The board is divided into two tables, _=inner=_ and _=outer=_, and at the beginning of the game the men may be set up in either of the positions shown in the diagram. [Illustration: +-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-+-+ |⛂| | | | |⛀|| |⛀| | | |⛂| |⛂| | | |⛀| ||⛀| | | | |⛂| |⛂| | | | |⛀|| |⛀| | | |⛂| |⛂| | | |⛀| ||⛀| | | | |⛂| | | | | | |⛀|| |⛀| | | |⛂| |⛂| | | |⛀| ||⛀| | | | | | | | | | | |⛀|| | | | | |⛂| |⛂| | | | | ||⛀| | | | | | | | | | | |⛀|| | | | | |⛂| |⛂| | | | | ||⛀| | | | | | LIGHT | INNER || OUTER | | OUTER || INNER | LIGHT | | | | | |⛂|| | | | | |⛀| |⛀| | | | | ||⛂| | | | | | | | | | | |⛂|| | | | | |⛀| |⛀| | | | | ||⛂| | | | | | | | | | | |⛂|| |⛂| | | |⛀| |⛀| | | |⛂| ||⛂| | | | | | |⛀| | | | |⛂|| |⛂| | | |⛀| |⛀| | | |⛂| ||⛂| | | | |⛀| |⛀| | | | |⛂|| |⛂| | | |⛀| |⛀| | | |⛂| ||⛂| | | | |⛀| +-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-++-+-+-+-+-+-+ ] It will be observed that the black men on any point have exactly the same number of white men standing opposite them. In one table there are only two upon one point, and in the other there are only three upon one point. The table with the two men is always the _=inner table=_ while the one with three is always the _=outer table=_. This distinction is important, and may be remembered by observing that the number of letters in the words _=in=_ and _=out=_ are two and three respectively. In setting up the men the inner table is always placed _=toward the light=_, whether it be a window or the gas. Each player must always have the majority of his men, five and three, on the side nearer him; and the minority, five and two, on the side farther from him. The side of the _=inner table=_ which is nearer the player will always be his _=home table=_. In all the illustrations in this work you are supposed to be playing with the black side next you, and with your inner or home table on your _=left=_ hand. The raised portion or hinge of the board, which divides the inner from the outer tables, is known as the _bar_, and the points, or flèches, in each player’s home table are numbered from 1 to 6, reckoning from the outer edge toward the bar.
Gregor. See Click. Cock-battler Children, under the title of Cock-battler, often in country walks play with the hoary plantain, which they hold by the tough stem about two inches from the head; each in turn tries to knock off the head of his opponent s flower.--Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 61). In the North, and in Suffolk, it is called Cocks, a puerile game with the tough tufted stems of the ribwort plantain (Brockett s _North Country Words_). Moor (_Suffolk Words_) alludes to the game, and Holloway (_Dictionary of Provincialisms_) says in West Sussex boys play with the heads of rib grass a similar game. Whichever loses the head first is conquered. It is called Fighting-cocks. Cock-fight This is a boys game.
=_ If the dealer does not take up the trump, he must place it under the remainder of the pack, face upward, so that it can be distinctly seen. Each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, then has the privilege of naming a new trump suit. _=21.=_ If any player names the suit already turned down, he loses his right to name a suit; and if he corrects himself, and names another, neither he nor his partner is allowed to make that suit the trump. If a player names a new trump suit out of his proper turn, both he and his partner are forbidden to make that suit the trump. _=22.=_ If no one will name a new trump, the deal is void, and passes to the next player on the dealer’s left. _=23.=_ _=IRREGULARITIES IN THE HANDS.=_ If any player is found not to have his correct number of cards, it is a misdeal; but if he has played to the first trick the deal stands good, and he cannot score anything that hand.
--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor). (_b_) Hairry = rob, Bossie = a wooden bowl, commonly used for making the leaven in baking oat-cakes, and for making brose. This is a very general game amongst schoolboys. Half-Hammer The game of Hop-step-and-jump, Norfolk. This game is played in the west of Sussex, but not in the east. It is played thus by two or more boys. Each boy in his turn stands first on one leg and makes a hop, then strides or steps, and lastly, putting both feet together, jumps. The boy who covers the most ground is the victor.
