A player exposing more than one card must cut again. _=Stakes.=_ The game is played for so much a point. The largest winning or loss for the single player is 140, but such an amount is almost impossible, and the average payments are 10 or 20. _=Dealing.=_ The cards are presented to the pone to be cut, and at least four must be left in each packet. The dealer then distributes them to the players four at a time, until each has twelve, four remaining in the stock or talon, which is left upon the table face down. No trump is turned. The deal passes to the left. There are no misdeals.
| | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ (_d_) This game is universally acknowledged to be a very ancient one, but its origin is a subject of some diversity of opinion. The special feature of the rhymes is that considerable difficulty occurs in the building of the bridge by _ordinary_ means, but without exactly suggesting that extraordinary means are to be adopted, a prisoner is suddenly taken. The question is, What does this indicate? Looking to the fact of the widespread superstition of the foundation sacrifice, it would seem that we may have here a tradition of this rite. So recently as 1872, there was a scare in Calcutta when the Hooghly Bridge was being constructed. The natives then got hold of the idea that Mother Ganges, indignant at being bridged, had at last consented to submit to the insult on condition that each pier of the structure was founded on a layer of children s heads (Gomme s _Early Village Life_, p. 29). Formerly, in Siam, when a new city gate was being erected, it was customary for a number of officers to lie in wait and seize the first four or eight persons who happened to pass by, and who were then buried alive under the gate-posts to serve as guardian angels (Tylor s _Primitive Culture_, i. 97). Other instances of the same custom and belief are given in the two works from which these examples are taken; and there is a tradition about London Bridge itself, that the stones were bespattered with the blood of little children. Fitzstephen, in his well-known account of London of the twelfth century, mentions that when the Tower was built the mortar was tempered with the blood of beasts.
The couple a-1 always sit still; the ladies go to the next higher letter of the alphabet, and the men to the next higher number; _=h=_ going to _=b=_, as _=a=_ sits still; and 8 to 2. [Illustration: N N N N +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ | 6 | | 3 | | f | | c | W|a 1 2|E W|d 2 8|E W|1 3 b|E W|4 4 h|E | g | | e | | 6 | | 5 | +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ S S S S ] One hand is dealt at each table, and overplayed at each of the others. A different point of the compass should deal at each table, in order to equalise the lead. _=Scoring.=_ The score of each four hands should be added up by each individual player, and the results tabulated at the end of every four hands, in the manner described for eight individuals. The winner is the player who loses the fewest tricks. This is the only known system for deciding whether or not a man can play whist better than his wife. _=PROGRESSIVE DUPLICATE WHIST=_ is the generic name by which those systems of duplicate are known in which the purpose is to have as many as possible of the players meet one another during the progress of the match. Most of the systems we have been describing belong to this class. * * * * * There are at present only two works on Duplicate Whist; but a number of articles on the subject may be found in “_Whist_.
--_Nursery Rhymes_, p. 213. At Ashford-in-the-Water the words used were-- One a bin, two a bin, three a bin, four, Five a bin, six a bin, seven, gie o er; A bunch of pins, come prick my shins, A loaf brown bread, come knock me down. I m coming! --_Reliquary_, viii. 57. The words are said by the one who has to find the person hidden. In Scotland the game is called Hospy, and is played by boys only, and it can be played only in a village or hamlet in which there is the means of hiding. A Spy is chosen, and a spot, called Parley, is fixed upon at which the Spy stands till all the other players are hid, and to which he can run when pursued. When the players are hid, the cry, Hospy, _i.e.
The player who cuts next lowest sits on the dealer’s left. (3) The cards are dealt in four packets, one for each of the three players and one for the dummy.[23] The dummy hand is not touched until after the final declaration has been made. (4) The dealer declares, and the bidding continues as in Auction, except that each player bids exclusively on his own account. (5) The penalty for a declaration out of turn is that each of the other players receives 50 points in his honour score. A declaration out of turn does not affect the right of the player whose turn it is to declare, unless both he and the other player, either by passing or declaring, accept the improper declaration. (6) If a player declare out of turn, and the succeeding player either pass or declare, the third player may demand that the mistake be corrected as is provided in Law 5. In such case the player who first declared out of turn is the only one penalized. (7) The player making the final declaration, _i.e.
