W. J. Woolhouse (_Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, v. 95) says when the Hood is thrown up by the Chief of the Boggons or by the officials, it becomes the object of the villagers to get the Hood to their own village, the other eleven men, called Boggons, being stationed at the corners and sides of the field, to prevent, if possible, its being thrown out of the field; and should it chance to fall into any of their hands, it is boggoned, and forthwith returned to the chief, who again throws it up, as at the commencement of the game. The next day is occupied by the Boggons going round the villages singing as waits, and they are regaled with hot furmenty; from some they get coppers given them, and from others a small measure of wheat. The day after that they assume the character of Plough-bullocks, and at a certain part of Westwood-side they smoke the Fool --that is, straw is brought by those who like, and piled in a heap, a rope being tied or slung over the branches of the tree next to the pile of straw; the other end of the rope is fastened round the waist of the Fool, and he is drawn up and fire is put to the straw, the Fool being swung to and fro through the smoke until he is well-nigh choked, after which he goes round and collects whatever the spectators choose to give him. The sport is then at an end till the next year. The land left by Lady Mowbray was forty acres, which are known by the name of Hoodlands, and the Boggons dresses and the Hood are made from its proceeds. In the contiguous parish of Epworth a similar game is played under the same name, but with some variations. The Hood is not here carried away from the field, but to certain goals, against which it is struck three times and then declared free.
If another player gets the Joker, he must pay the five counters to the player who got rid of it. The remainder of the pool is then divided in the usual way. This is a most exasperating game. _=DISCARD HEARTS.=_ This is sometimes called _=Black Jack=_, or _=Black Lady=_. If it is the Jack, it is worth ten hearts; if it is the Queen, it is worth thirteen hearts. After the cards are dealt, each player in turn lays out three cards which he does not want, and the player on his left is obliged to take them, after having discarded himself. No player may look at what he is going to get until he has discarded himself. The Black Jack or Lady holds its rank as a spade when spades are led; but the moment any other suit is led, of which the player is void, he can discard the Black Jack or Lady, just as he would get rid of a heart. If hearts are led and the player has no hearts, he can play the Black Jack or Lady to the trick, as it ranks below the deuce of hearts.
Minder: What colour? Angel: Red. Minder retorts, if no child is so named, Go and learn your A B C. If the guess is right the child is led away. The Devil then knocks, and the dialogue and action are repeated.--Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase). See Fool, fool, come to School. Auntieloomie The children join hands, and dance in a circle, with a front step, a back step, and a side step, round an invisible May-pole, singing-- Can you dance the Auntieloomie? Yes, I can; yes, I can. Then follows kissing.--Brigg, Lincolnshire (Miss Peacock). Babbity Bowster [Music] --Biggar (Wm.
Beginning with the age, [eldest hand,] each player in turn must put up an amount equal to the dealer’s ante, or abandon his hand. He may, if he chooses, raise the ante any further amount within the betting limit. All those following him must meet the total sum put up by any individual player, increase it, or pass out. In this respect Brag is precisely similar to the betting after the draw at Poker. If no one will see the dealer’s ante, he must be paid one white counter by each of the other players, and the deal passes to the left. Should any player bet an amount which no other player will meet, he takes the pool without showing his hand. Should a call be made, all the hands must be shown, and the best brag hand wins. Pairs and triplets are the only combinations of any value, and of course three aces is the best hand; two aces and the club Jack being the next best. If none of the hands shown contains either a natural pair or a bragger, the highest card wins, the ace ranking above the King. In case of equal natural pairs, the highest card outside the pair wins.
If an adversary exposes a card, the dealer may elect to deal again. If a new deal is not demanded, cards exposed in dealing cannot be called. The adversaries may stop a player dealing out of turn, or with the wrong pack, provided they do so before the last three cards are dealt, alter which the deal stands good. _=Misdealing.=_ A misdeal loses the deal. It is a misdeal: If the cards have not been properly cut, if the dealer does not give the same number of cards to each player on the same round; if he gives too many or too few cards to any player; if he counts the cards on the table, or those remaining in the pack; or if he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to correct the error before dealing another. If the dealer is interrupted in any way by an adversary, he does not lose his deal. _=Bidding.=_ After receiving his nine cards, each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, announces the number of points he will undertake to win if he is allowed to name the trump suit. No player is allowed to bid more than fourteen.