=_” If all agree to pay, the bidder must accept the amount of his bid without any over-tricks, and the pool is not touched. If a player has made a pool bid, and the adversaries, before playing to the second trick, agree to pay, they cannot prevent the caller from taking the pool; but they save possible over-tricks. The agreement of the adversaries to pay must be unanimous. Misère Partout does not touch the pool. If the hand is played out, and the caller fails, he must double the pool, whether he has made a pool bid or not. If there is more than one pool, he must double the first one, which will of course contain the limit. This will simply have the effect of forming an additional pool to be played for. When there are several pools on the table, a successful caller takes any of those that contain the limit. When there is only one pool on the table, he must be satisfied with its contents, however small. At the end of the game, after the twelfth hand has been settled for, it is usual to divide the pool or pools equally among the players.
Here we come gathering nuts in May, Nuts in May, nuts in May, Here we come gathering nuts in May, On a cold and frosty morning. Where do you gather your nuts in May? On Galloway Hill we gather our nuts. Who will you gather for nuts in May? We ll gather ---- for nuts in May. Who will you send to fetch her away? We ll send ---- to fetch her away. --Bocking, Essex (_Folk-lore Record_, iii. 169). V. Here we go gathering nuts away, Nuts away, nuts away, Here we go gathering nuts away, On a cold and frosty morning. [Then follow verses beginning--] Whose nuts shall we gather away? We ll gather [Minnie Brown s] nuts away. Whom shall we send to fetch them away? [And the final verse is--] We ll send [Johnny Cope] to fetch them away, Fetch them away, fetch them away, We ll send [Johnny Cope] to fetch them away, On a cold and frosty morning.
_=21. Making Jacks.=_ If no player will come in, it is a Natural Jack, and all the hands must be abandoned, each player putting up for the ensuing deal the amount agreed upon. If no one has straddled the blind, or raised the ante, and only one player has come in, the age may do one of four things: He may forfeit his blind; or he may make the ante good; or he may raise it; or he may demand that the single player who has come in shall take down his ante, the age putting up twice the amount agreed upon for jack pots; once for himself, and once for the player who came in. All the other players must then put up for the ensuing deal. This is an Only-Two-In Jack. _=22. Drawing Cards.=_ When two or more players have come in for an equal amount, the others having abandoned their hands, each of them in turn, beginning with the one on the dealer’s left, may discard any or all of the cards originally dealt him, and draw others in their place. The number discarded and drawn, if any, must be distinctly announced by each player, including the dealer; and the fresh cards must be given face down from the top of the pack, without any further shuffling or cutting.
Vorhand should be careful not to lead until the player has laid out or discarded for the Skat in a Gucki or a Tourné. Players must follow suit if they can, but are not obliged to win the trick. Having none of the suit led, they may trump or discard at pleasure. The highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. The winner of the first trick leads for the next, and so on, until all the cards have been played, or the game is acknowledged as won or lost, and abandoned. In a Grand, if a Jack is led, players must follow suit with the other Jacks, they being trumps. _=Abandoned Hands.=_ If the single player finds he has overbid himself, or sees that he cannot make as good a game as bid, he may abandon his hand to save himself from being made schneider or schwarz, provided he does so before he plays to the second trick. A Solo cannot be abandoned in this manner, as the rule is made only to allow a player to get off cheaply who has been unlucky in finding nothing in the Skat to suit his hand. For instance: A player has risked a Tourné with a missing suit, and turns up that suit.
A child stands in the centre of the ring of children, without apparently taking much part in the game, except to name the children in turn. In the Wakefield version, however (Miss Fowler, No. xvii.), a little boy stands in the middle of a circle of girls who sing the first verse. At We ll all cou don together, all crouch down, as if in profound respect, then rising slowly, sing the next verse. After My pitcher and my can, each child mentions her own name. At Isn t ---- as nice as her? each mentions her sweetheart s name, and the child thus chosen goes into the circle. At the end of the fourth verse they all clap hands, and the one that is sweetheart to him in the middle kisses him. The crouching down is also done in the Forest of Dean version when singing the fourth line. The last one to stoop has to name her sweetheart.
V. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself, As the wheel went round he made his wealth; One hand in the upper and the other in the bank, As the wheel went round he made his wealth. --Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy). VI. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself, As the wheel went round he made his grab; One hand in the other, and the other in the bag, As the wheel went round he made his grab. --Nottinghamshire (Miss Winfield). VII. There was a jolly miller, and he lived by himself (or by the Dee), The sails went round, he made his ground; One hand in his pocket, the other in his bag. --North Staffs.
