IV. Don t you know the muffin man? Don t you know his name? Don t you know the muffin man That lives in our lane? All around the Butter Cross, Up by St. Giles s, Up and down the Gullet Street, And call at Molly Miles s! --Burne s _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 571. V. Have you seen the nutting girl, The nutting girl, the nutting girl? Have you seen the nutting girl, Down in yonder lane O? --Holmfirth (H. Hardy). (_b_) A ring is formed by the players joining hands; one child, who is blindfolded and holds a stick, stands in the centre. The ring dance round, singing the verse. They then stand still, and the centre child holds out the stick and touches one of the ring.
_=7.=_ Should a player touch his own ball with the cue or otherwise previous to playing, it is foul, the player loses one, and cannot play for safety. It sometimes happens that the player after having touched his ball gives a second stroke, then the balls remain where they stop, or are replaced as nearly as possible in their former position at the option of his opponent. _=8.=_ When the cue-ball is very near another, the player shall not play without warning his adversary that they do not touch, and giving him sufficient time to satisfy himself on that point. _=9.=_ When the cue-ball is in contact with another, the balls are spotted and the player plays with his ball in hand. _=10.=_ Playing with the wrong ball is foul. However, should the player using the wrong ball play more than one shot with it, he shall be entitled to his score just the same as if he had played with his own; as soon as his hand is out, the white balls must change places, and the game proceed as usual.
If four persons play, the dealer takes no cards. The three active players make up a pool, each putting in an equal amount at first, and the bidder putting into it as many as he bids for the privilege of naming the trump suit. Any one may deal the first hand, after which the deal passes to the left. Three cards are given to each player the first round, then two are laid off for a widow, then four to each player, and then three to each. Beginning on the dealer’s left, each player in turn may name the trump if he thinks he can take at least six of the ten tricks to be played for. Bids outrank one another in the order of the suits, hearts being preference always. The number of tricks is not mentioned. In case there are no bids, each in turn has a second chance to bid for the widow. These bids are made in counters, to be put into the pool. The highest bidder takes the widow, lays out two cards, and then names the trump suit.
For example: Royal marriage has been melded and scored. The player may _=add=_ to this the Ace, Ten, and Jack of trumps to make the sequence, which is a more valuable combination in the same class. But if the first meld is the sequence, he cannot _=take away=_ from the sequence the card or cards to form a marriage. A new Queen added to the King already in the sequence will not make a marriage; because it is not the Queen that is added to the sequence, but the King that is taken away. The same rule applies to the binocles. If a player has scored double binocle, he can not afterward take away two cards to meld a single binocle; but if the single binocle has been melded and scored first, he may add two more cards, and score the double binocle. He cannot score the second single, and then claim the double, because some new card must be added to form a new meld in the same class. If four Kings are melded and scored, the other four may be added later; but if the eight Kings are first melded, the score for the four Kings is lost. Cards may be taken away from one combination to form less valuable combinations in another class. For instance: Four Jacks have been melded; the diamond Jack may be taken away to form a binocle with the spade Queen.