_=32.=_ If a player corrects his mistake in time to save a revoke, the card played in error is exposed; but any cards subsequently played by others may be taken back without penalty. _=33.=_ _=PLAYING ALONE.=_ No one but the individual maker of the trump can play alone. _=34.=_ The dealer must announce his intention to play alone by passing his discard over to his partner. Any other player intending to play alone must use the expression “alone” in connection with his ordering up or making the trump; as, “I order it, alone;” or “I make it hearts, alone.” _=35.=_ The partner of a player who has announced to play alone must lay his cards on the table, face down.
If the caster does not take all the bets offered, players may back him against the other players. The bets made, the caster shoots. If the total of the two dice on the first throw is seven or eleven, it is called a _=nick=_, or _=natural=_, and the caster immediately wins the stakes. If the first throw is two, three or twelve, it is a _=crap=_, and the caster immediately loses. If the caster throws any number, 4, 5, _6_, 8, 9, or 10, that number is his _=point=_, and he must continue throwing until he throws the same number again, in which case he wins; or throws a seven, in which case he loses. Two dice may come up in thirty-six different ways, each of which will produce one or more of eleven possible throws, running from 2 to 12. The most common throw is seven, because there are six ways that the two dice may come that will make seven; 6-1, 5-2, 4-3, 3-4, 2-5 and 1-6. The most uncommon are two and twelve, because there is only one way for each of them to come; double aces or double sixes. The numbers of different ways in which each throw may come are as follows:-- 7 may come 6 different ways. 6 or 8 may come 5 different ways.
A boy or a girl represents the Fox, and a number of others the Geese. Then the Fox shouts, Geese, Geese, gannio, and the Geese answer, Fox, Fox, fannio. Then the Fox says, How many Geese have you to-day? The Geese reply, More than you can catch and carry away. Then the Geese run out of the den, and the Fox tries to catch them. He puts as many as he catches into his den (S. O. Addy). (_b_) This game is a very general one at Christmas time. It is practically the same as Gled Wylie, and Hen and Chickens, and the Hawk and Chickens of Mr. Newell s _Games and Songs of American Children_, pp.
=_ Closing is turning the trump card face down on the remainder of the pack, which signifies that there shall be no more drawing from the stock, and that the second player in each trick must follow suit if he can, although he is not obliged to win the trick. A player can close only when he has the lead, but having the lead, he may close at any time. The pone may close before leading for the first trick; or after winning the first trick, and before drawing from the stock. The leader may close after one or more tricks have been played, and he may close without drawing from the stock; or he may draw, and then close. If the leader closes without drawing, his adversary must play without drawing. When the stock is closed, the player holding the Nine of trumps may still exchange it for the trump card, whether he is the closer or not, provided he has previously won a trick. It is usual for the closer, if he does not hold the Nine himself, to take up the trump card and offer it to his adversary. This is an intimation that he is about to turn it down if his adversary does not want it. It is sometimes better not to exchange when the game is closed, as it may give the adversary a good counting card if he can catch all your trumps. There is no score for the last trick when the game is closed, because the number of tricks played will then be less than twelve.
_=Leading Trumps.=_ With strong cards in plain suits, the eldest hand may often lead trumps to advantage if the dealer’s partner has assisted, especially if the turn-up trump is small. It is seldom right to lead trumps if the dealer has taken up the trump of his own accord; but an exception is usually made when the eldest hand holds three trumps, and two aces in plain suits. The best chance for a euchre is to exhaust the trumps, so as to make the aces good for tricks. If the pone has ordered up the trump, the eldest hand should lead trumps to him immediately; but the pone should not lead trumps to his partner if the eldest hand has ordered up at the bridge. If a bower is turned, the dealer’s partner should lead a small trump at the first opportunity. In playing against a lone hand the best cards in plain suits should always be led, trumps never. In playing alone, it is best to lead winning trumps as long as they last, so as to force discards, which will often leave intermediate cards in plain suits good for tricks. _=Second Hand.=_ Play the best card you have second hand, and cover everything led if you can.