Now what are the odds against your winning the pool? Suppose you hold tens, and draw three cards. Your chance of improving your hand is a little better than one in five. The opener of the jack pot has exactly the same chance, and if both of you draw cards a hundred times under those circumstances, he will beat you in the long run, to say nothing of the other players who may come in and beat both of you. It is therefore evident that in backing tens against openers, it is four to one against your beating the openers to begin with, and if you do beat them the odds are still against your winning the pot. If there were five players, and the jack pots were all equal in amount, you would have to win one pot out of five to make your investment pay. Can you make this average when your original pair will not beat openers? There are three principles with regard to the draw that should never be lost sight of: (1) An average go-in hand is a hand which will win its proportion of the pools, according to the number playing, taking all improvements and opposition into account. This can be demonstrated to be a pair of tens. (2) The draw is much more valuable to a weak hand than to a strong one, and weak hands will improve in much greater proportion than strong ones will. For instance: The chances for a player to improve by drawing to a pair of Queens are one in three and a half. He may make two pairs, or triplets, or a full hand, or four of a kind.
| | . | | +-.-+---+-.-+---+-.-+---+-.-+---+ | . | | . | | . | | . | | +-.
_=7th Trick.=_ A must risk the King and 3 being divided, for if they are in one hand nothing will save him. Z keeps ♢9 and ♣Q in order to be sure of getting a lead, as he is the only player who can load A by putting him in on spades at the end making him take in his own hearts. _=8th Trick.=_ B cannot risk playing the high clubs while there is any chance for him to win the pool. He can count A to be safe in diamonds, with two hearts and two spades. _=10th Trick.=_ A clears his hand of the very dangerous spade before leading his tenace in diamonds. _=12th Trick.=_ A will not give up the heart until he is sure that B has not the ♣7.
The game was called Buck, Buck at Keith. Three players only took part in the game--the Post, the Buck, and the Rider. The words used by the Rider were-- Buck, buck, how many horns do I hold up? If the guess was wrong, the Rider gave the Buck as many blows or kicks with the heel as the difference between the correct number and the number guessed. This process went on till the correct number was guessed, when the Rider and the Buck changed places.--Rev. W. Gregor. (_b_) Dr. Tylor says: It is interesting to notice the wide distribution and long permanence of these trifles in history when we read the following passage from Petronius Arbiter, written in the time of Nero:-- Trimalchio, not to seem moved by the loss, kissed the boy, and bade him get up on his back. Without delay the boy climbed on horseback on him, and slapped him on the shoulders with his hand, laughing and calling out, Bucca, bucca, quot sunt hic? --_Petron.
In her, the finely bred pedigree mind of a Persian cat had reached one of its highest peaks of development. She was more complex than any human woman, but the complexity was all one of emotions, memory, hope and discriminated experience--experience sorted through without benefit of words. When he had first come into contact with her mind, he was astonished at its clarity. With her he remembered her kittenhood. He remembered every mating experience she had ever had. He saw in a half-recognizable gallery all the other pinlighters with whom she had been paired for the fight. And he saw himself radiant, cheerful and desirable. He even thought he caught the edge of a longing-- A very flattering and yearning thought: _What a pity he is not a cat._ Woodley picked up the last stone. He drew what he deserved--a sullen, scared old tomcat with none of the verve of Captain Wow.
If B leads trumps he will lose this advantage. These four methods of winning tricks suggest four systems of play, which are those in common use by experts at the present day: 1st. Playing high cards to the best advantage, so as to secure the best results from such combinations as may be held. This is the basis of all _=systems of leading=_. 2nd. Leading from the longest suit, in order that higher cards may be forced out of the way of smaller ones, leaving the smaller ones “established,” or good for tricks after the adverse trumps are exhausted. This is called the _=long-suit game=_. 3rd. Trumping good cards played by the adversaries. This is called _=ruffing=_.
To win one trick, neither more nor less, after having discarded a card which is not to be shown, there being no trump suit; _=Piccolissimo=_. To win _=Eight Tricks=_. To lose every trick, no trump suit, _=Grand Misère=_. To win _=Nine Tricks=_. To lose 12 tricks, after having discarded a card which is not to be shown; the single player’s remaining twelve cards being exposed face up on the table, but not liable to be called; _=Little Spread=_. To win _=Ten Tricks=_. To lose every trick, no trump suit, the single player’s cards being exposed on the table, but not liable to be called; _=Grand Spread=_. To win _=Eleven Tricks=_. To win _=Twelve Tricks=_. To win 13 tricks; _=Slam=_.
