump in which they may have three honours, and he can probably win only the odd trick. A further element may enter into his calculations, the state of the score. Tricks count before honours, and if he feels certain of making, by cards, the few points necessary to win the rubber, he may entirely disregard the honours. With such a hand it would be better to play without a trump, and to announce a _=grand=_, in which there are neither trumps nor honours, and every trick over the book is multiplied by 8. Two by cards at grand is worth more than two by cards and two by honours with any trump but cayenne. There is still another resource, to announce _=nullo=_, in which there is no trump, and the object of the players is to take as few tricks as possible. In nullo, every trick over the book counts for the adversaries, and is multiplied by 8. A peculiarity of nullo is that the Ace of each suit ranks below the deuce, unless the player holding it wishes to declare it higher than the King. In the latter case he must announce it when he plays it, and before his left-hand adversary plays to the trick. If the dealer transfers the right of making the trump to his partner, he must use the phrase, “You make it, partner.
=_ All those who made good the ante having been supplied with cards, the next player who holds cards on the left of the age must make the first bet. Should the age have declined to make good his ante, or have passed out before the draw, that does not transfer the privilege of having the last say to any other player; because the peculiar privilege of the age,--having the last say,--is given in consideration of the blind, which he is _compelled_ to pay, and no other player can have that privilege, because no other player is obliged to play. Even if a player has straddled the blind, he must still make the first bet after the draw, because he straddled of his own free will, and knew at the time that the only advantage the straddle would give him was the last say as to whether or not he would make good his ante and draw cards. If the player next to the age has passed out before the draw, the next player to the left who still holds cards must make the first bet. The player whose turn it is to bet must either do so, or throw his hand face downward in front of the player whose turn it will be to deal next. If he bets, he can put up any amount from one white counter to the limit, two blues. It then becomes the turn of the player next on his left who still holds cards to abdicate, better, or call. If he calls, he does so by placing in the pool an amount equal to that staked by the last player, and it then becomes the turn of the next player on the left to say what he will do. But if he goes better, he adds to the amount staked by the player on his right any further sum he sees fit, within the limit of two blues. Each player in turn has the same privilege, the age having the last say.
The same game is called _Harry Hurcheon_ in the North of Scotland, either from the resemblance of one in this position to a _hurcheon_, or hedge-hog, squatting under a bush; or from the Belg. _hurk-en_ to squat, to _hurkle_.--Jamieson. See Cobbler s Hornpipe, Cutch-a-Cutchoo. Curly Locks [Music] I. Curly locks, curly locks, Wilt thou be mine? Thou shalt not wash dishes Nor yet feed the swine; But sit on a fine cushion And sew a fine seam, And feed upon strawberries, Sugar and cream. --Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy). II. Bonny lass, canny lass, Wilta be mine? Thou s nowder wesh dishes Nor sarra the swine: But sit on thy crippy, &c. --Dickinson s _Cumberland Glossary_.
| -- | -- | -- | | 6.| -- |Put it in a chestnut | -- | | | |tree. | | | 7.| -- |Let it stay an hour. | -- | | 8.| -- | -- | -- | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|One and a hush, two |One of you rush, two | -- | | |and a rush.
If, after that, he can spy a boy, that boy must come out and stand by the ring. When another boy is spied, he endeavours to reach the ring before the keeper does so, and kick out the tin. If he is successful, any one of the boys who is standing by, having been previously spied, is released from the keeper, and again hides. The object of the keeper is to successfully spy all the boys. When this is accomplished the last boy becomes the keeper.--Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy). See Mount the Tin. Nine Holes Nine round holes are made in the ground, and a ball aimed at them from a certain distance; or the holes are made in a board with a number over each, through one of which the ball has to pass.--Forby s _Vocabulary_.
If he fails, he must double the amount in the pool, and pay to each of the other players a certain number of counters. _=ANNOUNCEMENTS.=_ The bids rank in the following order, beginning with the lowest. The full-faced type shows the words used by the players in calling their bids:-- To win five tricks; _=Boston=_. To win _=Six Tricks=_. To win _=Seven Tricks=_. To lose twelve tricks, after having discarded a card which is not to be shown; _=Little Misère=_. To win _=Eight Tricks=_. To win _=Nine Tricks=_. To lose every trick; _=Grand Misère=_.
When the game is counted on a pull-up cribbage marker, it is usual to start with ten up, and peg out to the game-hole, or 61. _=VARIATIONS.=_ There are quite a number of minor differences in the manner of playing Cinch. Sometimes, instead of discarding and drawing, after the successful bidder has been ascertained, but before he names the trump, four more cards are given to each player, including the dealer. Having seen thirteen cards, the bidder names the trump suit, and the hands are then reduced to six cards each. This method gives no clue to the number of trumps originally held, and deprives the dealer of one of the greatest advantages of his position, robbing the deck. Another method is to discard and draw after the trump is named, but to make the dealer take his cards from the top of the pack to complete his hand, without seeing what he is to get. This often leaves counting cards in the remainder of the pack, which must remain face down, and be kept separate from the discards. Such points count for neither side; but any points found among the discards may be counted by the side making the trump, as in the ordinary game. Owing to the uncertainty as to the number of points actually in play, the result is controlled more largely by luck than skill.
The leader says the words as above while the ring is moving round, and then suddenly calls out whichever he chooses of the two sayings. If he says Hold fast! every one must immediately let go the corner of the handkerchief he holds. They should all fall to the ground at once. When he says Let go! every one should retain their hold of the handkerchief. Forfeits are demanded for every mistake. This game, called Hawld Hard, is commonly played about Christmas-time, where a number hold a piece of a handkerchief. One then moves his hand round the handkerchief, saying, Here we go round by the rule of Contrairy; when I say Hawld hard, let go, and when I say Let go, hawld hard. Forfeits are paid by those not complying with the order.--Lowsley s _Berkshire Glossary_. Cop-halfpenny The game of Chuck-farthing.
Wanna buy me a drink, honey? she gasped. I smuggled a lift and slipped all four of her garters off the tops of her hose. A funny, stricken look replaced the erotic face she had made at me. She headed for dry dock. B-girls usually work in pairs, so I looked down toward the other end of the polished mahogany. Sure enough, there was the brunette, frowning as she tried to figure why the blond bomber had high-tailed it out of there. I shook my head at her and she let it lie. That should have cut out the last distraction. But no, I could see one more bimbo working her way through the laughing, drink-flushed crowd toward me. She had hair-colored hair, which was sort of out of character for a barroom hustler.