With a nig-nag, widdy- [_or_ worry-] bag, And an e endown trail, trail; Quoth he. --Jamieson. The game is also called Kittie-cat. See Cat and Dog, Cudgel, Tip-cat. Horns A Horns to the Lift, a game of young people. A circle is formed round a table, and all placing their forefingers on the table, one cries, A horns to the lift! Cat s horns upmost! If on this any one lift his finger, he owes a wad, as cats have no horns. In the same manner, the person who does not raise his fingers when a horned animal is named is subjected to a forfeit.--Jamieson. Hot Cockles At Sheffield a boy is chosen for a Stump, and stands with his back against a wall. Another boy bends his back as in Leapfrog, and puts his head against the Stump.
12, for instance, the move would be recorded: S f 3 n e 5, that is, the Springer at f 3 “nimmt” whatever it found at e 5. A check is indicated by a plus sign, +, following the move. In Diagram No. 11, for instance, the last move of the white Queen would be: D e 8-c 6 +; and Black’s reply would be: D b 8-b 7. _=THE OPENINGS.=_ Time and experience have shown that it is best for each player to adopt certain conventional openings, in order to develop his pieces. White always has the advantage, usually believed to be equal to 55%, counting drawn games as one half. This is because White can usually take more risks in offering a gambit than Black can in accepting it, and the best judges say that they would rather give a Knight and take the white pieces, than give Pawn-and-move and take the black. _=Gambit=_ is a term used in Italian wrestling, and means that the adversary is given an apparent advantage at the start, in order more successfully to trip him up later on. There are a great many chess openings, all of which have been analysed as far as the tenth move, including every possible variation on the way.
” -------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+------- Declaration | ♠ | ♣ | ♢ | ♡ | R | No | | | | | | trump -------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+------- Each Trick Above 6 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 -------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+------- H { 3 Honours | 4 |12 |14 |16 |18 | 30 O { 4 Honours | 8 |24 |28 |32 |36 | 40 N { 4 Honours (All in 1 hand) |16 |48 |56 |64 |72 |100 O { 5 Honours |10 |30 |35 |40 |45 | U { 5 Honours (4 in 1 hand) |18 |54 |63 |72 |81 | R { 5 Honours (All in 1 hand) |20 |60 |70 |80 |90 | S { Rubber 250, Grand Slam 40, Little Slam 20. When one side has nothing but the odd honour, three out of the five, it is called _=simple honours=_. The value of simple honours is always the same as two tricks. _=Slams.=_ Little Slam is made by taking twelve of the thirteen tricks; it counts 20 points. Grand Slam is made by taking the thirteen tricks, and it counts 40. Either score must be exclusive of revoke penalties. _=PENALTIES.=_ If the declarer succeeds in making his contract, he scores below the line for tricks and above the line for honours according to the table of values already given, and he scores for as many tricks as he wins, regardless of the smaller number he may have bid. But if the declarer fails to make good on his contract he scores nothing but honours as actually held, while his adversaries score 50 points penalty in the honour column for every trick by which the declaration falls short, no matter what the declaration was, but they never score anything toward game, no matter how many tricks they win, because they are not the declarers.
With Q 10 x, Dummy having Ace or King, the Queen should be led. With K 10 x, Dummy having Jack, the suit should not be led. With such combinations as K x x x, Dummy having Q x, the suit should not be led. When you have a suit which is both long and strong, such as A K x x x, and Dummy has no honour in the suit, it is a common artifice to underplay, by beginning with the smallest, if playing against no-trumps and you have a card of re-entry. This should not be done unless you have the general strength to justify such a finesse. If you open a long suit, Dummy having only small cards, and your partner wins with Q, J, or 10, and does not return it, he has evidently a finesse in the suit and wants it led again. _=End Games.=_ In the end game there are several variations which are made possible by the fact that the cards on your right are exposed. With A J x, Dummy having Q x x, the small card should be led. With Q x, and an odd card, Dummy having K x x of the first suit; it is better to play the odd card; but if for any reason this should not be done, lead the Q, hoping to find A 10 with your partner.
” In all such cases it must be remembered that the cards declared must still be on the table when the time comes to score them. If, in the case just given, one of the cards forming either of the marriages was got rid of in the course of play, that marriage could not afterward be scored, although it had been properly announced. If the stock is exhausted before the player with a score in abeyance can win another trick, the score is lost. It is often very important for a player to know how much time he has to score. When the talon is spread it is comparatively easy to judge how many more tricks remain to be played. The English laws allow a player to count the stock, the French do not. A trick once turned and quitted cannot again be seen, and the players are not allowed to count the number of tricks they have won. The last card of the stock is taken by the player winning the trick, and the turn-up trump goes to his adversary. _=The Last Eight Tricks.=_ When the stock is exhausted, the players take back into their hands all the cards remaining of the combinations which have been laid on the table.