If the pitcher of the trump fails to make the number of points bid, he cannot be set back, but must be allowed to score any points he makes. The revoking player is then set back the number of points bid, and forfeits a red counter to the pool. If no bid was made, he is set back two points. SMUDGE. In this variation of auction pitch, any player who is not in the hole wins the game at once if he can bid four and make it. PEDRO. Pedro, Pedro Sancho, Dom Pedro, and Snoozer, are all varieties of Auction Pitch, in which certain counting cards are added, and secondary bids are allowed. Everything counts to the player winning it, instead of to the one to whom it is dealt. The game point is scored by the player who wins the trick containing the Ten of trumps. If that card is not in play there is no Game.
Abwerfen, G., to discard. À cheval, across the line; betting on both sides at once. Adversary, (G., Feind). In Mort or Bridge, those who play against the Dummy and his partner. Affranchir, F., to establish a suit. Age, the eldest hand; sometimes erroneously spelt Edge. Albany Lead, a lead in Whist, to show four trumps and three of each plain suit.
THE DECLARATION. 42. The dealer, having examined his hand, must declare to win at least one odd trick,[8] either with a specified suit, or at no trump. 43. After the dealer has declared, each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, must pass, make a higher declaration, double the last declaration, or redouble a declaration which has been doubled, subject to the provisions of Law 54. 44. A declaration of a greater number of tricks in a suit of lower value, which equals the last declaration in value of points, is a higher declaration; _e.g._, a declaration of “three spades” is higher than “one club.” 45.
| | | |33.|Suppose the pipe | -- | -- | | |should fall and break.| | | |34.|We ll give him a bag | -- | -- | | |of nuts to crack. | | | |35.|Suppose the nuts were | -- | -- | | |rotten and bad. | | | |36.| -- |Set a dog to bark all | -- | | | |night. | | |37.| -- |If the dog should meet| -- | | | |a bone.
In any one of these cases the player loses the game, and the non-player takes the whole of the stakes. In playing the next game, the previous non-player becomes the player.--London (C. A. T. M.). The following was the value of the buttons:-- (1.) The plain metal 3 or 4-holed flat button, called a Sinkie, say, value 1 point. (2.
403). Nares says the game was blowing small pins or points against each other, and probably not unlike Push-pin. Marmion in his _Antiquary_, 1641, says: I have heard of a nobleman that has been drunk with a tinker, and of a magnifico that has played at blow-point. In the _Comedy of Lingua_, 1607, act iii., sc. 2, Anamnestes introduces Memory as telling how he played at blowe-point with Jupiter when he was in his side-coats. References to this game are also made in _Apollo Shroving_, 1627, p. 49; and see Hawkins _English Drama_, iii. 243. See Dust-Point.
The board is sprinkled with very fine sand. Four weights are used by each side, marked A and B to distinguish them. These weights are of iron or brass, 2½ inches in diameter, and ½ inch thick. Five inches from each end of the board and parallel with it is the deuce line. The object of the game is to push the weights from one end of the board to the other, each side playing one weight alternately until all four weights on each side are played. All pieces over the deuce line count 2, but if a piece hangs over the end of the board it is a _=ship=_, and counts 3. If there are no ships or deuces, the weight lying nearest to the deuce line counts one point. Only one ship or deuce can be counted in each round, so that only one side can score. The ship that overhangs the most, or the deuce nearest the edge, counts. Twenty-one points is game.
| | 16.| -- | -- |..... pearl. | | 17.| -- | -- |..
Any three honours, they score two points. III. Only two honours, they do not score. 4. Those players who, at the commencement of a deal, are at the score of four, cannot score honours. 5. The penalty for a revoke (_see_ Law 72) takes precedence of all other scores. Tricks score next. Honours last. 6.
Now they re married, I wish them joy, I wish them joy, I wish them joy, Now they re married, I wish them joy, About the merry-ma-tansie. Father and mother they must obey, Must obey, must obey, Father and mother they must obey, About the merry-ma-tansie. Loving each other like sister and brother, Sister and brother, sister and brother, Loving each other like sister and brother, About the merry-ma-tansie. We pray this couple may kiss together, Kiss together, kiss together, We pray this couple may kiss together, About the merry-ma-tansie. --Chambers _Popular Rhymes_, pp. 132-134. (_b_) At Biggar (Mr. Ballantyne) this game was generally played on the green by boys and girls. A ring is formed by all the children but one, joining hands. The one child stands in the centre.