Hickety, Bickety Hickety, bickety, pease-scone, Where shall this poor Scotchman gang? Will he gang east, or will he gang west, Or will he gang to the craw s nest? --Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 122). One boy stands with his eyes bandaged and his hands against a wall, with his head resting on them. Another stands beside him repeating the rhyme, whilst the others come one by one and lay their hands upon his back, or jump upon it. When he has sent them all to different places he turns round and calls, Hickety, bickety! till they have all rushed back to the place, the last in returning being obliged to take his place, when the game goes on as before. Chambers adds, The craw s nest is close beside the eye-bandaged boy, and is therefore an envied position. Newell, _Games_, p. 165, refers to this game. See Hot Cockles. Hickety-hackety The game of Hop-scotch, played with a piece of tile, which has to be kicked by the player with the foot on which he hops over lines into various squares marked on the ground.
Cotgrave s _Dictionarie_, 1632, says: _Merelles_, le jeu de merelles, the boyish game called merrils, or fiue-pennie morris. Played here most commonly with stones, but in France with pawns or men made of purpose, and termed merelles. Strutt (_Sports_, p. 317) says: This was why the game received this name. It was formerly called Nine Men s Morris and Five-penny Morris, and is a game of some antiquity. It was certainly much used by the shepherds formerly, and continues to be used by them and other rustics to the present hour. An illustration of the form of the merelle table and the lines upon it, as it appeared in the fourteenth century, is given by him, and he observes that the lines have not been varied. The black spots at every angle and intersection of the lines are the places for the men to be laid upon. The men are different in form and colour for distinction s sake, and from the moving these men backwards and forwards, as though they were dancing a morris, I suppose the pastime received the name of Nine Men s Morris, but why it should have been called Five-penny Morris I do not know. The manner of playing is briefly thus:--Two persons, having each of them nine pieces or men, lay them down alternately, one by one, upon the spots, and the business of either party is to prevent his antagonist from placing three of his pieces so as to form a row of three without the intervention of an opponent piece.
Mount the Tin One child throws a tin (any kind of tin will do) to some distance, and then walks towards it without looking round. The other children, in the meantime, hide somewhere near. The child who threw the tin has to guard it, and at the same time try to find those who are hiding. If he sees one he must call the name, and run to strike the tin with his foot. He does this until each one has been discovered. As they are seen they must stand out. The one who was first found has to guard the tin next time. Should one of the players be able to strike the tin while the keeper is absent, that player calls out, Hide again. They can then all hide until the same keeper discovers them again.--Beddgelert (Mrs.
An escort having conducted prisoners to the back line, and so beyond the reach of liberation, may then return into the fighting line. Prisoners once made cannot fight until they have returned to their back line. It follows, therefore, that if after the adjudication of a melee a player moves up more men into touch with the survivors of this first melee, and so constitutes a second melee, any prisoners made in the first melee will not count as combatants in the second melee. Thus if A moves up nineteen men into a melee with thirteen of B s--B having only five in support--A makes six prisoners, kills seven men, and has seven of his own killed. If, now, B can move up fourteen men into melee with A s victorious survivors, which he may be able to do by bringing the five into contact, and getting nine others within six inches of them, no count is made of the six of B s men who are prisoners in the hands of A. They are disarmed. B, therefore, has fourteen men in the second melee and A twelve, B makes two prisoners, kills ten of A s men, and has ten of his own killed. But now the six prisoners originally made by A are left without an escort, and are therefore recaptured by B. But they must go to B s back line and return before they can fight again. So, as the outcome of these two melees, there are six of B s men going as released prisoners to his back line whence they may return into the battle, two of A s men prisoners in the hands of B, one of B s staying with them as escort, and three of B s men still actively free for action.
=_ When any apparatus is used for holding the cards, such as trays, boxes, or envelopes, each player puts his 13 cards in the compartment provided for them. Each tray has a mark upon it, usually an arrow, showing which end of the tray should point toward a given direction, usually the North. The pocket into which the dealer’s cards go is marked “dealer,” and it is usual to provide a trump slip for each tray. When the hand is first dealt, the trump is recorded on this slip, which travels round the room with the tray. After the dealer has turned up the designated trump, he places the trump slip in the tray, face down. When the play of the hand is finished and the cards replaced in the tray, the dealer puts his trump slip on the top of his cards. The four hands can then be conveniently carried or handed to any other table to be overplayed. [Illustration: VARIOUS APPARATUS FOR DUPLICATE.] _=SCORING.=_ There should be two score-cards at each table.
