In the Earls Heaton version there is the circle of children, with one child in the centre, who chooses a partner after the lines have been sung. (_c_) From this it would seem that while the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire words appear to be the most complete, the action has been preserved best at Sharleston. The acting of this version is the same as that of The Jolly Miller. The third variant is evidently an imitation of the song, John Brown. Green Grow the Leaves (2) [Music] --Northants (R. S. Baker). Green grow the leaves on the hawthorn tree, Green grow the leaves on the hawthorn tree, We jangle and we wrangle and we never can agree, But the tenor of our song goes merrily, merrily, merrily, The tenor of our song goes merrily. --R. S.
=_ In calculating his chances for success in winning a certain number of tricks, the player will often have to take into consideration the probability of certain cards being out against him. This will vary according to the number of players engaged. For instance: If four are playing, and the bidder holds K Q of a plain suit, the odds against the ace of that suit being out against him are about 2 to 1. As it would be impossible for any person to remember all the jeux de règle for three tricks at Napoleon, each must learn from experience the trick-taking value of certain hands. Trump strength is, of course, the great factor, and the bidder should count on finding at least two trumps in one hand against him. Nap should never be bid on a hand which is not pretty sure of winning two rounds of trumps, with all other cards but one winners. One trick may always be risked in a nap hand, such as A Q of trumps, or a King, or even a Queen or Jack in a plain suit; the odds against the adversaries having a better card being slightly increased by the odds against their knowing enough to keep it for the last trick. If the bid is for three tricks only, tenaces, or guarded minor honours in plain suits should be preserved. After the first trick it will sometimes be advantageous for the player to get rid of any losing card he may have in plain suits. It is seldom right to continue the trumps if the bidder held only two originally, unless he has winning cards in two plain suits, in which case it may be better to lead even a losing trump to prevent a possibility of adverse trumps making separately.
These cards are then shuffled, face downward, and each player draws one. The highest of the sequence has the choice of positions, and so on down until all are seated. The player who draws the King deals the first hand. _=Stakes.=_ Each player purchases an equal number of counters from the banker, usually 100. This original _=cave=_ cannot be added to or deducted from. As long as a single counter of it remains the player must call for a sight, just as in freeze-out or table stakes; and not until he is _=decavé=_, [has lost everything,] can he purchase another stake, the amount of which is usually at his own option. _=Blind and Straddle.=_ Before the distribution of the cards, the dealer puts up a blind, usually five counters, which the player on his right has the privilege of straddling. If he straddles, he may be straddled again, and so on.
=_ Although intended for a special board of 100 squares this game can be played on a common checker board. 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.
This game (as I take it) _is used of children in Northfolke_, and they cal it the Chaunce Bone; they playe with three or foure of those bones together; it is either the same or very lyke to it. See Dibs, Hucklebones. Change Seats, the King s Come In this game as many seats are placed round a room as will serve all the company save one. The want of a seat falls on an individual by a kind of lot, regulated, as in many other games, by the repetition of an old rhythm. All the rest being seated, he who has no seat stands in the middle, repeating the words Change seats, change seats, &c., while all the rest are on the alert to observe when he adds, the king s come, or, as it is sometimes expressed, change their seats. The sport lies in the bustle in consequence of every one s endeavouring to avoid the misfortune of being the unhappy individual who is left without a seat. The principal actor often slily says, The king s _not_ come, when, of course the company ought to keep their seats; but from their anxious expectation of the usual summons, they generally start up, which affords a great deal of merriment.--Brand s _Pop. Antiq.
MORT. WHIST À TROIS; OR FRENCH DUMMY. _=MORT=_ means simply the dead hand; and is the equivalent of the English word Dummy; the partner being known as _=Vivant=_, or the living hand. In these words the English usually sound the _=t=_, as they do in such words as _=piquet=_, and _=valet=_. _=CARDS.=_ Mort is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, ranking as at whist for cutting and playing. Two packs are generally used. _=MARKERS=_ are necessary to count the game points only. Four circular counters for each side, preferably of different colours, are employed, or the ordinary whist markers may be used. At the end of each game, the score of the points won or lost by each player must be transferred to a score-sheet, kept for that purpose.
