He should assist unless a bower is turned, or he has it himself, or holds such cards that, combined with the turn-up, he is sure of a trick. For instance: The dealer’s partner has the King and two other trumps, and the ace is turned. It is impossible for the pone to make a lone hand, even if he has both bowers, and the ace is bare; for he cannot catch the King, even if his partner leads the trump through it. But if a small trump was turned, the pone might easily make a lone hand with both bowers and the ace. _=TAKING UP.=_ The average expectation of the dealer is something over two trumps, including the turn-up. With more than two trumps, or with two strong trumps, and a reasonably certain trick in a plain suit, the dealer should take up the trump. Three trumps of any size and an ace in plain suits is a strong take-up hand. It is better to take up the trump with only one plain suit in the hand, and small trumps, than with two strong trumps and two weak plain suits. The score will often decide the dealer in taking up the trump.
--Fochabers (Rev. W. Gregor). V. Draw a bucket of water For a lady s daughter; One in a bush, Two in a bush, Three in a bush, Four in a bush, And out you go. --Crockham Hill, Kent (Miss Chase). VI. Drawing a bucket of water For my lady s daughter; Put it in a chestnut tree, And let it stay an hour. One of you rush, two may rush, Please, old woman, creep under the bush; The bush is too high, the bush is too low, Please, old woman, creep under the bush. --Hampshire (Miss Mendham).
The partner of the declarer has all the rights of a player (including the right to call attention to a lead from the wrong hand), until his cards are placed face upward on the table.[13] He then becomes the dummy, and takes no part whatever in the play, except that he has the right: (_a_) To call the declarer’s attention to the fact that too many or too few cards have been played to a trick; (_b_) to correct an improper claim of either adversary; (_c_) to call attention to a trick erroneously taken by either side; (_d_) to participate in the discussion of any disputed question of fact after it has arisen between the declarer and either adversary; (_e_) to correct any erroneous score; (_f_) to consult with and advise the declarer as to which penalty to exact for a revoke; (_g_) to ask the declarer whether he have any of a suit he has renounced. The dummy, if he have not intentionally looked at any card in the hand of a player, has also the following additional rights: (_h_) To call the attention of the declarer to an established adverse revoke; (_i_) to call the attention of the declarer to a card exposed by an adversary or to an adverse lead out of turn. 61. Should the dummy call attention to any other incident in the play in consequence of which any penalty might have been exacted, the declarer may not exact such penalty. Should the dummy avail himself of rights (_h_) or (_i_), after intentionally looking at a card in the hand of a player, the declarer may not exact any penalty for the offence in question. 62. If the dummy, by touching a card or otherwise, suggest the play of one of his cards, either adversary may require the declarer to play or not to play such card. 62_a_. If the dummy call to the attention of the declarer that he is about to lead from the wrong hand, either adversary may require that the lead be made from that hand.
In the United States, laws better suited to the American style of play were drawn up by the American Whist League in 1891, and after several revisions were finally adopted, in 1893, as the official code for League clubs. The literature of whist saw its palmiest days at the beginning of this century. 7,000 copies of Bob Short’s “Short Rules for Whist” were sold in less than a year. Mathews’, or Matthews’, “Advice to the Young Whist-Player,” went through eighteen editions between 1804 and 1828. After these writers came Admiral Burney, who published his “Treatise” in 1821; Major A. [Charles Barwell Coles,] gave us his “Short Whist” in 1835. Deschapelles published his “Traité du Whiste” in 1839, but it gave little but discussions on the laws. “Whist, its History and Practice” by Amateur, appeared in 1843. General de Vautré’s “Génie du Whiste,” in 1847. “Cælebs” [Edward Augustus Carlyon] wrote his “Laws and Practice” in 1851.
Twemlow). I. A dis, a dis, a green grass, A dis, a dis, a dis; Come all you pretty fair maids And dance along with us. For we are going roving, A roving in this land; We ll take this pretty fair maid, We ll take her by the hand. Ye shall get a duke, my dear, And ye shall get a drake; And ye shall get a young prince, A young prince for your sake. And if this young prince chance to die, Ye shall get another; The bells will ring, and the birds will sing, And we ll clap hands together. --Chamber s _Popular Rhymes_, pp. 137-38. II. A-diss, a-diss, a-green grass, A-diss, a-diss, a-dass; Come, my pretty fair maid, And walk along with us.