The highest bidder takes the widow, lays out two cards, and then names the trump suit. The players agree upon a value for the tricks won, and payments are made from the pool accordingly. These payments may vary according to the rank of the trump suit. ODD GAMES. There are quite a number of odd games of cards, which come and go as favourites from time to time, and pass round the world from one country to another under many different names. The origin of most of these games is lost in the weedy undergrowth of variations, but the chief family trait in some of them can be traced back to the alpha of cards. Among the oldest of games was Ombre, immortalised by Pope, the only survivor of which is a variation played by the older Germans, under the name of Solo; a game which still faintly resists the exterminating influence of Skat. The ancient and honourable games of Comète, Hoc, and Nain Jaune survive to the present day in a large and prosperous family, ranging from Commit to Fan Tan, the latter being to-day quite a favourite among those who like simple and amusing games, free from mental effort. Fan Tan is unfortunately named, as many persons confuse it with the Chinese banking game, and it would be much better under its older name, Play or Pay. Among the many games of which everyone has heard, and which many thousands have been advised to play, is one which, strange to say, is not to be found described in any work on card games, and that is Old Maid.
The Belfast version is practically the same, except that the verses are not sung as a dialogue, but by all the players together, and the prisoner, when caught, has the choice of sides, by being asked, Which will you have, a golden apple or golden pear? and according to the answer given is sent behind one of the leaders. The Norfolk and Shropshire games are different. Miss Matthews thus describes the Norfolk game: Two girls take hold of hands, and another, the prisoner, stands between them. The rest form themselves into a line opposite, and advance and retreat while singing the first verse, the gaolers singing the next verse, and so on alternately. [At the end of the last verse but one] the children break the line, form themselves into a ring, and dance round the prisoner, singing the final verse. Miss Harley describes the Shropshire version as follows: The first six verses are sung by the alternate parties, who advance and retire, tramping their feet, at first, to imitate the robbers. The last verse is sung altogether going round in a ring. In the Shipley version, Miss Busk says: The children form themselves into two lines, while two or three, representing the robbers, swagger along between them. When the robbers sing the last verse they should have attained the end of the lines [of children], as during the parley they were safe; having pronounced the defiance they run away. The children in the lines rush after them, and should catch them and put them in prison.
It is not certain whether we have two independent games, or whether The Witch is this game, the incidents of pot-boiling and the fire-protection having been lost in its transmission to more modern notions. Although so closely allied, these games are not one at the present day, and are therefore treated separately. Newell (_Games_, p. 218) gives some versions of Witch which show a connection between that game and this. See Keeling the Pot, Witch. Mount the Tin One child throws a tin (any kind of tin will do) to some distance, and then walks towards it without looking round. The other children, in the meantime, hide somewhere near. The child who threw the tin has to guard it, and at the same time try to find those who are hiding. If he sees one he must call the name, and run to strike the tin with his foot. He does this until each one has been discovered.
=_ In auction, the dealer begins by naming any one of the four suits, or no trumps, for any number of tricks he pleases. Each player in turn to the left then has the privilege of passing, bidding higher, or doubling. When three players pass a bid, it is the highest made and is known as the _=Winning Declaration=_ or _=Contract=_. In order to understand the principles that govern the players in their declarations, one should be thoroughly familiar with the values attached to the tricks when certain suits are trumps. The first six tricks taken by the side that has made the winning declaration do not count. This is the “book,” but all over the book count toward making good on the contract, according to the following table: When Spades are trumps, each trick counts 2 points. ” Clubs ” ” ” ” ” 6 ” ” Diamonds ” ” ” ” ” 7 ” ” Hearts ” ” ” ” ” 8 ” ” Royal Spades ” ” ” ” ” 9 ” ” there are no trumps, ” ” ” 10 ” The game is 30 points, which must be made by tricks alone, so that three over the book, called three “by cards,” will go game from love at no trump, or four by cards at hearts or royals. These are called the _=Major=_ or _=Winning Suits=_. As it takes five by cards to go game in clubs or diamonds, and on account of the difficulty of such an undertaking, these are called the _=Minor=_ or _=Losing Suits=_. An original bid of one spade can be made only by the dealer, and it simply means, “I pass.
