_=Holding out=_ is regarded by the professional as a most dangerous experiment, but it is very common. Never play with a man who keeps his eyes rivetted on the cards as he deals, and who deals comparatively slowly. He is probably using marked cards, or has marked the important ones himself during the play. Poker sharps who mark cards by scratching them with a sharp point concealed in a ring are obliged to hold the cards at a certain angle to the light in order to see the scratches. Those who dig points in the cards with the thumb nail depend on touch instead of sight. If you find such points on the cards, either dig other points on other cards, or retire from the game. Against the hold-out or marked cards there is no protection, because the dealer does not care how much the cards in the pack are shuffled or cut; but every method of running up hands, or stocking cards, can be made ineffective if the pone will not only cut the cards, but carefully reunite the packets. If the two parts are straightened after the cut, it will be impossible for the dealer to shift the cut, and bring the cards back to their original position. The dealer will sometimes bend the top or bottom card so as to form a _=bridge=_, which will enable him to find the place where the cards were cut. This can only be overcome by shuffling the cards instead of cutting them, which every player has the right to do.
V. Diehl. 1891. Skat, by E.E. Lemcke. 1887. All but the first two on the list treat of the old game, bidding by suits, and making no mention of Guckis; but some of them, especially Buhle’s, contain some very fine examples of good play. The first two on the list and the last two are in English. All the others are in German.
3 at No. 2, and so on--each person playing at the last ball, unless the striker’s ball be in hand, when he plays at the nearest ball. _=3.=_ When a striker loses a life the next in rotation plays at the ball nearest to his own; but if this player’s ball be in hand, he plays at the ball nearest to the centre of the baulk-line, whether it be in or out of baulk. _=4.=_ When any doubt arises as to the nearest ball, the marker measures the distance, and the player strikes at the ball declared to be nearest his own. _=5.=_ The baulk is no protection. _=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.
C. Wise. { Northall s _Folk Rhymes_, _Notes and WARWICKSHIRE { Queries_, _Northants Notes and { Queries_, Mr. C. C. Bell. WILTSHIRE-- Marlborough, Manton, Ogbourne Mr. H. S. May.
Each player in turn can exchange the hand dealt him for the widow, or for the hand abandoned by anyone who has taken the widow, the cards being always face down. The turned trump is not taken up by the dealer, but is left on the pack. The eldest hand leads for the first trick and every man is for himself, each holding his own tricks. At the end of the hand, each player that has not taken a trick receives a counter from each of the others, whether they have taken tricks or not. Then all those that have won tricks put back into the pool a counter for each trick they have taken. The first player to get rid of his twelve counters wins the game. AUCTION EUCHRE. This form of the game is sometimes erroneously called _=French Euchre=_. The French know nothing about Euchre in any form. Auction Euchre is exactly the same as the ordinary four or six-handed game, except that the trump is not turned up, the players bidding in turn for the privilege of naming the trump suit.
If your only heart is the 6, it is about an even chance that it will win the trick; but the odds against you increase rapidly with the number of additional hearts that you hold. If you propose to lead the 7, the chances that it will win the trick are 2 to 1 under the most favourable circumstances, which are when it is your only heart. These odds against you increase rapidly with the number of additional hearts that you hold. _=LEADING PLAIN SUITS ORIGINALLY.=_ It will often happen that you will have to decide between the lead of a comparatively dangerous heart and a risky plain suit. Your knowledge of probabilities should enable you to select the safer course. The odds against getting a heart on the first round of a plain suit depend upon how many cards of the suit you hold. If you lead an Ace, or any card which is sure to win the trick, the odds against your getting a heart on it are as the following:-- If you have 4 cards of the suit, 22 to 1. ” 5 ” 15 to 1. ” 6 ” 7 to 1.
Boss-out. Boss and Span. Boys and Girls. Branks. Bridgeboard. Broken-down Tradesmen. Brother Ebenezer. Bubble-hole. Bubble-justice. Buck, Buck.
These lines are chanted by players that stand thus. One places his back against a wall, tree, &c., grasping another, whose back is toward him, round the waist; the second grasps a third, and so on. The player called Jack walks apart until the conclusion of the lines. Then he goes to the others and pokes at or pats them, saying, I don t think you re done yet, and walks away again. The chant is repeated, and when he is satisfied that the bread is done he endeavours to pull the foremost from the grasp of the others, &c.--Warwickshire (Northall s _Folk Rhymes_, p. 390). See Mother Mop. Jack upon the Mopstick See Bung the Bucket.