One child walks round inside the ring, singing the verses. This child then chooses another from the ring, bending on one knee and kissing her hand. The lines are then repeated, the two walking arm in arm round the inside of the ring. Another child is chosen out of the ring by the one who was chosen previously. This goes on until all are chosen out of the ring, walking two by two round inside. When the ring will no longer hold them, the two walk round outside. At Northants the ring walks round, and the child is _outside_ the ring. Partners are chosen, and the two walk round outside the ring. The first two walk together till there is a third, then the three walk together till there is a fourth, then they go in couples. In the Northants version, from Raunds, four boys stand in the centre of the ring.
If he wins three or four only, he counts _=one=_ point. If he is euchred he loses _=two=_. It is not allowable to play alone against a jambone. _=Jamboree.=_ This is the combination of the five highest trumps in one hand, and need only be announced and shown to entitle the holder to score _=sixteen=_ points. If held by the dealer, it may be made with the assistance of the turn-up trump; and any player may make it with the assistance of his partners best; but it does not count unless the holder of it has made the trump. If a player with a pat Jamboree is ordered up, all he can score is a euchre. As in other forms of Euchre, no one but the maker of the trump can play alone, or announce Jambone or Jamboree. Lone hands are very common in Railroad Euchre, and ordering up to prevent lone hands is commoner still. SEVEN-HANDED EUCHRE.
17. The tune of the Platt version sent by Miss Burne, and the Ogbourne and Manton (H. S. May), are almost identical, except the termination. This seems to be the most general tune for the game. The Lancashire tune is the same as the London version. Miss Burne says of the Madeley version: I never knew Green Gravel and Wallflowers played together as in this way elsewhere (I had not got this variant when I wrote _Shropshire Folk-lore_), except at Much Wenlock, where they reverse the two verses, and only sing _one line_ (the last) of Green Gravel. But I feel sure they must have been _meant_ to go together (see my note in _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 510), and I can explain them, I think. The ring of girls are dancing on the green grass plot in the middle of an old-fashioned sixteenth-century walled garden: each gets the news of her lover s death, and turns her face to the wall, the old token of hopeless sorrow.
In _=Cayenne=_ and _=Solo Whist=_, as a penalty for a revoke, the adversaries of the revoking player may take from him three tricks; or may deduct the value of three tricks from his score; or may add the value of three tricks to their own score. The revoking players cannot score slams or game that hand. All slams must be made independently of the revoke penalty. In _=Boston=_, the penalty for a revoke on the part of the bidder is that he is put in for one trick, and must pay four red counters into the next pool. Should an adversary of the bidder revoke, he must pay four red counters into the next pool, and he and his partners must pay the bidder as if he had been successful. On the discovery of a revoke in Boston the hands are usually abandoned; but the cards should be shown to the table, in order that each player may be satisfied that no other revoke has been made. A player revoking in Misère Partout pays five red counters to each of his adversaries and the hands are then abandoned. 31. The revoking player and his partner may require the hand in which the revoke has been made, to be played out, and score all points made by them up to the score of six. In _=Boston=_, the hands are abandoned after the revoke is claimed and proved.
Whether or not Triomphe borrowed this feature from Spoil Five or Maw, it is now impossible to say. Whatever its origin, Euchre has always been the most respectable member of the family, and the game of all others that has best served the card-playing interest in social life. Spoil Five probably comes next in point of respectability; but Écarté has often fallen into evil hands, and the very name is in some places regarded as synonymous for gambling. The same is true of Napoleon, but in less degree. Euchre, unlike the other members of the family, is not essentially a gambling game, but belongs rather to the intellectual group of card games; a position which we hope it may long maintain. EUCHRE. _=CARDS.=_ Euchre is played with what is commonly known as the piquet pack, 32 cards, all below the 7 being deleted. In plain suits the cards rank as at Whist; but in the trump suit the Jack is the best, and it is called the _=Right Bower=_. The Jack of the same colour as the trump suit, red or black, is the second-best trump, and it is called the _=Left Bower=_; so that if clubs were trumps the rank of the nine cards in the trump suit would be as follows:-- [Illustration: 🃛 🂫 🃑 🃞 🃝 🃚 🃙 🃘 🃗 ] The rank of the cards in the other suits would be:-- [Illustration: 🂡 🂮 🂭 🂪 🂩 🂨 🂧 🂱 🂾 🂽 🂻 🂺 🂹 🂸 🂷 🃁 🃎 🃍 🃋 🃊 🃉 🃈 🃇 ] When the _=Joker=_, or blank card is used, it is always the best trump, ranking above the right bower.