A hole of some extent was made in an uneven piece of ground, and the game was to shoot the marbles at some object beyond the hole without letting them tumble into it. The game occasionally commenced by a ceremony of no very delicate description, which sufficed to render the fallen marble still more ignominious.--Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Isabella [Music] --Ogbourne, Wilts (H. S. May). [Music] --Earls Heaton (H. Hardy). [Music] --London (A. B.
, the counters which represent money at any game. Jeu, F., derived from jocus, a game. The word is variously applied to the game itself; to the player’s expectation of success; to his plan of campaign; or to the cards in his hand. Jeux de Régle, hands which should be played in a certain way on account of their mathematical expectations, (Écarté). Keeping Tab, keeping a record of the cards that win and lose as they are dealt at Faro. King Card, the best card remaining unplayed of the suit. King Row, the four squares on the checker board which are farthest from the player’s own side. Kitty, the percentage taken out of a pool to pay for refreshments, or for the expenses of the table. Knight Player, one who can give the odds of a Knight to weak players, at Chess.
See Musical Chairs, Turn the Trencher. Checkstone Easther s _Almondbury Glossary_ thus describes this game. A set of checks consists of five cubes, each about half an inch at the edge, and a ball the size of a moderate bagatelle ball: all made of pot. They are called checkstones, and the game is played thus. You throw down the cubes all at once, then toss the ball, and during its being in the air gather up one stone in your right hand and catch the descending ball in the same. Put down the stone and repeat the operation, gathering two stones, then three, then four, till at last you have summed up all the five at once, and have succeeded in catching the ball. In case of failure you have to begin all over again. (_b_) In Nashe s _Lenten Stuff_ (1599) occurs the following: Yet towards cock-crowing she caught a little slumber, and then she dreamed that Leander and she were playing at checkstone with pearls in the bottom of the sea. A game played by children with round small pebbles (Halliwell s _Dictionary_). It is also mentioned in the early play of _Apollo Shroving_, 1627, p.
_=Playing Off and On.=_ The pegging in play is usually small; 2 for the dealer, and an average of 1½ for the non-dealer, hence the importance of the go. The average hand is a little less than 5, and the crib about 5. The player is at home if he has pegged 17 in two deals, his own and his adversary’s. He is safe at home if he is 7 ahead, or his adversary is 7 behind. In Five-card Cribbage, more than any other game, it is true that a game is never won until it is lost. Take the following example, in which the pone is 56 up, and the dealer has pegged only 5 holes altogether. The separated cards show those laid out for the crib, and the odd card is the starter. [Illustration: Pone;-- 🃗 🂧 🃆 🃔 🂳 🂣 Dealer;-- 🃖 🂶 🂦 🃒 🃓 ] The pone leads a Seven, and afterwards pairs the dealer’s Six, pegging to 58. The dealer pegs 6 for the pair royal, and is told to go.
_=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ Boston so closely resembles Solo Whist in such matters as bidding, and playing single-handed against three others, that the reader may be referred to that game for the outlines of the principles that should guide him in estimating the probable value of his hand, playing for tricks or for misères, and combining forces with his partners for the purpose of defeating the single player. For laws, see Whist Family Laws. BOSTON DE FONTAINEBLEAU. This game is sometimes, but incorrectly, called French Boston. The latter will be described in its proper place. _=CARDS.=_ Boston de Fontainebleau is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards. Two packs are generally used. The cards rank as at Whist, both for cutting and playing.
Addy). XVI. Round the green gravel the grass is so green, And all the fine ladies that ever were seen; Washed in milk and dressed in silk, The last that stoops down shall be married. [Johnnie Smith] is a nice young man, And so is [Bessie Jones] as nice as he; He came to the door with his hat in his hand, Inquiring for [Miss Jones]. She is neither within, she is neither without, She is up in the garret a-walking about. Down she came, as white as milk, With a rose in her bosom as soft as silk. Silks and satins be ever so dear, You shall have a kiss [gown?], my dear, So off with the glove and on with the ring-- To-morrow, to-morrow, the wedding begins. --Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (Miss Matthews). XVII. Around a green gravill The grass is so green, And all the fine ladies Ashamed to be seen.