Called in some districts, he adds, Comun and Kamman, from the Irish name for the game. Conkers The same game as Cogger. The game is more generally called playin at sneel-shells. --Ross and Stead s _Holderness Glossary_. Conquerors or Conkers I. Cobbly co! My first blow! Put down your black hat, And let me have first smack! --Burne s _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 531. II. Obli, obli O, my first go; And when the nut is struck, Obli, obli onker, my nut will conquer. --_Notes and Queries_, 5th series, x.
These infantry by the definition are isolated; there are not three other Reds within a move of them. The view in this photograph also is an extensive one, and the reader will note, as a painful accessory, the sad spectacle of three Red prisoners receding to the right. The melee about Red s lost gun works out, of course, at three dead on each side, and three more Red prisoners. Henceforth the battle moves swiftly to complete the disaster of Red. Shaken and demoralised, that unfortunate general is now only for retreat. His next move, of which I have no picture, is to retreat the infantry he has so wantonly exposed back to the shelter of the church, to withdraw the wreckage of his right into the cover of the cottage, and--one last gleam of enterprise--to throw forward his left gun into a position commanding Blue s right. [Illustration: Fig. 8--Battle of Hook s Farm. The Red Army suffers Heavy Loss.] [Illustration: Fig.
--Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase). See Fool, fool, come to School. Auntieloomie The children join hands, and dance in a circle, with a front step, a back step, and a side step, round an invisible May-pole, singing-- Can you dance the Auntieloomie? Yes, I can; yes, I can. Then follows kissing.--Brigg, Lincolnshire (Miss Peacock). Babbity Bowster [Music] --Biggar (Wm. Ballantyne). Wha learned you to dance, You to dance, you to dance? Wha learned you to dance Babbity Bowster brawly? My minnie learned me to dance, Me to dance, me to dance; My minnie learned me to dance Babbity Bowster brawly. Wha ga e you the keys to keep, Keys to keep, keys to keep? Wha ga e you the keys to keep, Babbity Bowster brawly? My minnie ga e me the keys to keep, Keys to keep, keys to keep; My minnie ga e me the keys to keep, Babbity Bowster brawly. One, twa, three, B, ba, Babbity, Babbity Bowster neatly; Kneel down, kiss the ground, An kiss your bonnie lassie [or laddie].
It differs from ordinary draughts in two particulars: Although the men can move only forward, they can take backward, and Kings can go any distance at one move. If in taking a piece, a man arrives at the king row, that does not end the move if he can capture another piece by jumping backward out of the king row again. As this brings him away from the king row before the move is complete, he will not be a king until he can get to the king row at the end of a move. Kings can go any number of squares in a straight line, and can capture any piece which is on the diagonal, not protected by another piece behind it. Kings can also go on for any number of squares beyond the captured piece, and then turn a corner to capture another piece. In Diagram No. 12, for instance, the black King could capture all six of the white men by going over the first one only, and then turning to the left, and continuing to turn to the left after every capture, as shown by the squares with the numbers on them, which indicate his five successive turning-points. [Illustration: No. 12. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | 5 | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | ⛀ | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | 1 | | ⛀ | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | 4 | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | 2 | | | | ⛀ | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛀ | | | | | | ⛃ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | 3 | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ ] _=DEVIL AMONG THE TAILORS.
_=Scoring.=_ With the exception of the four points for euchreing a lone hand, the scoring is exactly the same as in the ordinary four-handed game; but there are one or two variations which are sometimes agreed upon beforehand in order to make points still more rapidly. _=Laps.=_ If a player makes more points than are necessary to win the game, the additional points are counted on the next game, so that there is always an inducement to play lone hands, even with 4 points up. _=Slams.=_ If one side reaches five points before the other has scored, it is a slam, and counts _=two games=_. When laps and slams are played, it is sometimes agreed that if a person plays alone without taking his partner’s best card, or the dealer plays alone without taking up the trump or asking for his partners best, and such a player succeeds in winning all five tricks with a pat hand, it counts _=five=_ points. If he fails to win all five tricks, the adversaries count _=one=_. If he is euchred, they count _=three=_; but they are not permitted to play alone against him. _=Jambone.
Very well, very well, so you may, So you may, so you may, Very well, very well, so you may, May, may, may. Whom will you have to take her away, Take her away, take her away? Whom will you have to take her away, Way, way, way? ---- ---- to take her away, Take her away, take her away, ---- ---- to take her away, Way, way, way. --Belfast (W. H. Patterson). IV. 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.