Up with my heels, and down with my head, And this is the way to mould cocklebread. --Aubrey s _Remains_, pp. 43, 44. To make Barley bread (in other districts, Cockley bread ) this rhyme is used in West Cornwall:-- Mother has called, mother has said, Make haste home, and make barley bread. Up with your heels, down with your head, That is the way to make barley bread. --_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 58. The Westmoreland version is given by Ellis in his edition of Brand as follows:-- My grandy s seeke, And like to dee, And I ll make her Some cockelty bread, cockelty bread, And I ll make her Some cockelty bread. The term Cockelty is still heard among our children at play. One of them squats on its haunches with the hands joined beneath the thighs, and being lifted by a couple of others who have hold by the bowed arms, it is swung backwards and forwards and bumped on the ground or against the wall, while continuing the words, This is the way we make cockelty bread.
_=GENERAL PRINCIPLES.=_ Nothing obstructs the progress of the beginner so much as his attempts to cover all the ground at once. The more ambitious he is, the greater his necessity for keeping in view the maxim; “One thing at a time: all things in succession.” One must master the scales before he can produce the perfect melody. The novice should first thoroughly understand the object, and the fundamental principle of the game. _=The Object=_ is to win tricks. Not to give information, or to count the hands, or to remember every card played; but simply and only to win tricks. _=The Principle=_ is to secure for certain cards a trick-taking value which does not naturally belong to them; either by getting higher cards out of the way of lower, or by placing the holder of intermediate cards at a disadvantage with regard to the lead. If any person will take the trouble to deal out four hands, and after turning them face up on the table, count how many tricks each side will probably take with its high cards and trumps, he will find that the total will hardly ever be exactly thirteen tricks. Let us suppose the following to be one of the hands so dealt; Z turning up the ♡6 for trumps:-- [Illustration: ♡Q J 8 ♣6 ♢K J 6 5 3 ♠A 9 8 6 ♡4 3 2 +-------+ ♡A K 10 5 ♣A K Q 8 7 4 3 | Y | ♣J 9 ♢7 |A B| ♢A 8 4 ♠Q 7 | Z | ♠K 5 4 2 +-------+ ♡9 7 6 ♣10 5 2 ♢Q 10 9 2 ♠J 10 3 ] On looking over this hand it would appear that A could only make one trick in Clubs, of which the second round would be trumped.
B-girls usually work in pairs, so I looked down toward the other end of the polished mahogany. Sure enough, there was the brunette, frowning as she tried to figure why the blond bomber had high-tailed it out of there. I shook my head at her and she let it lie. That should have cut out the last distraction. But no, I could see one more bimbo working her way through the laughing, drink-flushed crowd toward me. She had hair-colored hair, which was sort of out of character for a barroom hustler. I put plenty of TK on the heel of her right slipper, and she stepped right out of it. It might as well have been nailed to the floor. Nothing was going to discourage this one, I saw. I let her pick it off the floor, squeeze it back on her skinny foot, and come toward me.
Isn t that an even worse breaking of vows? I said. I mean, if in God s sight you re still married to Billy Joe? Would be, she conceded from the black, now right next to me. But He told me that the man I should seek _would be_ Billy Joe--hit s a miracle worked for me. Her voice lowered. A miracle that come to pass tonight, my darlin Billy. A shiver ran its fingers up my spine. She meant every word of it. I _was_ her darlin Billy. * * * * * I wasn t in any mood to get married, and least of all to a seeress. Precognition is the least understood of the Psi powers, and the most erratic.
| -- | -- | -- | | 30.| -- | -- |If this young man | | | | |should happen to die. | | 31.| -- | -- | -- | | 32.| -- | -- | -- | | 33.| -- | -- |And leave the poor | | | | |woman a widow. | | 34.| -- | -- | -- | | 35.| -- | -- |Bells shall ring, | | | | |birds shall sing. | | 36.
