XVIII. How many miles to Babylon? Three score and ten. Can you get there by candle-light? O yes, and back again. --Hanbury, Staffordshire (Miss E. Hollis). XIX. Open the gates as wide as high, And let King George and I go by; It is so dark I cannot see To thread my grandmother s needle. --Surrey (_Folk-lore Record_, v. 88). (_b_) There are two methods of playing this game, one in which a King and Queen are represented, and the other in which gates of a city are represented.
The child who is thus addressed must guess who has the ring, and the servant performs the same ceremony with each of the party. They who guess right escape, but the rest forfeit. Should any one in the ring exclaim I have it! she also forfeits; nor must the servant make known who has the ring until all have guessed under the same penalty. The forfeits are afterwards cried as usual.--Halliwell s _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 223. (_b_) This game was a general favourite at juvenile parties years ago. The hands were held in the posture described by Halliwell, but any child was pitched upon for the first finder, and afterwards the child in whose hands the ring was found had to be finder. There was no guessing; the closed hands were looked into (A. B.
When a second horn is added, of course she says two-horned, and so forth. Some players wear half-a-dozen before the conclusion of the game. The game is called The Wonderful Tree. --Anderby, Lincolnshire (Miss M. Peacock). In some parts of Yorkshire it is customary to say no-horned lady instead of genteel lady at the beginning of the game. When we played this game we said always genteel after genteel lady, and varied the formula. For instance, the first player would say, I, a genteel lady, always genteel, come from a genteel lady, always genteel, to say she lives in a house with twelve windows, or words were used beginning with the letter A. Each player must repeat this, and add something else in keeping with a house; or sentences had to be made in which words beginning with the letter A must be said, the other players doing the same alphabetically.--London (A.
The undealt portion of the pack, called the _=stock=_ or _=talon=_, is slightly spread between the two players, and a little to the left of the dealer. If in spreading the stock any card is found to be exposed, there must be a new deal by the same dealer. _=Misdealing.=_ A misdeal does not lose the deal, but in some cases a new deal is at the option of the pone. If the dealer exposes a card belonging to his adversary or to the stock, the pone may demand a new deal; but if either player exposes any of his own cards, the deal stands good. If too many cards are given to either player, and the error is discovered before the dealer plays to the first trick, there must be a new deal. If either player has too few cards, the pone may demand a new deal, or may allow the dealer to supply the deficiency from the top of the stock. If any card is found exposed in the pack, there must be a new deal. If any card faced in the stock is not discovered until the first trick has been played to by the dealer, the exposed card must be turned face down, without disturbing its position. If the pack is found to be imperfect, the deal in which it is discovered is void; but all previous scores or cuts made with that pack stand good.
When Third Hand plays Queen on a Ten led, it should be a certainty that he has no more of the suit. If he holds A K and only one small card, the King should be played on a Queen led. If he holds Ace and only one small card, the Ace should be played on the Jack led. If Third Hand has four trumps and a card of re-entry, the Ace should be played on Jack led, regardless of number, in older to lead trumps at once, to defend the suit. _=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.
6. Honours, unless claimed before the trump card of the following deal is turned up, cannot be scored. 7. To score honours is not sufficient; they must be called at the end of the hand; if so called, they may be scored at any time during the game. 8. The winners gain-- I. A treble, or game of three points, when their adversaries have not scored. II. A double, or game of two points, when their adversaries have scored less than three. III.
_=DISCARD HEARTS.=_ This is sometimes called _=Black Jack=_, or _=Black Lady=_. If it is the Jack, it is worth ten hearts; if it is the Queen, it is worth thirteen hearts. After the cards are dealt, each player in turn lays out three cards which he does not want, and the player on his left is obliged to take them, after having discarded himself. No player may look at what he is going to get until he has discarded himself. The Black Jack or Lady holds its rank as a spade when spades are led; but the moment any other suit is led, of which the player is void, he can discard the Black Jack or Lady, just as he would get rid of a heart. If hearts are led and the player has no hearts, he can play the Black Jack or Lady to the trick, as it ranks below the deuce of hearts. _=PROGRESSIVE HEARTS.=_ The general arrangements for the players and their positions are exactly the same as those already described in connection with Progressive Euchre. The players at each table cut for the deal, and play begins with the tap of the bell at the head table.