All but Miss Jenny, her sweetheart is dead; She s left off her wedding to turn back her head. O mother, O mother, do you think it is true? O yes, child! O yes, child! Then what shall I do? We ll wash you in milk, and dress you in silk, And write down your name with a gold pen and ink. --Derbyshire and Worcestershire (Mrs. Harley). IV. Green gravel, green gravel, The grass is so green, Such beautiful flowers As never were seen. O Annie [or any name], O Annie, Your sweetheart is dead! He has sent you a letter To turn back your head. --Earls Heaton, Yorkshire (H. Hardy). V.
If the fourth hand plays before his partner, third hand not having played, the trick may be claimed by the adversaries, regardless of who wins it; but the player who actually wins it leads for the next trick. If a player has a card of the suit led, and neither follows suit nor plays a trump, it is a _=revoke=_; and, if detected and claimed by the adversaries, neither the player in error nor his partner can score any points that hand; but the hand may be played out to prevent the adversaries from scoring everything. If an adversary of the bidder revokes, the bidder’s side scores all points it makes, regardless of the number bid. For instance: A has bid nine; and Y revokes. A-B make eight only, which they score, Y-Z scoring nothing. When a player renounces, his partner should ask him if he is void of the suit. If any player abandons his hand, the cards in it may be exposed and called by the adversaries. The practice of throwing down the hand as soon as one renounces to trumps, cannot be too strongly condemned. All _=exposed cards=_, such as cards dropped on the table; two or more played at once; cards led out of turn; or cards named by the player holding them, must be left face up on the table, and are liable to be called by the adversaries, unless they can be previously got rid of in the course of play. If the exposed card is a trump, the adversaries may prevent its being played, but the holder of it is not liable for a revoke in such cases.
The honest card-player has not one chance in a thousand against the professional at Écarté. _=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.
=_ If the King is turned up, the dealer marks one point for it immediately. If a wrong number of cards has been dealt, and a King is turned, it cannot be scored, because it was not the eleventh card. _=PROPOSING AND REFUSING.=_ The cards dealt, the pone examines his hand, and if he thinks it strong enough to win three or more tricks, he stands; that is, plays without proposing, and says to the dealer: “_=I play=_.” If he thinks he can improve his chances by drawing cards, allowing the dealer the same privilege of course, he says: “_=I propose=_;” or simply: “_=Cards=_.” In reply the dealer may either accept the proposal by asking: “_=How many?=_” or he may refuse, by saying: “_=Play=_.” If he gives cards, he may also take cards himself, after having helped his adversary. If he refuses, he must win at least three tricks or lose two points; and if the pone plays without proposing, he must make three tricks, or lose two points. The hands on which a player should stand, and those on which the dealer should refuse are known as _=jeux de règle=_, and will be found in the suggestions for good play. A proposal, acceptance, or refusal once made cannot be changed or taken back, and the number of cards asked for cannot be corrected.
If a partner sitting on the right leads a suit, there should be no finesse; and in general, finessing should be avoided until the declaration is assured. It may then be used to secure probable over-tricks. _=Adversaries’ Play.=_ The players opposed to the call are always designated as the adversaries. Players opposed to a proposer and acceptor should make no finesses that they are not certain will win more tricks if successful than they will lose if they fail. If the adversaries sit together, and are the last to play on any trick, the third hand should not trust anything to his partner that he can attend to himself, unless he is very anxious to be the last player on the next trick. When the adversaries sit opposite each other, their play will differ very little from that in Whist, except that they will make no efforts to establish long suits, and will not lead small cards from combinations containing an Ace. Every trick possible should be made sure of at once, before the calling players get any chance to discard. Weak suits should be protected, as they are in Whist when opposed to strong hands. If an adversary has the first lead, it is usually best for him to make what winning cards he has at once, unless he is pretty sure that the proposal will be defeated.
T. Micklethwaite, this game is described, and diagrams of the game given which had been found by him cut in a stone bench in the church of Ardeley, Hertfordshire, and elsewhere. He has also seen the game played in London. It is evidently the same game as described by Nares and Moor above. See Bridgeboard, Nine Men s Morris. Nine Men s Morris In the East Riding this game is played thus: A flat piece of wood about eight inches square is taken, and on it twenty-four holes are bored by means of a hot skewer or piece of hot iron. [Illustration: Fig. 1.] Each of the two players has nine wooden pegs, which are either coloured or shaped differently, and the object of each player is to get three of his own pegs in a straight line (fig. 1).