There are endless ways of pretending to mark the shown card, so that it may be known by the back; but the dealer or his confederate always knows that this is done, and the mark is shifted during the passes. UNDER AND OVER SEVEN. This game is played with a layout, divided and marked as follows:-- [Illustration: +------+--------+------+ | _U_ | _7_ | _O_ | | EVEN | 3 TO 1 | EVEN | +------+--------+------+ ] The players can bet on any of the three spaces. Two dice are thrown by the banker, and if the number thrown is _=under=_ seven he pays all bets upon the U, even money, taking all those upon 7 and O. If the throw is _=over=_ seven, he pays all bets upon the O, taking all those upon U and 7. If seven is thrown, he pays all bets upon that number, three for one, and takes all upon U and O. As there are 36 possible throws with two dice, 15 being under and 15 over seven, the percentage in favour of the banker is always 21 to 15, on U and O. As there are only 6 ways out of 36 to throw seven, the odds against it are 5 to 1; but the banker pays only 3 for 1. In spite of this enormous percentage in his favour, he frequently adds to his revenue by skilful cheating. LANSQUENET.
_=6.=_ The player loses a life by pocketing his own ball off another, by running a coup, by missing the ball played on, by forcing his ball off the table, by playing _with_ the wrong ball, by playing _at_ the wrong ball, by playing out of his turn, by striking the wrong ball, or by having his ball pocketed by the next striker. _=7.=_ Should the striker pocket the ball he plays at, and by the same stroke pocket his own or force it over the table, _he_ loses a life and not the person whose ball he pocketed. _=8.=_ Should the player strike the wrong ball, he pays the same forfeit to the person whose ball he should have played at as he would have done if he had pocketed it himself. _=9.=_ If the striker miss the ball he ought to play at, and by the same stroke pocket another ball, _he_ loses a life, and not the person whose ball he pocketed; in which case the striker’s ball must be taken up, and both balls remain in hand until it be their several turns to play. _=10.=_ If the player inquire as to which is his ball, or if it be his turn to play, the marker or the players must give him the information sought.
| |bricks and mortar. | |14.| -- | -- |Bricks and mortar will| | | | |not stay. | |15.| -- | -- |Build it up with penny| | | | |loaves. | |16.| -- | -- |Penny loaves will | | | | |mould away. | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- |Silver and gold will | -- | | | |be stole away.
King and Rook against King, Rook and Pawn. King and Rook against King and Bishop. King and Rook against King and Knight. King and Rook against King, Rook and Bishop. The following games can be _=won=_:-- King and Queen, or King and Rook, against a King. King and Queen against King and Rook. King and Queen against King and Bishop. King and Queen against King and Knight. King and Queen against King and Pawn. King and two Rooks against King and Rook.
Spoken when men at law have lost their principal evidence. See Cat and Dog, Cudgel, Kit-cat. Cat after Mouse This game, sometimes called Threading the Needle, is played by children forming a ring, with their arms extended and hands clasped; one--the Mouse--goes outside the circle and gently pulls the dress of one of the players, who thereupon becomes the Cat, and is bound to follow wherever the Mouse chooses to go--either in or out of the ring--until caught, when he or she takes the place formerly occupied in the ring by the Cat, who in turn becomes Mouse, and the game is recommenced.--Dorsetshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 214). (_b_) Played at Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy); Clapham Middle-Class School (Miss Richardson); and many other places. It is practically the same game as Drop Handkerchief, played without words. It is described by Strutt, p. 381, who considers Kiss-in-the-Ring is derived from this Cat and Mouse. Catchers One bicken is required in this game, and at this a lad must stand with a bat and ball in hand.
This game was called Shinney, or Hockey. About one o clock the Whipping Toms appeared on the scene of action. These were three men clad in blue smock frocks, with very long waggon whips, who were accompanied by three men with small bells. They commenced driving the men and boys out of the Newarkes. It was very dangerous sometimes; they would lash the whip in such a manner round the legs of those they were pursuing as to throw them down, which produced laughter and shouting. Some would stop, and turn to the whipper and say, Let s have a pennyworth, and he would guard and parry off the lashes with his shinney stick. When the whipper was successful in lashing him he demanded his penny, and continued lashing until he paid. This was continued until five o clock, then the game terminated. This was suppressed, I believe, in 1847. At that period it was a prevalent idea that it could not be abolished, as it was connected with an old charter.