There are two varieties of this old English game; single, and three-stake Brag. Both are played with a full pack of fifty-two cards; the positions of the players, arrangements for counters, decision of the betting limit, etc., being the same as in Draw Poker. Three to twelve players may form a table. There is a special value attached to three cards which are known as _=braggers=_. These again have a rank of their own; the best being the _=ace of diamonds=_; then the _=Jack of clubs=_, and then the _=nine of diamonds=_. All other cards rank as in Poker. A player to whom any one of these braggers is dealt may call it anything he pleases. If he has a pair of nines and a bragger, or a nine and two braggers, he may call them three nines, and bet on them as such. In this respect braggers resemble mistigris, already described in connection with Draw Poker; but in Brag a natural pair or triplet outranks one made with the aid of a bragger.
He cannot have both, for A drew only two cards. If A has both, Y must catch his Pedro, no matter how A plays; and as long as Y does not get into the lead himself, he cannot lose his own Pedro. At trick 5, A naturally places the Pedro with Z, as Y did not save it on the King, and it is perfectly natural for A to trump with his Pedro, intending to lead the Ten to catch Z’s. A-B score nothing, not having made good their bid. Y-Z score Right and Left Pedro, and Low, 11 points; adding the 8 points bid but not made by A-B, 19 altogether. CINCH LAWS. _=Formation of Table.=_ A cinch table is complete with six players. If more than four assemble, they cut for preference, the four highest playing the first game. Partners and deal are then cut for, the two lowest pairing against the two highest.
_=Opening Jacks.=_ As there is no age or straddle in any form of jack pot, the player to the left of the dealer has the first say, and must examine his hand to see if he has Jacks or better; that is to say, either an actual pair of Jacks, or some hand that would beat a pair of Jacks if called upon to do so, such as two pairs, a straight, or triplets. In some localities it is allowed to open jacks with a _=bobtail=_; that is, four cards of a flush or straight. If the player on the dealer’s left has not openers, or does not care to open the pot if he has, he says: “I pass;” but he does not abandon his hand. The next player on his left must then declare. In some places players are allowed to throw down their cards when they pass; but in first-class games a penalty of five white counters must be paid into the pool by any player abandoning his hand before the second round of declarations, as it gives an undue advantage to players with medium hands to know that they have only a limited number of possible opponents. For instance: If six play, and the first three not only pass, but throw down and abandon their cards, a player with a pair of Jacks will know that he has only two possible adversaries to draw against him, which will so increase his chances that it may materially alter his betting. If no one acknowledges to holding Jacks or better, the pot is fattened, and the cards are reshuffled and dealt. The best practice is for the same dealer to deal again until some one gets Jacks or better. This is called _=dealing off the jack=_.
The throws given in the second column cannot be made without counting both dice, and a player is therefore safer when it takes “double dice” to hit him. +------------------+-------------------+ |_Single Die._ |_Double Dice._ | | 25 to 11 ag’st 1 | 30 to 6 ag’st 7 | | 24 to 12 ag’st 2 | 30 to 6 ag’st 8 | | 22 to 14 ag’st 3 | 31 to 5 ag’st 9 | | 21 to 15 ag’st 4 | 33 to 3 ag’st 10 | | 21 to 15 ag’st 5 | 34 to 2 ag’st 11 | | 19 to 17 ag’st 6 | 35 to 1 ag’st 12 | +------------------+-------------------+ LAWS. _=1.=_ If the men are wrongly set up, the mistake may be remedied if the player in error has not moved a man, otherwise they must stand as set up. _=2.=_ If a player begins with less than the proper number of men, the error cannot be rectified after the player has made a throw for his move. _=3.=_ The players must each cast a single die for the privilege of first move, the higher winning.
