He was assured by several persons who are interested in Dorset Children s Games that the indiscriminate kissing (that is, whether the girl pursued runs little or far, or, when overtaken, whether she objects or not) with which this game is ordinarily associated, as played now both in Dorset and in other counties, was not indigenous to this county, but was merely a pernicious after-growth or outcome of later days, which had its origin in the various excursion and holiday fêtes, which the facilities of railway travelling had instituted, by bringing large crowds from the neighbouring towns into the country. He was told that thirty years ago such a thing was unknown in the country districts of Dorset, when the game then usually indulged in was known merely as Drop the Handkerchief (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 212). In other cases the rhymes are used for a purely kissing game, for which see Kiss in the Ring. Dropping the Letter An undescribed Suffolk boys game.--Moor s _Suffolk Words_, p. 238. Duck under the Water Each child chooses a partner, and form in couples standing one before the other, till a long line is formed. Each couple holds a handkerchief as high as they can to form an arch. The couple standing at the end of the line run through the arch just beyond the last couple standing at the top, when they stand still and hold their handkerchief as high as possible, which is the beginning of the second arch; this is repeated by every last couple in succession, so that as many arches as are wanted can be formed.
225). From Longcot, Berks, a version sent me by Miss I. Barclay has no fourth line to the verses. (_d_) This game is probably, unless we except Mulberry Bush, the most popular and the most widely played of any singing game. It might almost be called universal. This is shown by the fact that there are few counties where it is not known, and also that important variants, either in the words or in the method of playing, are rarely met with. In all the versions which have been sent there are only the following variations in the words, and these are principally in the refrain, or last line of each verse: On a cold and frosty morning ends by far the greater number of versions; On a fine summer s morning, So early in the morning, All on a summer s morning, Five o clock in the morning, On a cold and sunny morning, coming next in number. The Belfast version ends, May! May! May! and a Newbury and Marlborough fourth line is simply a repetition of the second, Nuts in May, nuts in May. In the first line of the verse the only important variant seems to be the Symondsbury Gathering nuts away and Gathering nuts to-day. Gathering nuts away also occurs in one version from Newbury (Berks), Nuts and May appearing in the larger number after the more usual Nuts in May.
At the Knickerbocker Whist Club, New York, which is still famous for its compass games, they play a minimum of 24 trays, or get as near that number as possible. If there are 14 tables, they play two deals at each. If there are only 10 tables, they play 30 trays. All the N & S players sit still, and at the end of each round, two or three deals as the case may be, all the E & W players move up one table, 2 going to 1, 3 to 2, etc. Each pair keeps its own score card, on which is put down the number of the tray, the number of the pair played against, which is always the number of the table at which they started; one of the pairs remaining there being No. 3 N & S, the other moving away, being No. 3 E & W. Each pair adds up its score card at the end, and puts down the total number of tricks they have won. The names of the players having been previously written on the blackboard, their scores are put down opposite their names, each side, N & S and E & W, is then added up in order to find the average, and all scores above average are plus, while all below average are minus. The following is an example of the averaging of a game in which five tables took part, playing 30 deals:-- N & S E & W a 201 -6 f 189 +6 b 204 -3 g 186 +3 c 211 +4 h 179 -4 d 207 = j 183 = e 212 +5 k 178 -5 --------------- --------------- 5 |1035 5 |915 +---- +--- Aver.
10 on Foul Strokes. _=6.=_ If he plays with the wrong ball, except as provided in foregoing Law 10. _=7.=_ If the player touches the cue-ball more than once in any way, or hinders or accelerates it in any other way than by a legitimate stroke of the cue; or if, during a stroke or after it, he in any way touches, hinders, or accelerates an object-ball, except by the one stroke of the cue-ball to which he is entitled. _=8.=_ As touching any ball _in any way_ is a stroke, a second touch is a foul. _=9.=_ It is a foul against the striker if any ball be disturbed, hastened, or hindered by an opponent or any one but himself, whether the ball or balls are at rest while he is aiming or striking, in motion after he has struck, or at rest again after he has struck, and pending his again taking aim. _=10.
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. A player in his turn may overbid the previous adverse declaration any number of times, and may also overbid his partner, but he cannot overbid his own declaration which has been passed by the three others.
This is in order to prevent a player from getting information to which he is not entitled. If he holds three Kings and three Tens, for instance, and announces the Tens in order to find out whether or not his adversary has three Queens or Jacks, and the dealer says: “Not good,” the three Kings are lost, and the dealer scores his own trios. It sometimes happens that in order to keep a good point or sequence, a player will discard one card of a quatorze originally dealt him; or one of a trio, of which he afterward draws the fourth. 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.