It is perfectly useless to endeavour to protect yourself against a poker sharp; the only remedy is to leave the game. Many persons have a strong prejudice against playing with a man who shuffles his chips. The mere fact of his being an expert at chip shuffling has nothing to do with the game of poker, the accomplishment usually being the result of long experience at the faro table. The reason for the prejudice is that a chip shuffler is usually cold blooded, courageous, and seldom a loser at any game that requires nerve. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ Volumes might be written for the guidance of the poker player without improving his game a particle, unless he possesses at least one of four qualifications: Control over his features and actions; judgment of human nature; courage; and patience. The man whose face or manner betrays the nature of his hand, or the effect of an opponent’s bet or raise, will find everyone to beat his weak hands, and no one to call his strong ones. Unless he is a fair judge of human nature he will never be able to estimate the strength or peculiarities of the players to whom he is opposed, and will fail to distinguish a bluff from an ambuscade. Without courage he cannot reap the full benefit of his good hands; and without patience he cannot save his money in the time of adversity. Of one thing every player may rest assured, and that is that Poker cannot be played by mathematical formulas.
_=Flushes.=_ If any player in a double pool holds three trumps, whether dealt him or found in the widow, he must announce it as soon as all have declared whether or not they will play. The usual custom is to wait until the dealer declares, and then to ask him: “How many play?” The dealer replies: “Two in;” “Three in;” or: “Widow and one;” as the case may be. The player with the flush then shows it, and claims the pool without playing, each of those who are “in” being looed three red counters. If two players hold a flush in trumps, the elder hand wins, whether his trumps are better or not; but the younger hand, holding another flush, is not looed. _=Leading.=_ In all double pools, the eldest hand of those playing must lead a trump if he has one. If he has the ace of trumps he must lead that; or if he has the King and the ace is turned up. The old rule was that a player must lead the higher of two trumps, but this is obsolete. The winner of a trick must lead a trump if he has one.
Then followed the game-rhyme, repeated with each stanza-- Go choose you east, go choose you west, apparently the same as last four lines of Sheffield version. King William is then supposed to enter-- The first girl that I loved so dear, Can it be she s gone from me? If she s not here when the night comes on, Will none of you tell me where she s gone? He then recognises the disguised girl-- There s heart beneath the willow tree, There s no one here but my love and me. He had gone to the war, and promised to marry her when he came back. She wrapped a shawl about her head to see if he would recognise her. This was all the reciter could recollect; the lines of the ballad were sung by an old woman, the ring answering with the game-rhyme. This version seems to indicate clearly that in this game we have preserved one of the ceremonies of a now obsolete marriage-custom--namely, the disguising of the bride and placing her among her bridesmaids and other young girls, all having veils or other coverings alike over their heads and bodies. The bridegroom has to select from among these maidens the girl whom he wished to marry, or whom he had already married, for until this was done he was not allowed to depart with his bride. This custom was continued in sport as one of the ceremonies to be gone through after the marriage was over, long after the custom itself was discontinued. For an instance of this see a Rural Marriage in Lorraine, in _Folk-lore Record_, iii. 267-268.
If he bid three tricks, they pay him three counters each; four counters each for four tricks bid; and the value of three tricks for a misère. If he fails to win the specified number of tricks, he pays each adversary; three counters if he bid three tricks, or a misère; four if he bid four. Any player bidding nap, and succeeding in winning all five tricks, receives ten counters from each adversary; but if he fails, he pays only five to each. When penny nap is played, the settlement being in coin, it is usual to make naps win a shilling or lose sixpence, in order to avoid handling so much copper. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ In calculating his chances for success in winning a certain number of tricks, the player will often have to take into consideration the probability of certain cards being out against him. This will vary according to the number of players engaged. For instance: If four are playing, and the bidder holds K Q of a plain suit, the odds against the ace of that suit being out against him are about 2 to 1. As it would be impossible for any person to remember all the jeux de règle for three tricks at Napoleon, each must learn from experience the trick-taking value of certain hands. Trump strength is, of course, the great factor, and the bidder should count on finding at least two trumps in one hand against him.
