_=Objects of the Game.=_The object of each player is to form triplets, fours, and sequences, by combining the cards dealt him with others drawn from the stock. These combinations are laid upon the table, face up, and the player wins the game who first succeeds in laying down eleven cards in this manner. _=Sequences=_ must be all of the same suit, and cannot be shorter than three cards. The Ace is not in sequence with the King, but the 7 is next below the Jack. A sequence once started can be added to from time to time as the cards are drawn from the stock. _=Triplets=_ are any three cards of the same denomination, and they may be increased to _=Fours=_ at any time, by adding the other card. _=Borrowing.=_ A player with four of a kind on the table may borrow any one of the four to use in a sequence; but he cannot borrow one of three, because no combination may consist of less than three cards. In the same manner a player may borrow the card at either end of a sequence of at least four cards, if he can use it to make a triplet.
They repeat this thrice, courtesying low. The first to courtesy is placed in the centre of the circle, when the others sing:-- Choose your maidens one by one, One by one, one by one; Choose your maidens one by one-- And down goes (all courtesy) Merrima Tansa! She chooses her maidens. They take her to a distance, when she is secretly told the name of her lover. The remainder of the girls imitate sweeping, and sing several stanzas to the effect that they will sweep the house till the bride comes home, when the bride is now placed within the circle, and from a score to a hundred stanzas, with marching and various imitations of what the lucky bride accomplishes or undergoes, are sung. Each one closes with Down goes Merrima Tansa and the head-ducking; and this wonderful music-drama of childhood is not concluded until the christening of the bride s first-born, with-- Next Sunday morn to church she must gae, A babe on her knee, the best of a-- And down goes Merrima Tansa! Jamieson gives the game as a ring within which one goes round with a handkerchief, with which a stroke is given in succession to every one in the ring; the person who strikes, or the taker, still repeating this rhyme:-- Here I gae round the jingie ring, The jingie ring, the jingie ring, Here I gae round the jingie ring, And through my merry-ma-tanzie. Then the handkerchief is thrown at one in the ring, who is obliged to take it up and go through the same process. He also mentions another account of the game which had been sent him, which describes the game as played in a similar manner to the versions given by Chambers. Stewart, in his _Ben Nevis and Glencoe_, p. 361, records the following rhyme:-- Here we go with merry shout, Up and down and round about, And dance a merry-ma-tandy, but he does not describe the game in detail. Milking Pails [Music] --Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy); London (A.
Repr_., ii. 243. This language Lyndsay puts into the mouth of a Popish parson. The game seems to be that of ball played with the hand, as distinguished from Football. --Jamieson. See Ball. Call-the-Guse This game is supposed by Jamieson to be equivalent to Drive the Goose, and the game seems to be the same with one still played by young people in some parts of Angus, in which one of the company, having something that excites ridicule unknowingly pinned behind, is pursued by all the rest, who still cry out, Hunt the Goose! --Jamieson. Camp A game formerly much in use among schoolboys, and occasionally played by men in those parts of Suffolk on the sea coast--more especially in the line of Hollesley Bay between the Rivers Orwell and Alde, sometimes school against school, or parish against parish. It was thus played: Goals were pitched at the distance of 150 or 200 yards from each other; these were generally formed of the thrown-off clothes of the competitors.
Although the rules allow these three to be pegged at any time during the game, they should be put up immediately, in order to avoid disputes. There is no further play after a go is declared, or either player has reached 31. The score for 31 is two holes; and for the go, one hole. Great importance is attached to the score for the go at five-card Cribbage, because so little is made in play that every point counts. _=The Crib.=_ This is the most important thing in the five-card game, and it is much more important to baulk your adversary’s crib than to preserve your own hand. The best baulking cards are a King with a 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 or A. Never lay out a Jack, nor two cards which form a five, nor any pair, nor any two close cards. In laying out for your own crib, Fives, Sevens and Eights are the best. Any pair, any two cards that make five or fifteen, and any close cards are also good.
| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.|One of my rush, two of|One may rush, two may |One in a bush, two in | | |my rush. |rush. |a bush, three in a | | | | |bush, four in a bush. | |13.| -- | -- | -- | |14.|Please, young lady, |Come, my girls, walk | -- | | |come under my bush. |under the bush. | | |15.