On the contrary, when the Second or Fourth Hand holds command of the adverse suit, they may often risk a trump lead which would otherwise be injudicious. Having once started a suit, it should not be changed, except for one of the reasons already given for the guidance of the First Hand. _=When the Adversaries Lead Trumps=_, and the Second Hand has a chance either to establish a suit against them or to force his partner, he should stop the trump lead if he can. If his partner has led trumps, the Second Hand should generally play his winning cards on his right hand opponent’s plain-suit leads, to stop them; and continue the trumps. These are about all the conventionalities necessary for the beginner. After at least a year’s practice with them, he will either discover that he has no aptitude for the game, or will be ready to go into further details. A beginner who attempts to handle the weapons of the expert simply plays with edged tools, which will probably cut no one but himself and his partner. * * * * * _=THE SIGNAL GAME.=_ Having become thoroughly familiar with the elementary conventionalities of the game, so that they can be used without the slightest hesitation at the whist table, the player may proceed to acquaint himself with the details of what is commonly known as the Signal Game, which comprises all the various methods of signalling up hands between partners, according to certain arbitrary and pre-arranged systems of play. Many players object to these methods as unfair; but they are now too deeply rooted to yield to protest; and the best thing for a player to do is to familiarise himself with his adversaries’ weapons.
| ⛂ | . | +---+-.-+---+-.-+---+-.-+---+-.-+ | | . | | . | | . | | ⛂ | +---+-.-+---+-.
The adversaries of the dealer never finesse in bridge; but the dealer himself relies upon finessing for any extra tricks he may want. A finesse is any attempt to win a trick with a card which is not the best you hold, nor in sequence with it. Suppose you have Ace and Queen in the hand which is longer in the suit and lead from the shorter hand a small card. If you play the Queen, that is a finesse, because you hope to take a trick with it, although the King is against you. It is usually bad play to finesse when there are nine cards of the suit between the two hands, dealer’s and Dummy’s, because there is a good chance that the card you wish to finesse against may fall. When it will be necessary to take two finesses in the same suit, the lead must come twice from the weaker hand. Suppose the dealer holds A Q J and others. If the first finesse of the Jack wins, he should put Dummy in again, so as to take a second finesse of the Queen. Suppose the dealer holds A J 10, and finesses the ten the first time. If it falls to the Queen, he should get Dummy in again, so as to take the second finesse with the Jack.
Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green, The fairest young lady that ever was seen. As I went up Miss Betsey s stairs to buy a frying-pan, There sat Miss Betsey a-kissing her young man. She pulled off her glove and showed me her ring, And the very next morning the bells did ring. Dear Betsey, dear Betsey, your true love is dead, He s sent you a letter to turn back your head. --Summertown, Oxford (A. H. Franklin, _Midland Garner_, vol. ii. p. 32).
In order to lead trumps to defend it. 2nd. In order to avoid forcing partner. 3rd. In order to avoid forcing both adversaries. 4th. Because it is hopeless, and there is some chance in another. 5th. To prevent a cross ruff, by leading trumps. _=Simple Inferences=_ from the fall of the cards usually supply the best guide in the matter of changing suits.
* Foster’s Whist Tactics, by R.F. Foster. x Foster’s Common Sense in Whist, by R.F. Foster. * Foster’s Self-Playing Cards, by R.F. Foster. x Foster’s Duplicate Whist, by R.
A good marriage. _=R.=_ Fair to middling. _=CLUBS.=_ Ace. Profits from business or gambling. King. A just man, who has taken a fancy to you. _=R.=_ Something will interfere with his good intentions.
49. If, during the progress of the hand, the player lays his cards on the table, face up, and announces that he has won his game by reaching 61 or 91, whichever may be necessary to make good his bid, and it is proved that he is mistaken, he loses his game, even if he could have taken up his cards again and won it. 50. If an adversary lays his cards on the table, face up, and claims to have already defeated the player’s game, all that adversary’s cards shall be taken by the player and counted with the tricks already taken in by the player. If the adversary be found to be in error, the player shall score his game as won, even if he would have lost it had it been continued. 51. If the single player gives up his game as lost, and lays his cards on the table, the adversaries shall take all such cards and add them to their own, and count their cards to see if they have also made the player schneider. THE REVOKE. 52. Should the single player revoke, and not discover the error before the trick is turned and quitted, he loses his game.