With three cards, the lowest falling to the first round, followed by a higher card, will show the leader that the third hand still has another of that suit. It is not necessary to play down and out with an honour, because the leader can read the situation without it. Suppose third hand holds the J 5. He plays the 5 to the first round, because one of his two cards is an honour. The leader goes on with the Ace, and the Jack falls. Now the third hand must have the Queen or no more, and no matter which it is he can win the third round, with the Queen or with a trump. _=Against No-Trumpers.=_ When there is no trump, the third hand uses what is called the _=Foster echo=_. This consists in playing always the _=second-best=_ of the suit, when no attempt is made to win the trick. Suppose the leader begins with the King.
This was a general school game in West London in 1860-1866 (G. L. Gomme). Dab-an-thricker A game in which the _dab_ (a wooden ball) is caused to spring upwards by a blow on the _thricker_ (trigger), and is struck by a flat, bottle-shaped mallet fixed to the end of a flexible wand, the distance it goes counting so many for the striker.--Ross and Stead s _Holderness Glossary_. This is the same as Knur and Spell. Dab-at-the-hole A game at marbles (undescribed).--Patterson s _Antrim and Down Glossary_. Dalies A child s game, played with small bones or pieces of hard wood. The _dalies_ were properly sheep s trotters.
_=When five or seven play=_, there are special scores for lone hands. When all five tricks are taken by one side, but not by an individual playing a lone hand, it is simply a march, and counts two points, no matter how many are playing. When two or three are playing, a march must of course be a lone hand, as there are no partnerships. As we shall see later, there are some varieties of Euchre in which a lone hand may play against a lone hand, but this is not permitted in the ordinary game. No one but the individual player who makes the trump can play alone. Except in five and seven-handed Euchre, the player or side first reaching five points wins the game. If three are playing, and two of them reach five points simultaneously by euchreing the third, they both win a game. If they are playing for stakes, they divide the pool. _=TAKING UP THE TRUMP.=_ After the trump is turned up, each player in turn examines his cards, and if he does not care whether the trump suit remains unchanged or not, he says: “_=I pass=_.
W. S. Sykes. Sharleston Miss Fowler, Rev. G. T. Royds. Sheffield Mr. S. O.
The player stops the music suddenly, when all the children endeavour to take seats. One will be unable to find a seat, and this player remains out. A chair is then taken away, and the music and dancing round begins again. There should always be one chair less than the number of players.--A. B. Gomme. In Ellesmere, Miss Burne says, Snap-tongs, called in other circles Magic Music or Musical Chairs, is thus played. Five players take part; four chairs are set in the middle, and one of the players, who holds a pair of tongs, desires the others to dance round them till the clock strikes a certain hour, which is done by snapping the tongs together so many times. While they dance, a chair is taken away, and the player who cannot find a seat has to become the snap-tongs next time.
The French game of Mort is dummy with a better system of scoring introduced. Favourite Whist simply changes the value of the tricks in scoring, according to the trump suit. Cayenne and Bridge introduce the first changes of importance. In Cayenne, the dealer and his partner have the privilege of changing the trump from the suit turned up; in Bridge they name the trump suit without any turn-up, and play the hands as at dummy. In Boston, and Boston de Fontainebleau, in addition to making the trump suit instead of turning it up, further departures are introduced by naming the number of tricks to be played for, allowing the player to take all or none without any trump suit, and by ‘spreading’ certain hands, without allowing the adversaries to call the exposed cards. French and Russian Boston are simply varieties of Boston. Solo Whist is an attempt to simplify Boston by reducing the number of proposals and the complications of payments, and eliminating the feature of ‘spreads.’ Scotch Whist introduces a special object in addition to winning tricks--catching the ten of trumps; that card and the honours having particular values attached to them. This variety of whist may be played by any number of persons from two to eight; and its peculiarity is that when a small number play, each has several distinct hands, which must be played in regular order, as if held by different players. Humbug Whist is a variety of double-dummy, in which the players may exchange their hands for those dealt to the dummies, and the dealer may sometimes make the trump to suit himself.