Each player in turn, before bidding or passing, has the privilege of taking a private peep at this down card, on paying one counter to the pool. The card is left on the table until the highest bidder is known, and he then takes it into his hand, whether he has paid to peep at it or not. He must then discard to reduce his hand to five cards. If a player bids nap it usually pays those following him to have a peep at the down card in case the bidder should retain it in his hand. SPOIL FIVE. Spoil Five is one of the oldest of card games, and is generally conceded to be the national game of Ireland. It is derived from the still older game of Maw, which was the favourite recreation of James the First. The connecting link seems to have been a game called Five Fingers, which is described in the “_Compleat Gamester_,” first published in 1674. The Five Fingers was the five of trumps, and also the best, the ace of hearts coming next. In Spoil Five, the Jack of trumps comes between these two.
The demand must be made by the person who will be the last player on the trick in which the suit is called. If all have played to the lead before discovering the error, it cannot be rectified; but if all have not played, those who have followed the false lead must take back their cards, which are not liable to be called. Any player may ask the others to _=draw cards=_ in any trick, provided he does so before the cards are touched for the purpose of gathering them. In answer to this demand, each player should indicate which card of those on the table he played. No one is allowed to see any trick that has been turned and quitted. _=Taking Tricks.=_ As the tricks are taken they should be neatly laid one upon the other in such a manner that any player at the table can count them. All tricks belonging to one side should be kept together. At the end of each hand the score should be claimed and marked. Revokes must be detected and claimed before the cards are cut for the following deal.
1, and then over frog No. 2, taking his place as frog No. 3, at about the same distance onwards. Any number of boys may play in the game. After the last player has taken his leap over all the frogs successively, frog No. 1 has his turn and leaps over his companions, taking his place as the last in the line of frogs. Then No. 2 follows suit, and so on, the whole line of players in course of time covering a good distance.--London (G. L.
The best informed make it a rule never to play Poker with strangers, because they realize that it is impossible for any but a professional gambler to know half the tricks employed by the poker sharp. It is a notorious fact that even the shrewdest gamblers are continually being taken in by others more expert than themselves. What chance then has the honest card player? There are black sheep in all flocks, and it may be well to give a few hints to those who are in the habit of playing in mixed companies. Never play with a man who looks attentively at the faces of the cards as he gathers them for his deal; or who stands the pack on edge, with the faces of the cards towards him, and evens up the bunch by picking out certain cards, apparently because they are sticking up. Any pack can be straightened by pushing the cards down with the hand. The man who lifts them up is more than probably a cheat. Never play with a man who looks intently at the pack and shuffles the cards slowly. If he is not locating the cards for the ensuing deal he is wasting time, and should be hurried a little. Never play with a person who leaves the cut portion of the pack on the table, and deals off the other part. In small parties this is a very common way of working what is known as _=the top stock=_.
| 2 | | 3 or this:-- 3 | | 2 | Vivant. | | Vivant. | +---------+ +---------+ 1 1 ] For the three succeeding games the arrangement would be:-- [Illustration: 1 2 3 +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ | Mort. | | Mort. | | Mort. | 3 | | 4 4 | | 1 1 | | 2 | Vivant. | | Vivant. | | Vivant. | +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ 2 3 4 ] It will be seen that each player, immediately after being Vivant, sits out, or takes Mort’s place, for the next game. _=DEALING.
O Mary! O Mary! your true love is dead, And he s sent you a letter to turn round your head. --Wales (_Byegones_, 1890). XI. Yellow gravel, yellow gravel, The grass is so green, The fairest young lady That ever was seen. O ----, O ----, Your true love is dead; I send you a letter to turn round your head. --Cowes, Isle of Wight (Miss E. Smith). XII. Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green, Said the fairest young damsel that ever I ve seen. O mother, O mother, my true-love is dead, He sent me this letter to turn round my head.
Although the odds against it are supposed to be 63 to 1, the bankers expect it about twice in three deals, and each deal will produce from 28 to 33 coups. 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 ball is then thrown to the bicken, and if it does not come within the distance named--two bats--the striker again sends the ball away, when the question is again asked-- Three a good scat, Try for the bat. And so on until the boy standing out throws the ball in to the required distance.--Old newspaper cutting without date in my possession (A. B. Gomme). Chacke-Blyndman Scotch name for Blindman s Buff. --Jamieson. Chance Bone In Langley s abridgment of _Polydore Vergile_, f. 1., we have a description of this game: There is a game also that is played with the posterne bone in the hinder foote of a sheepe, oxe, gote, fallow, or redde dere, whiche in Latin is called _talus_.
