IV. Blackthorn! Butter-milk and barley-corn; How many sheep have you to-day? As many as you catch and carry away. --Earls Heaton, Yorkshire (Herbert Hardy). (_b_) One set of children stand against a wall, another set stand opposite, facing them. The first set sing the first line, the others replying with the second line, and so with the third and fourth lines. The two sides then rush over to each other, and the second set are caught. The child who is caught last becomes one of the first set for another game. This is the Earls Heaton version. The Lancashire game, as described by Miss Dendy, is: One child stands opposite a row of children, and the row run over to the opposite side, when the one child tries to catch them. The prisoners made, join the one child, and assist her in the process of catching the others.
=_ The methods just described for a match of club against club are identical with those which are used in a contest between two teams of four; the only difference being that of proportion. In the latter case there will be only one set, of two tables, and only four score-cards to compare. The change of partners should be exhaustive in team matches; which will require six sets. _=TEAMS AGAINST TEAMS.=_ When several quartette teams compete with one another, Howell’s system of arrangement will be found the best. There are two methods; for odd and for even numbers of teams. _=Odd Numbers of Teams.=_ This is the simplest form of contest. Let us suppose five teams to offer for play, which we shall distinguish by the letters, _=a=_, _=b=_, _=c=_, _=d=_, _=e=_, arranging each at its own table thus:-- N a b c d e W + E a 1 a b 2 b c 3 c d 4 d e 5 e S a b c d e [Illustration: +---------------------------------+ +---------------------------------+ | MANHATTAN WHIST CLUB | | MANHATTAN WHIST CLUB | |Table No 1 May 6 1895 | |Table No 1 May 6 1895 | | O Team | | X Team | | 1 Chinery 3 Bullock | | 1 D. Jones 3 M.