Perhaps it was his nearly bald scalp, perhaps the thick, bookish glasses in heavy brown frames. What s that? he asked mildly, poking a finger at the dealer kneeling in the sawdust on the floor. My Blackout victim was reaching out, trying to find something he could use to raise himself to his feet. His face was frozen in a fierce, unseeing stare as he mentally screamed at his eyes to see, see, see! Blackout! one of the bouncers told the second stick-man in a muffled voice. Sharp eyes fired a quick, surprised look at me. Well, said the bald dealer. Good evening, Brother. I had a surge of relief. The strong-arm stuff was over. This was the casino s TK.
_=TIES=_ are decided in the same manner as at whist. _=CUTTING.=_ If there are three players, the one cutting the lowest card takes dummy for the first game; he also has the choice of seats and cards, and may deal the first hand for himself or for Mort, as he pleases; but having once made his choice, he must abide by it. The player cutting the intermediate card takes dummy for the second game; and the player cutting the highest card takes it for the third game; each in turn having the choice of seats and cards. These three games finish the rubber or tournée, each having once had the advantage or disadvantage of playing with Mort. It is obligatory to finish the tournée, no player being allowed to withdraw and substitute another without the consent of the other players. In Mort it is very unusual for one person to take dummy continuously. If there are four players, the one cutting the highest card of the four sits out, and takes no part in the first game. It is customary for him to take Mort’s seat, and to make himself useful in sorting dummy’s cards for him. He plays in the three following games, taking Mort in the fourth, or last.
_Team Matches._ A match consists of any agreed number of deals, each of which is played once at each table. The contesting teams must be of equal size, but each may consist of any agreed number of pairs (not less than two). One half of each team, or as near thereto as possible, sits north and south; the other half east and west. In case the teams are composed of an odd number of pairs, each team, in making up its total score, adds, as though won by it, the average score of all pairs seated in the positions opposite to its odd pair. In making up averages, fractions are disregarded and the nearest whole numbers taken, unless it be necessary to take the fraction into account to avoid a tie, in which case the match is won “by the fraction of a point.” The team making the higher score wins the match. H. _Pair Contests._ The score of a pair is compared only with other pairs who have played the same hands.
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. If the Second Hand has not the missing card, he has no more of the suit. The number of inferences which may be made in this manner by observant players is astonishing. A great many examples and exercises in them are given in _=Foster’s Whist Manual=_. _=Third Hand having None of the Suit=_, should trump anything but an Ace or a King on the first round. On the second round, if there is only one card against the leader, his partner should pass with four trumps, and allow the suit to be established. For instance: If the leads have been Ace, then Jack, Third Hand holding only one of the suit; he should pass if the Second Hand does not play King.
The ball is thrown up by one of the players on a house or wall, who cries on the instant it is thrown to another to catch or kep it before it falls to the ground. They all run off but this one to a little distance, and if he fails in kepping it he bawls out Burly Whush; then the party are arrested in their flight, and must run away no farther. He singles out one of them then, and throws the ball at him, which often is directed so fair as to strike; then this one at which the ball has been thrown is he who gives Burly Whush with the ball to any he chooses. If the corner of a house be at hand, as is mostly the case, and any of the players escape behind it, they must still show one of their hands past its edge to the Burly Whush man, who sometimes hits it such a whack with the ball as leaves it dirling for an hour afterwards.--Mactaggart s _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_. See Ball, Keppy Ball, Monday. Buttons Two or more boys take two buttons in their right hands, and try to throw them both into a small hole in the ground about two yards off. The boy who succeeds in getting both buttons in begins first next game, and takes a button as prize. [This seems merely a mild form of marbles.]--Lincolnshire (Rev.
