--Sheffield (S. O. Addy). (_b_) In Sheffield a ring of young men and women is formed. A man goes inside the ring and walks round within it, whilst the others sing the verse. The young man then chooses a sweetheart, and the two walk round arm-in-arm within the ring, whilst the same verses are sung. When the singing is ended, the girl picks a young man, and so they all pair off. (_c_) Mr. Addy entitles this game Kiss in the Ring. It appears, however, from this description to lack the two principal elements of most kiss-in-the-ring games--the chase between pursued and pursuer, and the kissing in the ring when the capture is made.
Do not pair his cards unless you have a card which will make you a double pair royal, (without passing 31,) if he should make a pair royal on you. Do not play close cards which he may turn into sequences. Never play a card which will allow the adversary to make a double score, such as a pair and a fifteen, or a sequence and a fifteen at the same time. Such as the following are all bad plays: 9 on 3; 7 on A; 6 on 3, 4, or 5; 5 on 5; 4 on 7; 3 on 9; A on 7. All these expose you to the immediate rejoinder of a double count. Of course, if you have the card to make a pair royal in return, that is another matter, and is playing on, not playing off. Do not play a card which brings the pip count to 5 or 21 if you can help it; because any tenth card will enable your adversary to peg two holes. Be a little wary about pairing the first card played, unless you have a third of the same denomination. If you have a choice between a pair and a sequence, your decision will depend on whether you are playing off or on. If you are playing off, make the pair, and take no chances of long runs.
Some boy chosen by lot, or one who volunteered in order to start the game, laid his top on the ground at some distance from the Gully. The first player then spun his top, pegging at the recumbent top, so as to draw it towards the Gully. If he missed the top, he stooped down and took up his own top by pushing his hand against it in such a manner that the space between his first and second finger caught against the peg and forced the top into the palm of his hand. He then had a go at the recumbent top (I forget what this was called), and sent his own top against it so as to push it towards the Gully. If he missed, he tried again and again, until his own top could spin no longer. If he did not hit the top with his own while it was spinning, his top had to be laid down and the other one taken up, and its owner took his turn at pegging. When a spinning-top showed signs of exhaustion, and the taking it up might kill it, and it was not very far from the down-lying top, its owner would gently push it with his finger, so as to make it touch the other top, and so avoid putting it into the other s place. This was called kissing, and was not allowed by some players. When one player succeeded in sending the top into the Gully, he took it up and fixed it by its peg into a post, mortar of a wall, or the best place where it could be tolerably steady. Holding it by one hand, he drove the peg of his own top as far as he could into the crown of the victim top.
The great point in playing against Misère is to continue leading suits in which he is known to be long, so as to give your partners discards. This B does with the two long spades, the caller being marked with the ace and others on the second trick. Then Z allows B to discard his high diamonds on the clubs. SCOTCH WHIST, OR CATCH THE TEN. _=CARDS.=_ Scotch Whist is played with a pack of 36 cards, which rank in plain suits, A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6; the Ace being highest both in play and in cutting. In the trump suit the Jack is the best card, the order being, J A K Q 10 9 8 7 6. _=MARKERS.=_ There are no suitable counters for Scotch Whist, and the score is usually kept on a sheet of paper. _=PLAYERS.
It is always advantageous to play one of a pair, and to begin with one end of a sequence. If he pairs your first card, you can reply with a pair royal. If he plays to make a sequence, you can sometimes hold him off until you get the score, and he will be unable to continue the run without passing 31. Play one of two cards that form a five, such as 3 and 2; 4 and A. If he plays a tenth card to it, you can peg fifteen. In playing on, you should make all the sequences possible, taking chances of your adversary’s being able to continue the run. If you think he is leading you on, you must be guided by the state of the score as to how much you can risk. Toward the end, you must reckon pretty closely how many points you can afford to risk your adversary’s making without putting him out. If you have enough in your hand to get out on the show, you should not attempt to make a single point in play. Pair nothing, for he might come out with a pair royal; make no runs, for he might extend them.
How about it, Fowler? I asked my Lodge Brother. Was a worker tipping the dice tonight? I never felt it, he said. But the table had dropped nearly forty grand during the shift, which was about over when you started to play. He s too good for me, Wally. But you felt _my_ lifts, I protested. You called TK on the table. Smythe shrugged and took off his glasses. I thought I felt you tipping when you first came to the layout, he said, waving them around. I nodded confirmation. But it was smooth work, and I could hardly be sure.