When a player is safe at home, he should play off; that is, take no chances of scoring himself that might give his adversary a chance to make a still better score. This is usually found in the method of playing sequences. A player who avoids playing cards that might lead up to a run is said to play off. If he invites the run, hoping to make it longer himself, he is said to play on. When a player is behind, it is better for him to play on, and to seize every chance to score, especially with sequences. As it is considered an advantage to be ahead on the first deal, most players prefer a forward game on the opening hand. _=Playing Off.=_ In this it is best to play cards on which it is unlikely that your adversary can score. Lead Aces, Twos and Threes, which cannot be made into fifteens. Do not pair his cards unless you have a card which will make you a double pair royal, (without passing 31,) if he should make a pair royal on you.
With clubs trumps it pays double, 8 counters. _=Tout=_ is eight tricks, with or without a partner. If alone, the single player wins or loses all; if with a partner he must share his gains or losses. _=Forcée=_ is when no bid is made, and any player holds both Spadilla and Basta. He must play a Solo, or call for an ace. If he calls, the player holding the ace names the trump suit; but the suit so named must not be the suit of the called ace. Forcée in clubs is worth double, 8 counters. _=Playing.=_ The trump named, the eldest hand leads any card he pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. The highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits.
The coroner will call it heart failure. Tough. He wanted his stiletto. He needed it. He was sorry he had ever quit carrying it. A couple seconds of reflection told him I was too tough for him. He went for his partner, his face darkening with rage now that his heart could get some blood to it. He had his hands out, for Rose s throat, I guess. For my dough it took guts to put fingers that close to all those teeth. But he never got a chance to try it.
Gomme). Crates The game of Nine Holes. This is the game described by John Jones, M.D., in his book called _The Benefit of the Auncient Bathes of Buckstones_, 1572, p. 12, as having been played by ladies at Buxton for their amusement in wet weather. See Pegge s _Anonymiana_, 1818, p. 126, and Addy s _Sheffield Glossary_. Cricket A description of this game is not given here; its history and rules and regulations are well known, and many books have been devoted to its study. The word Cricket is given in Lawson s _Upton-on-Severn Words and Phrases_ as a low wooden stool.
With A J x, play the Jack on a 9 led. This prevents the finesse of the 9, and retains command of the suit. If Dummy has both K and Q, play your Ace. It is useless to play the Bath coup, for the declarer knows your cards, and your partner only is deceived. With K x x, if Dummy has not the Ace, do not play the King, no matter what is led. With Q x x, unless Dummy has both A and K, do not play the Queen. If your partner has the Jack guarded, one of you must make a trick. If Dummy has A J, and leads J, put on the Queen; it may make the 9 or 10 good in your partner’s hand. With A x x, Dummy leading Jack, play the Ace. With any fourchette, cover the card led.
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.
Winning Whist, by Emory Boardman. Chance and Luck, by R.A. Proctor. Complete Poker Player, by John Blackbridge. Bohn’s Handbook of Games. Betting and Gambling, by Major Churchill. TEN PINS. The standard American game of Ten Pins is played upon an _=alley=_ 41 or 42 inches wide, and 60 feet long from the head pin to the foul or scratch line, from behind which the player must deliver his ball. There should be at least 15 feet run back of the foul line, and the gutters on each side of the alley must be deep enough to allow a ball to pass without touching any of the pins standing on the alley.
There is a tradition that this game was originally played by the milkmaids with their milking-stools, which they used for bats; but this word makes it more probable that the stool was the wicket, and that it was defended with the bittle, which would be called the bittle-bat.--Parish s _Sussex Dialect_. See Stoolball. Bitty-base Bishop Kennet (in _MS. Lansd._ 1033) gives this name as a term for Prisoner s Base. --Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Black Man s Tig A long rope is tied to a gate or pole, and one of the players holds the end of the rope, and tries to catch another player. When he succeeds in doing so the one captured joins him (by holding hands) and helps to catch the other players. The game is finished when all are caught.
_=Playing.=_ All the regulations for leading, following suit, drawing from the talon, etc., are the same as in Bézique, but the declarations and their values are quite different. _=Brisques.=_ There are twelve brisque cards, the Seven of each suit being added to the usual Aces and Tens. The brisques are not scored as taken in, except in the last six tricks. At the end of the hand all the brisques are counted, whether already scored in the last six tricks or not, and the player having more than six counts ten points for each above six. If each has six, neither scores. By this method, a player may make and score several brisques in the last six tricks, all of which he will reckon over again in the total count at the end. _=Declarations.