The deal passes to the left. There are no misdeals. If the cards are not properly distributed, or four cards are not left in the talon, the same dealer must deal again, without penalty. _=Objects of the Game.=_ The chief objects of the game are to win the last trick, and to secure counting cards in the other tricks in the course of play. There are 35 points to be played for in every deal. The six highest cards in each suit, 3 2 A K Q J, have a counting value, the Ace being worth 3, and the others 1 each. The last trick counts 3. _=Declaring.=_ The eldest hand examines his cards and determines whether or not he will _=stand=_; that is, play single handed against the two others.
For instance: He holds an Eight, and there are one or two Eights on the table. He plays the Eight from his hand, and then gathers in all of them. _=Combining.=_ If a player holds any card, not a K Q or J, the pip value of which is equal to that of two or more cards on the table, he may play the card from his hand, and then gather it in again, together with the two or three cards that collectively equal it in pip value. For instance: He holds a 9, and a 4, 3 and 2 are upon the table. He may combine these three cards, calling attention to the fact that their collective value is 9, and then play the 9 from his own hand, gathering in and turning down all four cards. An 8 and Ace, or 6 and 3 might be gathered in the same way; or two such combinations might be gathered at the same time, 3, 2, 6, 7, for instance, which would make two nines; all of which might be gathered by a player holding a 9 his hand. Pairs and combinations may be taken in together. For instance: Among the cards on the table are a 4, 6, and 10, and the player holds a 10. He can gather in not only the pair of Tens, but the combinations which equal a 10.
ROULETTE. It is probable that more money has been lost at the wheel than at any other gambling game in the world. In conjunction with Rouge et Noir, it forms the chief attraction at Monte Carlo, and other public gambling casinos. The rage for these games was so great, and the trickery connected with them so common, that they were banished from France by the law of 18 juillet, 1836, and had to take refuge in Baden and Homburg. Before that time the public revenue from the gaming houses amounted to five or six millions a year, all of which was lost by closing them up. The evil was not exterminated, however, for there are to-day hundreds of gambling hells in Europe, which make up for the brevity of their existence by the rapidity with which they fleece their patrons. In America, the wheel has always been popular, but Rouge et Noir is practically unknown, the reason being that in the latter game there is no variety, and therefore no chance for the player to exercise any judgment, or to play any “system” in making his bets, as he can in Faro. _=The Wheel.=_ The roulette wheel is turned by a small cross-bar rising from its axis. The surface of the wheel slopes from the axis to the outer edge, which is divided into small square pockets, coloured alternately red and black, and each having a number just above it, on the surface of the wheel.
One in the middle tries to catch as many as possible, forming them in a long string, hand in hand, as they are caught. Those still free try to break through the line and rescue the prisoners. If they succeed in parting the line, they may carry one boy pig-a-back to the lamp-post, who becomes safe. The boy caught last but one becomes it in the next game.--Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase). See Hunt the Staigie, Stag Warning, Whiddy. Chinnup A game played with hooked sticks and a ball, also called Shinnup. Same as Hockey. Chinny-mumps A school-boys play, consisting in striking the chin with the knuckles; dexterously performed, a kind of time is produced.--Addy s _Sheffield Glossary_.
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If all 35 points are won by either side, they count double, 70. _=Scoring.=_ If the single player loses, he loses to both adversaries, and if he wins he wins from both. His score is the only one put down, and the amount is preceded with a minus or plus sign according to the result. If he secures 23 points, he wins 11; if he takes in 16 only, he loses 3. If the amount is less than 18 it must be a loss; if it is 18 or more it must be a gain. The method of balancing the scores at the end will be found fully explained in connection with Skat. _=Irregularities.=_ The penalty for a revoke is the loss of 9 points, which are taken from the score of the side in error at the end of the hand, and added to the side not in fault. If the final score is 24 to 11, for instance, in favour of the single player, and one of the partners has revoked, the score is 33 to 2, and the player wins 31 points.