The fundamental principle of the short-suit game, as first explained to the world by the New York _Sun_, is to use the original or opening lead to indicate the general character of the hand rather than any details of the individual suit. In the long-suit game the original leader is always assuming that his partner may have something or other, and playing on that supposition. The short-suit player indicates the system of play best adapted to his own hand, without the slightest regard to the possibilities of his partner. It is the duty of the partner to indicate his hand in turn, and to shape the policy of the play on the combined indications of the two. This does not mean that the player shall always lead a short suit, but that he should combine the best features of both systems, without slavish adherence to either. This idea has been brought to perfection in practice by the famous American Whist Club of Boston, and under the able leadership of its captain, Harry H. Ward, it has demonstrated that he can take any kind of a team and beat any of the old style long-suit players, no matter how skilful they may be. The following is a brief outline of the American game, as given by Captain Ward in _Whist_ for May, 1906:-- _=Five-trump Hands.=_ With five trumps, and the suits split, 3, 3, 2, we always open a trump, unless we have a tenace over the turn-up card. From five trumps and a five-card plain suit, we open the suit if it is one that will require some help to establish; otherwise the trump.
If a card be exposed by the declarer after the final declaration, there is no penalty, but if exposed by an adversary of the declarer, it is subject to the same penalty as in Auction. (10) If a player double out of turn, each of his adversaries counts 100 points in his respective honour score, and the player whose declaration has been doubled may elect whether the double shall stand. The bidding is then resumed, but if the double shall be disallowed, the declaration may not be doubled by the other player. (11) The rubber continues until two games have been won by the same player; it may consist of two, three, or four games. (12) When the declarer fulfils his contract, he scores as in Auction. When he fails to do so, both of his adversaries score as in Auction. (13) Honours are scored by each player separately, _i.e._, each player who holds one honour scores the value of a trick; each player who holds two honours scores twice the value of a trick; a player who holds three honours scores three times the value of a trick; a player who holds four honours scores eight times the value of a trick; and a player who holds five honours scores ten times the value of a trick. In a no-trump declaration, each ace counts ten, and four held by one player count 100.
2. _=A cheval=_, on the line between two numbers, which pays 17 for 1. Betting limit on this chance is 360 francs. 3. _=Un carré=_, on a cross line, taking in four numbers. This pays 8 for 1. Limit is 750 francs. 4. _=Transversale=_, at the end of any three numbers, and taking them in horizontally. Pays 11 for 1.
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.--Somersetshire (Elworthy s _Dialect_). See Hop-scotch.
3. Candles. 4. The cradle inversed, or manger. 5. Soldier s bed again, or diamonds. 6. Diamonds, or cat s eyes. 7. Fish in dish.
[Music] --London (A. B. Gomme). I. 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.
=_ When four play it is sometimes permissible for one to pass out, each in turn to the left having the right. The first thing is for the holder of the six of trumps to exchange it for the turned-up trump. The player to the left of the dealer then leads any card he pleases, and each player in turn must follow suit and must head the trick if he can; by trumping if he has none of the suit led. As soon as a card is played, the player makes his meld, announcing its pip value. The winner of the last trick scores five points for it. _=SCORING.=_ Sometimes 1,000 points is a game, as in pinochle, and the first player to call out wins if he is correct; if not he loses. Sometimes in three or four-hand, it is agreed to play some number of deals divisible by four, usually 12 or 16. These are indicated by cross marks on the slate, each arm representing a deal. The two players with the higher scores at the end of the hand each rub off a mark and the one who is first to rub off all his marks is the winner, or the last to wipe off is stuck, according to agreement.
He can score only the trio, of course; but his adversary, having none of that denomination either in his hand or discards, knows that four were possible, and after playing a card he has a right to ask the suit of the card which was discarded. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The elder hand can lead any card he pleases, announcing the suit at the same time. The dealer is bound to follow suit, if able, but he is not obliged to win the trick. As there are no trumps, the higher card, if of the suit led, wins the trick. If the second player does not follow suit, the leader wins. The winner of one trick leads for the next, and so on until all twelve tricks are played. Every time a card is played which is better than a Nine, the leader counts one for it, adding the number to the total value of his score as already announced. If the second player wins the trick with any card better than a Nine he also counts one; but if the trick is won by the player who led, there is no extra count for winning it. The winner of the _=last trick=_ counts one for it, in addition to his count for winning it with a card better than a Nine.
So much for gamblers. I kept control of the dice while each new gambler handled them. I was having a good night. Of course, by that time I had handled the dice, which always improves my TK grip. Every point I had TK d came up. For all the perception I kept on the ivories, I could sense no other TK force at work, which after all was the whole reason for my gambling. The interesting note was the way Sniffles handled my chips. Sometimes more sure than others, she occasionally let a winning stack ride. On other rolls, she keened and chanted oddly to herself, eyes closed, and pinched down most of the stock. But she was never on the wrong side of the Pass line.