=_ The age having put up the amount of the blind, and the cards having been shuffled by any player who chooses to avail himself of the privilege, the dealer last, they are presented to the pone to be cut. The pone may either cut them, or signify that he does not wish to do so by tapping the pack with his knuckles. Should the pone decline to cut, no other player can insist on his so doing, nor do it for him. Beginning on his left, the dealer distributes the cards face down one at a time in rotation until each player has received five cards. The deal passes to the left, and each player deals in turn. _=IRREGULARITIES IN THE DEAL.=_ The following rules regarding the deal should be strictly observed:-- If any card is found faced in the pack the dealer must deal again. Should the dealer, or the wind, turn over any card, the player to whom it is dealt must take it; but the same player cannot be compelled to take two exposed cards. Should such a combination occur, there must be a fresh deal by the same dealer. If the player exposes his cards himself, he has no remedy.
=_ This is bridge with the hands kept separate and put into trays to be carried from table to table. The methods will be found fully described under the titles for duplicate whist. In order to prevent the players from giving too much attention to the honours in declaring, it is sometimes the rule to add a certain number of points to the trick scores, as a bonus. This is called _=Bridge to the Score=_. Four deals is a round, before changing adversaries, and fifty points are added to the score of the side having the greater trick score. Another method is to add fifty points to the side winning a game, if a game is won before moving, and then to add a definite number of points for every trick point that one side may be ahead of the other on unfinished games; or as many points as the higher score below the line. None of these methods have proved attractive enough to be popular, however, although the first is the one commonly adopted for club tournaments, adding fifty points bonus for the higher trick score, regardless of any games or rubbers. All the additions of percentages require special score cards and the services of some alleged expert to run the game, and even then they are not attractive. The problem of duplicate bridge remains as yet unsolved, so far as a popular game is concerned. _=SIX-HAND BRIDGE.
Some of his cavalry are exposed to the right of the farm, but most are completely covered now by the farm from Red s fire. Red has now to move. The nature of his position is becoming apparent to him. His right gun is ineffective, his left and his centre guns cannot kill more than seven or eight men between them; and at the next move, unless he can silence them, Blue s guns will be mowing his exposed cavalry down from the security of the farm. He is in a fix. How is he to get out of it? His cavalry are slightly outnumbered, but he decides to do as much execution as he can with his own guns, charge the Blue guns before him, and then bring up his infantry to save the situation. Figure 5a shows the result of Red s move. His two effective guns have between them bowled over two cavalry and six infantry in the gap between the farm and Blue s right gun; and then, following up the effect of his gunfire, his cavalry charges home over the Blue guns. One oversight he makes, to which Blue at once calls his attention at the end of his move. Red has reckoned on twenty cavalry for his charge, forgetting that by the rules he must put two men at the tail of his middle gun.
--Cumberland (Dickinson s _Glossary_). (_b_) In the Deptford version one of the players is blindfolded. The one who blindfolds ascertains that the player cannot see by putting the first question. When the players are satisfied that the blindfolding is complete, the dialogue follows, and the blind man is turned round three times. The game is for him to catch one of the players, who is blindfolded in turn if the blind man succeeds in guessing who he is. Players are allowed to pull, pinch, and buffet the blind man. [Illustration] (_c_) This sport is found among the illuminations of an old missal formerly in the possession of John Ives, cited by Strutt in his _Manners and Customs_. The two illustrations are facsimiles from drawings in one of the Bodleian MSS., and they indicate the complete covering of the head, and also the fact that the game was played by adults. Gay says concerning it-- As once I play d at _blindman s-buff_, it hap t, _About my eyes the towel thick was wrapt.
The game may be played for a pool, first man out to take all; or it may be agreed that after one has retired the others shall decide it between them by playing it out at the ordinary two-handed game. PIQUET VOLEUR, FOR FOUR PLAYERS. The players cut for partners, the two lowest pairing against the two highest, and the lowest cut taking the first deal. Partners sit opposite each other. All the cards are dealt out, two and three at a time, each receiving eight cards. The elder hand declares first, but instead of announcing one thing at a time, and awaiting the reply of his adversaries, he declares everything, and then plays a card. Suppose the cards are distributed as follows, Z being the dealer:-- [Illustration: ♠ K Q J 10 ♢ J 10 9 8 +-----------+ | Y | ♡ A; ♠ A; ♢ A Q | | ♡ K Q J; ♢ K 7 |A B| ♣ A Q J 10 | | ♣ K 9 8 | Z | +-----------+ ♡ 10 9 8 7 ♠ 9 8 7; ♣ 7 ] A announces 41 for his point, sequence of three to the Queen, four Aces, and says, “I play a club,” which is his lead for the first trick. If the second player admits all these to be good he says nothing, but plays a card. In this case, Y would announce four to the King, and four to the Jack, and would play a spade, having no club. B would then announce three Kings, which are good on account of his partner’s having four Aces; but both the sequences are shut out by Y’s better declarations.