Can I [we] get there by candle-light? Yes, if your legs are long and light. Open the gate as high as the sky, And let the king and his queen go by. --Dorsetshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 230, 231). VIII. How many miles to Banbury? Three score and ten. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes, and back again. But mind the old witch doesn t catch you. --London (Miss Dendy). IX.
_=SCORING.=_ The score should always be kept by the player sitting on the right of the first dealer. This will mark the rounds. The score sheet should be ruled in vertical columns, one for each player at the table. Each player is charged individually with his losses and gains, the amounts being added to or deducted from his score, and a plus or a minus mark placed in front of the last figure, so that the exact state of each player’s score will be apparent at a glance. The score of the single player is the only one put down, and it is charged to him as a loss or a gain at the end of each deal. If there are four players, a line is drawn under every fourth amount entered in each person’s account. If three play, the line is drawn under every third amount. This system of scoring will show at once whose turn it is to deal, if the total number of amounts under which no line is drawn are counted up. For instance: Three persons play; A dealt the first hand.
But if it unfortunately happens that he is compelled to take in one or more hearts, he should at once turn his attention to taking them all, or to loading the other players, with a view to making a Jack of the pool. Should he succeed in either object, he has another chance for his money. It is usually bad policy to return the suit opened by the original leader. He has picked that out as his safest suit, and although he may be the only one safe in it, by continuing it you are reducing your chances to two players, when you might share them with all three. _=FOLLOWING SUIT.=_ When a player is not the original leader, his policy becomes defensive; for, as the first player is plotting to give hearts to every one but himself, each of the others must be a prospective victim, and should do his best to avoid the traps prepared by the one who plans the opening of the hand. When you are second or third player, the first time a suit is led, it is usually best to play your highest card, unless you are safe in the suit, or have so many that there is danger of getting a heart, even on the first round. As fourth player, you should always play your highest card, unless there is already a heart in the trick, or some decided disadvantage in the lead. The risks you run in playing high cards while following suit must be judged by the same probabilities that we examined in considering the original lead. The fact that one or more players have already followed suit, and perhaps the cards they have played, may enable you to arrive at a still closer estimate of your chances.
_=20.=_ Anything which may annoy or distract the attention of the player is strictly forbidden; such as making signs or sounds, pointing or hovering over the board, unnecessarily delaying to move a piece touched, or smoking. Any _=principal=_ so acting, after having been warned of the consequence and requested to desist, shall forfeit the game. _=21.=_ While a game is pending, neither player is permitted to leave the room without giving a sufficient reason, or receiving the other’s consent or company. _=22.=_ A player committing a breach of any of these laws must submit to the penalty, which his opponent is equally bound to exact. _=23.=_ Any spectator giving warning, either by sign, sound, or remark, on any of the games, whether played or pending, shall be expelled from the room. _=24.
_=THE DECLARER’S PLAY.=_ The chief difference between the play of the Dummy and partner, and that of their adversaries, is that there is no occasion for the former to play on the probability of partner’s holding certain cards, because a glance will show whether he holds them or not. There is no hoping that he may have certain cards of re-entry, or strength in trumps, or that he will be able to stop an adverse suit, or anything of that sort, for the facts are exposed from the first. Instead of adapting his play to the slowly ascertained conditions of partner’s hand, the declarer should have it mapped out and determined upon before he plays a card. He may see two courses open to him; to draw the trumps and make a long suit, or to secure such discards as will give him a good cross-ruff. A rapid estimate of the probable results of each line of play, a glance at the score, and his mind should be made up. Several examples of this foresight will be found in the example hands. Another point of difference is, that the declarer should play false cards whenever possible. He has not a partner who, if he plays the King, might jump to the conclusion that he can trump a suit, or has not the Queen. The more thoroughly the adversaries are confused, the greater the advantage to the declarer, especially in the end game.
=_ If players cut cards of equal value they must cut again; but the new cut decides nothing but the tie. _=5. Stakes.=_ Any player may be the banker, and keep the kitty, if any. In Draw, Straight, or Stud Poker, each player may purchase as many counters as he pleases. In Freeze-out, Table Stakes, Whiskey Poker, and Progressive Poker, each player must begin with an equal amount. _=6. Betting Limits.=_ Before play begins limits must be agreed upon for the amount of the blind, the straddle, the ante in jack pots, and for betting or raising. _=7.