Hardy says some sing this game, Follow my game an holy man. Mr. Hardy once thought it was the remnant of a goblin story of a hoary man of the gable or house-roof, who presided over the destinies of poor cottagers, and he had begun to make out the folk tale. The fairy would sometimes come down, and, playing his antics, compel whomsoever observed him to follow him in a mimicking procession. Miss Hope writes of Holy Gabriel that the game is played at Mead Vale, a small village in Surrey, but is unknown at larger villages and towns a few miles off. Some of the women who played it in their youth say that it began in the Primitive Methodist school at Mead Vale. It is played at Outword, also a remote village, and was introduced there by a stonemason, who stated that he had learned it from a cousin who had been in America. Further inquiry by Miss Hope elicited the fact that the cousin had learned the game, when a boy, in his native place in Lancashire. He did not know whether it was a well-known game there. This information points perhaps to a modern origin, but in such cases it must be borne in mind that people are very fond of suggesting recent circumstances as the cause of the most ancient traditions or customs.
3. If a player demand that the cards be placed, he should do so for his own information and not to call his partner’s attention to any card or play. 4. An opponent of the declarer should not lead until the preceding trick has been turned and quitted; nor, after having led a winning card, should he draw another from his hand before his partner has played to the current trick. 5. A card should not be played with such emphasis as to draw attention to it, nor should a player detach one card from his hand and subsequently play another. 6. A player should not purposely incur a penalty because he is willing to pay it, nor should he make a second revoke to conceal a first. 7. Conversation during the play should be avoided, as it may annoy players at the table or at other tables in the room.
_=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ The French claim that any person may become an expert at a game like Piquet, simply by dint of long practice; but that the master of Écarté must be a born card-player, as no game requires in such degree the exercise of individual intelligence and finesse. While this may be true, there are many points about the game which may be learned by the novice, and which will greatly improve his play. There are two things which the beginner should master before sitting down to the table for actual play: the hands on which it is right to stand, or play without proposing, and those with which it is right to refuse, or play without giving cards. These are called stand hands, or _=jeux de règle=_, and the player should be able to recognize them on sight. In the following paragraphs the words _=dealer=_ and _=player=_ will be used to distinguish the adversaries at Écarté. The principle underlying the jeux de règle is the probable distribution of the cards in the trump suit, and the fact that the odds are always against the dealer’s holding two or more. There are thirty-two cards in the Écarté pack, of which eight are trumps, and one of these is always turned up. The turn-up and the player’s hand give us six cards which are known, and leave twenty-six unknown. Of these unknown cards the dealer holds five, and he may get these five in 65,780 different ways.
The eldest hand must either accept the number bid, or pitch the trump himself, and make as many points as the highest bidder offered him. If the eldest hand accepts, he pushes into the pool as many counters as he is bid, and the successful bidder pitches the trump. If no bid is made, the eldest hand must pitch the trump himself. A bidder is not allowed to give the seller enough points to put him out, and should he do so by mistake, he forfeits his right to bid at all for that deal. If the seller has only two to go, and a player is able to bid three or four, he loses nothing by bidding one only, for no one can overbid him, and he is entitled to count all he makes. The only risk he runs is that the seller can afford to refuse one, and will go out on his own pitch. To remedy this it is the custom in some clubs to allow a player to bid the full value of his hand. If the seller accepts, he scores to within one of game; but if he refuses, he must make as many as bid, even if he does not actually want them. It is one of the fine points of the game for the seller to refuse when the number of points offered would put the bidder out if he was successful. There is no penalty for bidding out of turn.
=_ In case of ties in points at any table when the bell taps, those having won the most tricks on the next hand are declared the winners. If that is also a tie, the ladies cut to decide it, the lowest cut going up. In cutting, the ace is low, and the jack ranks below the Queen. _=Prizes.=_ Six prizes are usually provided for large companies. The lady and gentleman having the largest number of gold stars taking the first prizes; the largest number of red stars winning the second prizes; and the largest number of green stars the booby prizes. One player cannot win two prizes. In case of ties for the gold stars, the accompanying red stars decide it; if that is also a tie, the player with the fewest number of green stars wins; and if that is still a tie, the players must cut for it. The hostess decides the hour at which play shall cease, and is the referee in all disputes. MILITARY EUCHRE.
In _=Solo Whist=_, the cards are distributed three at a time until only four remain in the pack. These are dealt one at a time, and the last turned up for trump. In _=Boston=_ and in _=Cayenne=_, the cards are dealt four at a time for two rounds, and then five at a time. No trump is turned. After the cards have been dealt the player opposite the dealer presents the still pack to be cut by the player on the dealer’s left, and the top card of the portion left on the table is turned up. In _=Boston=_, _=Cayenne=_, or _=Solo Whist=_, the deal is never lost. The same dealer deals again with the same pack. 14. There must be a new deal by the same dealer:-- I. If any card except the last is faced in the pack.