434. Jamieson calls this a game generally played by young people in a corn-yard. Hence called _barla-bracks about the stacks_, S. B. (_i. e._, in the North of Scotland). One stack is fixed on as the _dule_ or goal; and one person is appointed to catch the rest of the company, who run out from the _dule_. He does not leave it till they are all out of sight. Then he sets off to catch them.
How many miles to Burslem? Three score and ten. Can we get there by candle-light? Yes, and back again. Open the gates so wide, so wide, And let King George aside, aside; The night is so dark we cannot see, Thread the needle and go through. --Isle of Man (A. W. Moore). XII. How many miles to Banbury Cross? Three score and ten. Shall we get there by midnight? Yes, if you run well. Then open your gates as wide as the sky, And let King George and his men pass by.
Well, I hadn t. Three snakes inside my head had made me a sucker for the real one on my arm. Maragon had made his point. I might have reached the thirty-third degree, but I wasn t quite as big a shot as I thought I was. I could feel that rattler on my arm all the way to Lake Tahoe. * * * * * Like any gambling house, the Sky Hi Club was a trap. Peno had tried to kid the public with a classy _decor_. It was a darned good copy of a nineteenth century ranch house. At the gambling tables everything was free--the liquor, the _hors d oeuvres_, the entertainment. Everything, that is, but the gambling and the women.
After making the circuit of the room, they halted on reaching the fiddler s corner, and the cushion-bearer, still to the music of the fiddle, sang or recited:-- Our song it will no further go! The Fiddler: Pray, kind sir, why say you so? The Cushion-bearer: Because Jane Sandars won t come to. The Fiddler: She must come to, she shall come to, An I ll make her whether she will or no. The cushion-bearer and vessel-holder then proceeded with the dance, going as before round the room, singing Frinkum, frankum, &c., till the cushion-bearer came to the lady of his choice, before whom he paused, placed the cushion on the floor at her feet, and knelt upon it. The vessel-bearer then offered the cup to the lady, who put money in it and knelt on the cushion in front of the kneeling gentleman. The pair kissed, arose, and the gentleman, first giving the cushion to the lady with a bow, placed himself behind her, taking hold of some portion of her dress. The cup-bearer fell in also, and they danced on to the fiddler s corner, and the ceremony was again gone through as at first, with the substitution of the name of John for Jane, thus:-- The Lady: Our song it will no further go! The Fiddler: Pray, kind miss, why say you so? The Lady: Because John Sandars won t come to. The Fiddler: He must come to, he shall come to, An I ll make him whether he will or no! The dancing then proceeded, and the lady, on reaching her choice (a gentleman, of necessity), placed the cushion at his feet. He put money in the horn and knelt. They kissed and rose, he taking the cushion and his place in front of the lady, heading the next dance round, the lady taking him by the coat-tails, the first gentleman behind the lady, with the horn-bearer in the rear.
_=CUTTING.=_ The players draw from an outspread pack to form the table, and for choice of seats. A lower cut gives preference over all higher; the lowest cut has the first choice of seats, and deals the first hand. Ties cut again, but the new cut decides nothing but the tie. In some places the players take their seats at random, and a card is then dealt to each face upward; the lowest card or the first Jack taking the deal. _=DEALING.=_ Any player has a right to shuffle the cards, the dealer last. They are then presented to the pone to be cut, and at least four cards must be left in each packet. Beginning at his left, the dealer gives each _player_ in rotation two cards on the first round, and three on the next; or three on the first and two on the next. No trump is turned.
--Shropshire (Burne s _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 526). Same verses as in Shropshire, except the last, which runs as follows:-- Buff neither laughs nor smiles, But strokes his face With a very good grace, And delivers his staff to you. --Cheltenham (Miss E. Mendham). Same verses as in Shropshire, except the last, which runs as follows:-- Buff neither laughs nor smiles, But strokes his face for want of grace, And sticks his staff in the right place. --London (J. P. Emslie). (_b_) Five or six children stand in a row.