1). As soon as the boys who have gone out to field have reached a certain distance--there is no limit prescribed--they shout Relievo, and upon this signal the four boys standing by the side of the Den pursue them, leaving the Tenter in charge of the Den (fig. 2). When a boy is caught he is taken to the Den, where he is obliged to remain, unless the Tenter puts both his feet into the Den, or takes out the one foot which he ought always to keep in the Den. If the Tenter is thus caught tripping, the prisoner can escape from the Den. If during the progress of the game one of the boys out at field runs through the Den shouting Relievo without being caught by the Tenter, the prisoner is allowed to escape, and join his comrades at field. If one of the boys out at field is tired, and comes to stand by the side of the Den, he is not allowed to put his foot into the Den. If he does so the prisoner calls out, There are two Tenters, and escapes if he can (fig. 3). When all the boys out at field have been caught and put into the Den, the process is reversed--the boys who have been, as it were, hunted, taking the place of the hunters.
| -- | -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.|Your grass is so |The grass is so green.|The grass is so green.| | |green. | | | | 7.|The fairest damsel | -- | -- | | |ever seen. | | | | 8.| -- |The fairest young lady| -- | | | |ever seen.
_=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ Although whist is a game of very simple construction, the immense variety of combinations which it affords renders it very complicated in actual practice; there being probably no game in which there is so much diversity of opinion as to the best play, even with the same cards, and under similar conditions. It has been repeatedly remarked that in all the published hands at whist which have been played in duplicate, or even four times over, with the same cards, no two have been alike. It would be useless to formulate rules intended to cover every case that might arise, because the conditions are frequently too complicated to allow the average human intellect to select the exact rule which would apply. All that can be done to assist the beginner is to state certain general principles which are well recognised as fundamental, and to leave the rest to experience and practice at the whist table. _=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.
(_b_) The players march two by two, all singing. The first pair let go hands, separate, and skip widely apart, still singing. Gradually, in this manner, two separate lines are formed, until, following each other and singing, the pairs come together again, join hands, and march and sing in couplets linked. The Bath game is played by the children standing in two rows facing each other, and clapping hands and singing the verse. At the same time the two children facing each other at the top of the lines join hands and trip down and up between the lines. Their hands are unclasped, and the two children run down the outside of the lines, one running on each side, and meet at the bottom of the lines, where they stand. The two children now standing at the top proceed in the same way: this is continued until all the children have done the same. A ring is then formed, when the children again clap and sing. Any number can play at this game. In the Epworth version the children range themselves in double rank at one end of the room or playground, and march down to the other end hand in hand.
A ring of chairs is formed, and the players sit on them. A piece of string long enough to go round the inner circumference of the chairs is procured. A small ring is put upon the string, the ends of which are then tied. Then one of the players gets up from his chair and stands in the centre. The players sitting on the chairs take the string into their hands and pass the ring round from one to another, singing the lines. If the person standing in the centre can find out in whose hand the ring is, he sits down, and his place is taken by the one who had the ring. The game is sometimes played round a haycock in the hayfield. Miss Dendy sends a similar rhyme from Monton, Lancashire, where it is known simply as a marching game. For similar rhymes, see Halliwell s _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 3.
523). II. Barbara, Barbara, dressed in black, Silver buttons all up your back. Allee-go-shee, allee-go-shee, Turn the bridle over me. --Shepscombe, Gloucestershire (Miss Mendham). III. All-i-go-shee, alligoshee, Turn the bridle over my knee. My little man is gone to sea, When he comes back he ll marry me. --Warwickshire (Northall s _Folk Rhymes_, p. 394).