The original caller may hold his bid, or a third player may overbid both, by saying; “_=I keep over you=_,” or “_=Six here=_.” This means that he will undertake to win the number of tricks already bid, with the _=turn-up=_ suit for trumps. In order to over-call such a bid as this, any other player would have to announce a greater number of tricks. For instance; Z deals, and turns a heart. A calls six tricks, intending to name hearts trumps; but not saying so. B passes; Y says “I Keep.” This announces to the table that Y will play with a red trump, and A knows he is bidding on diamonds. Z passes, and A says; “I keep over you.” B then bids seven tricks, and if A will not risk seven tricks in hearts, B will be the successful bidder. If A should bid seven tricks by keeping over B, the latter must know that it is useless for him to bid again unless he can make more tricks in diamonds than A can in hearts; for A’s bid, being in first preference, will always outrank B’s for the same number of tricks.
|Green gravel. |Green gravel. |Green gravel. | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.|The grass is so green.|The grass is so green.
A girl comes in exclaiming, Mother, mother, the pot s boiling ower. The answer is, Then get the ladle and keel it. The difficulty is to get the ladle, which is up a height, and the steul wants a leg, and the joiner is either sick or dead (_Glossary North Country Words_). A sentence from _Love s Labours Lost_, While greasy Joan doth keel the pot, illustrates the use of the term keel. See Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils over. Keppy Ball In former times it was customary every year, at Easter and Whitsuntide, for the mayor, aldermen, and sheriff of Newcastle, attended by the burgesses, to go in state to a place called the Forth, a sort of mall, to countenance, if not to join in the play of Keppy ba and other sports. This diversion is still in part kept up by the young people of the town (Brockett s _North Country Words_). It is also mentioned in Peacock s _Manley and Corringham Glossary_, and in Ross and Stead s _Holderness Glossary_. Mr. Tate (_History of Alnwick_) says that a favourite pastime of girls, Keppy ball, deserves a passing notice, because accompanied by a peculiar local song.
--Belfast (_Notes and Queries_, 7th series, xii. 492, W. H. Patterson). IV. I came to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I came to see Jenny jo, is she within? Jenny jo s washing clothes, washing clothes, washing clothes, Jenny jo s washing clothes, and ye can t see her to-day. Oh but I m sorry, I m sorry, I m sorry, Oh but I m sorry, I can t see her to-day. Farewell ladies, O ladies, O ladies, Farewell ladies, and gentlemen too. [Then the same verses are repeated for-- (1) starching clothes, (2) smoothing clothes, (3) dead, the four lines above being repeated after each, and the verses proceed with--] What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? What shall we dress her in? Shall it be black? Black for the sweeps, the sweeps, the sweeps, Black for the sweeps, and that shall not do. What shall we dress her in, dress her in, dress her in? What shall we dress her in? Shall it be blue? Blue for the sailors, sailors, sailors, Blue for the sailors, and that shall not do.
_=1.=_ The game of Fifteen-Ball Pool is played with fifteen balls numbered from one to fifteen, respectively, and one white ball not numbered. The latter is the cue-ball, and at the opening of the game, the player plays with it from within the string at the head of the table, at any of the numbered balls, and afterward as he finds it on the table, his object being to pocket as many of the numbered balls as he can, the number on each ball he pockets being scored to his credit; so that not he who pockets the largest number of balls, but he whose score, when added up, yields the largest total, wins the game. Before commencing the game these fifteen balls are placed in the form of a triangle upon the table--a triangular frame being employed for this purpose to insure correctness. The ball numbered fifteen is so placed upon the table as to form the apex of the triangle, pointing upward toward the head of the table, and in forming the triangle the fifteen-ball should rest as nearly as possible upon the spot known as the deep-red spot in the Three-Ball Game. The other balls should have their places in the triangle so that the highest numbers shall be nearest the apex, the lowest numbers forming the base. _=2.=_ The player who makes the opening stroke must play from within the string from the head of the table and must strike the pyramid of object-balls with such force as to make at least two of the object-balls strike a cushion, or at least one object-ball go into a pocket. Should he fail to do either he forfeits three points and the next player plays. All balls pocketed on the opening stroke count for the player, and it is not necessary for him to call the numbers of the balls he intends pocketing before making the opening stroke.
2 and the other in No. 3. Step into No. 4. Hop, having one foot in No. 5 and the other in No. 6. Jump round. Go back as you came. Then with stone on shoe, walk through the figure, kick it up and catch at the close.