You must surrend me, you must surrend me To the Queen of Barbaloo. No, we ll not surrend you, no, we ll not surrend you To the Queen of Barbaloo. We ll complain, we ll complain, &c. [To the Queen of Barbaloo.] You can complain, you can complain, &c. [To the Queen of Barbaloo.] --Penzance (Mrs. Mabbott). (_b_) Two children stand together joining hands tightly, to personate a fortress; one child stands at a distance from these to personate the King of Barbarie, with other children standing behind to personate the soldiers (fig. 1).
This process of drawing, forming pairs, and discarding is continued until it is found that one player remains with one card. This card is of course the odd Queen, and the unfortunate holder of it is the Old Maid; but only for that deal. LIFT SMOKE. The number of players must be limited to six, each of whom deposits a counter in the pool. A full pack of fifty-two cards is used. The cards rank from the ace down to the deuce, as at Whist. If there are four players, six cards are dealt to each, one at a time; if five play, five cards to each, and if six play, four cards to each. The last card that falls to the dealer is turned up for the trump, and the remainder of the pack is placed in the centre of the table as a stock to draw from. The eldest hand leads for the first trick, and the others must follow suit if they can. The highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits.
The object is to get each piece to settle fairly and squarely within the borders of some one of a number of spaces which are chalked out on a diagram about 10 feet by 6, which is about 30 feet from the player. These spaces are numbered from 1 to 10, and some of them are marked “minus.” Each side has four shots with four separate pieces. Fifty points is game. BILLIARDS. _=THE TABLE.=_ The standard American billiard table for championship games is ten feet by five; but that in common use is nine by four and a half. The old tables for the four-ball game had only four pockets, but all modern pool tables have six. The English billiard tables are all twelve feet by six, with six pockets, which are used for both billiards and pool. The head of the table is the end from which the players make their opening shots, and the foot is that on which the red ball is spotted.
Disjoining hands, they then begin, with skirts held daintily up behind, to walk singly along, singing-- This is the way the ladies walk, The ladies walk, the ladies walk; This is the way the ladies walk, And round the merry-ma-tanzie. At the last line they reunite, and again wheel round in a ring, singing as before-- Here we go round the mulberry bush, &c. After which, they perhaps simulate the walk of gentlemen, the chief feature of which is length of stride, concluding with the ring dance as before. Probably the next movement may be-- This is the way they wash the clothes, Wash the clothes, wash the clothes; This is the way they wash the clothes, And round the merry-ma-tanzie. After which there is, as usual, the ring dance. They then represent washing, ironing clothes, baking bread, washing the house, and a number of other familiar proceedings. Chambers quotes a fragment of this little ballet, as practised at Kilbarchan, in Renfrewshire, which contains the following lines similar to those in this game:-- She synes the dishes three times a day, Three times a day, three times a day; She synes the dishes three times a day, Come alang wi the merry-ma-tanzie. She bakes the scones three times a day, Three times a day, three times a day; She bakes the scones three times a day, Come alang wi the merry-ma-tanzie. She ranges the stules three times a day, Three times a day, three times a day; She ranges the stules three times a day, Come alang wi the merry-ma-tanzie. This game originated, no doubt, as a marriage dance round a sacred tree or bush.
(_b_) Dr. Jamieson says this is a game well-known in Lothian and in the South of Scotland. Sir Walter Scott, in _Rob Roy_, iii. 153, says, Here auld ordering and counter-ordering--but patience! patience!--We may ae day play at _Change seats, the king s coming_. This game is supposed to ridicule the political scramble for places on occasion of a change of government, or in the succession. See Musical Chairs, Turn the Trencher. Checkstone Easther s _Almondbury Glossary_ thus describes this game. A set of checks consists of five cubes, each about half an inch at the edge, and a ball the size of a moderate bagatelle ball: all made of pot. They are called checkstones, and the game is played thus. You throw down the cubes all at once, then toss the ball, and during its being in the air gather up one stone in your right hand and catch the descending ball in the same.
_=Declaring.=_ The elder hand announces his point, as in Piquet, and arrives at its value in the same way, reckoning the Ace for 11, etc. The dealer replies, “Good,” or “Not good,” as the case may be; but there are no equalities. If the point is a tie, the elder hand counts it. The point is worth a _=white=_ counter. The impérials are then called, each being worth one _=red=_ counter. The sequences are called first, that in trumps being “good” of course; then the fours are called, the best being four Kings, and the lowest four Aces. In plain-suit sequences there are no “equals,” the elder hand counting ties as an offset to the advantages of the deal. _=Playing.=_ The elder hand leads a card, and the dealer then declares and marks any impérials he may have that are good; after which he plays a card.