All the Boys in our Town I. All the boys in our town Shall lead a happy life, Except tis ----, and he wants a wife. A wife he shall have, and a-courting he shall go, Along with ----, because he loves her so. He huddles her, he cuddles her, He sits her on his knee; He says, My dear, do you love me? I love you, and you love me, And we shall be as happy As a bird upon a tree. The wife makes the pudding, And she makes it nice and soft-- In comes the husband and cuts a slice off. Tas-el-um, Tos-el-um, don t say Nay, For next Monday morning shall be our wedding day; The wife in the carriage, The husband in the cart. --Hampshire (from friend of Miss Mendham). II. All the boys in our town Leads a happy life, Excepting [Charley Allen], And he wants a wife; And a-courting he shall go Along with [girl s name], Because he loves her so. He kisses her, he cuddles her, He sets her on his knee, And says, My dearest darling, Do you love me? I love you and you love me; We ll both be as happy As birds on the tree.
The oven soon gets demolished, and the last child vanquished becomes Mother Mop the next time.--Bitterne, Hants (Mrs. Byford). It seems probable that the inner rows of children should kneel or stoop down in order that Mother Mop should have as much trouble as possible with her oven. The game may have lost some of its details in other directions, as there is no apparent reason why the oven is demolished or broken down. See Jack, Jack, the Bread s a-burning. Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils over A number of girls choose one of their number to represent a witch, and another to be a mother. The Witch stands near the corner of a wall, so that she can peep round. Then the Mother counts the children by the seven days of the week, Monday, Tuesday, &c., and appoints another girl to act as guardian over them.
The more hysterical healers, some really creepy witches, had given me some signs of relief, but none could ever find the real weak place, as she called it. She was mumbling to herself. I guess you could call it an incantation. I got a picture of a nubile waif, too freakish to fit where she d been raised. What had her Hegira been like? In what frightful places had she found herself welcome? From her talk, it could have been an Ozark backwater. I didn t want to know what backwoods crone had taught her some mnemonic rendition of the Devil s Litany. Her hands passed up beyond my shoulder, to my neck. It s in yore haid, she said. In yore darlin haid! Fingers worked over my scalp. Oh, there! she gasped.
| |45.| -- | -- | -- | |46.| -- | -- | -- | |47.| -- | -- | -- | |48.|We ll give him a horse| -- | -- | | |to gallop around. | | | |49.| -- |Here comes my lord | -- | | | |Duke, let everyone | | | | |pass by but the very | | | | |last one. | | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ (_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.
_And_ divorced? Oh, darlin Billy, she sighed. I jest shouldn t never a _done_ that. But I did, she added. Talk English, I snapped. This chitterlin s and corn pone are just more window dressing, right? Her face was solemn behind the glasses. When you are a smart girl, and you know the future, too, they hate you and try to hurt you, she said. They don t seem to mind it so much if it comes from a piece of white trash that never could be no account. By the time I was twelve or so I had learned to act just a little stupid and corn-fed. * * * * * This, her longest speech, she delivered in quiet, Neutral American, the speech that covers the great prairie states and is as near accentless and pure as American English ever is. It branded her Ozark twang as a lie, and a great many other things about her.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. .The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Game of Rat and Dragon This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title: The Game of Rat and Dragon Author: Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger Release date: August 5, 2009 [eBook #29614] Language: English Credits: Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Adam Buchbinder, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAME OF RAT AND DRAGON *** Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Adam Buchbinder, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.
If a player, so called on to lead a suit, has none of it, or if all have played to the false lead, no penalty can be enforced. If all have not played to the trick, the cards erroneously played to such false lead are not liable to be called and must be taken back. In _=Boston=_, if the adversary of the bidder leads out of turn, and the bidder has not played to the trick, the latter may call a suit from the player whose proper turn it is to lead; or, if it is the bidder’s own lead, he may call a suit when next the adversaries obtain the lead; or he may claim the card played in error as an exposed card. If the bidder has played to the trick the error cannot be rectified. Should the bidder lead out of turn, and the player on his left follow the erroneous lead, the error cannot be corrected. In Misères, a lead out of turn by the bidder’s adversary immediately loses the game, but there is no penalty for leading out of turn in Misère Partout. PLAYING OUT OF TURN. 25. If the third hand plays before the second, the fourth hand also may play before the second. 26.