Should a player take his partner’s deal and misdeal, the latter is liable to the usual penalty, and the adversary next in rotation to the player who ought to have dealt then deals. THE TRUMP CARD. 52. The dealer, when it is his turn to play to the first trick, should take the trump card into his hand; if left on the table after the first trick be turned and quitted, it is liable to be called; his partner may at any time remind him of the liability. 53. After the dealer has taken the trump card into his hand, it cannot be asked for; a player naming it at any time during the play of that hand is liable to have his highest or lowest trump called. 54. If the dealer take the trump card into his hand before it is his turn to play, he may be desired to lay it on the table; should he show a wrong card, this card may be called, as also a second, a third, etc., until the trump card be produced. 55.
Owing to the absence of the draw, there is no clue to the strength of an opponent’s hand, except his manner, and the amount of his bet. The hands shown are much weaker than the average of those at Draw Poker, being about equal to hands that a player in that game would come in on. Triplets are very strong at Straight Poker, and two pairs will win three out of four pools in a five-handed game. The great element of success is bluff. STUD POKER. The arrangements for the cards, seats, antes, buck, etc., are precisely as at Straight Poker; but in dealing, only the first card is dealt face down, the remaining four being turned up by the dealer as he gives them out. Each player in turn then looks at his _=down card=_, and the betting proceeds as in Straight Poker, each player having the privilege of passing once before a bet is made. A much more popular method is to stop the deal at two cards, each player having received one face down, and another face up. The best card showing then makes the first bet, and each player in turn must meet it, raise it, or pass out of that pool.
=_ The players bid against one another for the privilege of naming the trump suit, eldest hand having the first say. When no one will bid any higher, the player who has made the best offer names the game he wishes to play, with or without a partner. _=Games.=_ The rank of the various games, the amounts bid on them, and the payments made for them, are as follows:-- Simple in suit, 2; in colour, 4. Forcée or Solo in suit, 4; in colour, 8. Tout in Suit, 16; in colour, 32. _=Simple Game=_ is to play for five tricks with a partner holding a designated ace. If the trump is clubs, (in colour,) it is worth double, 4 counters. _=Solo=_ is five tricks without a partner. With clubs trumps it pays double, 8 counters.
Six players constitute a complete table. 19. After the table has been formed, the players cut to decide upon partners, the two lower play against the two higher. The lowest is the dealer, who has choice of cards and seats, and, having made his selection, must abide by it.[4] 20. The right to succeed players as they retire is acquired by announcing the desire to do so, and such announcements, in the order made, entitle candidates to fill vacancies as they occur. CUTTING OUT. 21. If, at the end of a rubber, admission be claimed by one or two candidates, the player or players who have played the greatest number of consecutive rubbers withdraw; when all have played the same number, they cut to decide upon the outgoers; the highest are out.[5] RIGHT OF ENTRY.
The combinations which may be declared and scored are the same as in Bézique, but owing to the use of four packs of cards double combinations are much more frequent, and triple combinations are not uncommon. The chief concern of the player must be, first of all, to save himself from a rubicon; that is, either to reach 1000 points, or to score as few points as possible. If he does not reach 1000, his adversary will take whatever he has scored, and add them to his own, besides 1300 in addition for rubicon and brisques. For instance: At the end of the hand A has scored 1200, and B has only 700. B is rubiconed, and his 700 points are added to A’s 1200, together with 1300 more for a rubicon game and brisques; giving A a grand total of 3200 points to nothing. Had B reached 1000, he would have saved his rubicon, and A would have scored the difference only, or 200 points, plus 500 for the game; 700 altogether. _=Brisques.=_ The aces and Tens of each suit are of no value unless it is necessary to count them to decide a tie, or to save a rubicon. They are never scored during the play of the hand. _=Declarations.
III. O have you seen the Shah, O have you seen the Shah? He lights his pipe on a star-light night, O have you seen the Shah? For a-hunting we will go, A-hunting we will go; We ll catch a fox and put him in a box, A-hunting we will go. --Epworth, Doncaster (C. C. Bell). (_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.