O. Addy, and Miss Fowler, who very generously placed collections at my disposal, which had been prepared before they knew of my project; also Miss Burne, Miss L. E. Broadwood, and others, for kindly obtaining variants and tunes I should not otherwise have received. To the many versions now printed for the first time I have added either a complete transcript of, where necessary, or a reference to, where that was sufficient, printed versions of games to be found in the well-known collections of Halliwell and Chambers, the publications of the Folk-lore and Dialect Societies, Jamieson s, Nares , and Halliwell s Dictionaries, and other printed sources of information. When quoting from a printed authority, I have as far as possible given the exact words, and have always given the reference. I had hoped to have covered in my collection the whole field of games as played by children in the United Kingdom, but it will be seen that many counties in each country are still unrepresented; and I shall be greatly indebted for any games from other places, which would help to make this collection more complete. The tunes of the games have been taken down, as sung by the children, either by myself or correspondents (except where otherwise stated), and are unaltered. The games consist of two main divisions, which may be called descriptive, and singing or choral. The descriptive games are arranged so as to give the most perfect type, and, where they occur, variable types in succession, followed, where possible, by any suggestions I have to make as to the possible origin of the game.
A player is not obliged to follow suit, nor to trump; but may renounce or trump at pleasure until the stock is exhausted, after which the method of play undergoes a change. If a player follows suit, the higher card wins the trick, and if identical cards are played to the same trick, such as two Jacks of clubs, the leader wins. Trumps win plain suits. The winner of the trick takes in the cards, turning them face down; but before he leads for the next trick he has the privilege of announcing and scoring any one of certain combinations that he may hold in his hand. After, or in the absence of any such announcement, and before leading for the next trick, he draws a card from the top of the stock and places it in his hand, without showing or naming it. His adversary draws the next card, so that each player restores the number of cards in his hand to eight. This method of drawing from the stock is open to many objections, and in France the pone always draws first, no matter who wins the trick. All combinations announced and scored must be laid 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. _=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ The reasons for winning or not winning certain tricks will be better understood in connection with the description of the various combinations that count toward game, and the manner of scoring them.
The elder hand wins ties. BOUILLOTTE, OR BRELAN. This is an old and famous French gambling game, often referred to in stories of fast life in European society. It was the rage during and long after the French Revolution, but has lately had to share public attention with Baccara, and even with Le Poker Américain. It has many points in common with three-stake Brag, and is evidently descended from the same stock. By many persons Bouillotte is considered superior to Poker, because it offers the player many opportunities to speculate on winning by the aid of cards that are not in his own hand. _=Cards.=_ Bouillotte is played with a piquet pack, reduced to twenty cards, only the A K Q 9 8 of each suit being retained. The ace is the highest card in play and in cutting. If five persons play, the Jack of each suit is added; if only three play, the Queens are discarded, reducing the pack to sixteen cards.
All a Row. All in the Well. All the Birds in the Air. All the Boys in our Town. All the Fishes in the Sea. All the Soldiers in the Town. Allicomgreenzie. Alligoshee. Almonds and Reasons. Angel and Devil.
9 in Hopscotch ) is drawn on a slate, and two children play. A piece of paper or small piece of glass or china, called a chipper, is used to play with. This is placed at the bottom of the plan, and if of _paper_, is _blown_ gently towards the top; if of glass or china, it is _nicked_ with the _fingers_. The first player blows the paper, and in whichever space the paper stops makes a small round [o] with a slate pencil, to represent a man s head. The paper or chipper is then put into the starting-place again, and the same player blows, and makes another man s head in the space where the paper stops. This is continued until all the spaces are occupied. If the paper goes a second time into a space already occupied by a head, the player adds a larger round to the head, to represent a body; if a third time, a stroke is drawn for a leg, and if a fourth time, another is added for the second leg; this completes a man. If three complete men in one space can be gained, the player makes arms; that is, two lines are drawn from the figures across the space to the opposite side of the plan. This occupies that space, and prevents the other player from putting any men in it, or adding to any already there. When all the spaces are thus occupied by one player, the game is won.
Down in the valley where the green grass grows Stands E---- H----, she blows like a rose. She blows, she blows, she blows so sweet. In came F---- S---- and gave her a kiss. E---- made a pudding, she made it nice and sweet, F---- took a knife and fork and cut a little piece. Taste of it, taste of it, don t say nay, For next Sunday morning is our wedding day. First we ll buy a money box, Then we ll buy a cradle; Rock, rock the bottom out, Then we ll buy another. Bread and cheese all the week, cork on Sunday, Half a crown on Saturday night, and a jolly good dance on Monday. --Cowes, Isle of Wight (Miss E. Smith). II.