, p. 138. Boys, boys, come out to play, The moon doth shine as bright as day; Come with a whoop, come with a call, Come with a goodwill or don t come at all; Lose your supper and lose your sleep, So come to your playmates in the street. --_Useful Transactions in Philosophy_, p. 44. This rhyme is repeated when it is decided to begin any game, as a general call to the players. The above writer says it occurs in a very ancient MS., but does not give any reference to it. Halliwell quotes the four first lines, the first line reading Boys and girls, instead of Boys, boys, from a curious ballad written about the year 1720, formerly in the possession of Mr. Crofton Croker (_Nursery Rhymes_).
But Boston is usually played for such high stakes that it naturally attracts those possessing a high degree of skill, and the system adopted is usually that of counting down. The greek will watch for a hand in which there is little changing of suits, and will note the manner of taking up the cards. The next hand does not interest him, as he is busy studying the location of the cards in the still pack. When this comes into play on the next deal, he will follow every cut, and finally cut for himself so that the desired distribution of the suits shall come about. Even if he fails to secure an invincible hand for bidding on himself, he knows so nearly the contents of the other hands that he can bid them up, and afterwards play against them to great advantage. It is unnecessary to say that if a greek can mark the cards, the game becomes a walkover, even if he can recollect only the hand on his left. _=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.
] Cockertie-hooie This game consists simply of one boy mounting on the neck of another, putting a leg over each shoulder and down his breast. The boy that carries takes firm hold of the legs of the one on his neck, and sets off at a trot, and runs hither and thither till he becomes tired of his burden. The bigger the one is who carries, the more is in the enjoyment to the one carried.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor). See Cock s-headling. Cockle-bread Young wenches have a wanton sport, which they call moulding of Cocklebread; viz. they gett upon a Table-board, and then gather-up their knees and their coates with their hands as high as they can, and then they wabble to and fro with their Buttocks as if the[y] were kneading of Dowgh, and say these words, viz.:-- My Dame is sick and gonne to bed, And I le go mowld my cockle-bread.
It has completely superseded all the spiral-spring and other makes of gun hitherto used in playroom warfare. These spring breechloaders are made in various sizes and patterns, but the one used in our game is that known in England as the four-point-seven gun. It fires a wooden cylinder about an inch long, and has a screw adjustment for elevation and depression. It is an altogether elegant weapon. It was with one of these guns that the beginning of our war game was made. It was at Sandgate--in England. [Illustration: Showing a country prepared for the war game] [Illustration: Showing countries prepared for the war game] The present writer had been lunching with a friend--let me veil his identity under the initials J. K. J.--in a room littered with the irrepressible debris of a small boy s pleasures.
_You_ were my vigorish! We rode the copter together to the airport. Old Grand Master Maragon would sneer out of the other side of his face when I brought Pheola to him. He couldn t keep _her_ from PC training. She _had_ it. Tell me, I asked her. Can you always tell what I m going to do next? I reckon, she said. If I think hard about it. But you can t _control_ what I m going to do next, can you? I grinned. I wonder, she said. Never tried, yet.
Perception is nice in the dark. I tracked her automatically. What was the vow you broke? I said. She sighed, near me. I divorced my husband, my own darlin Billy, she said. There s no divorce in Heaven. Tough, I said. I thought _I_ was her darlin Billy. Talk about Double-think! Will you miss never having a man again? I mean, once you ve been a wife-- I added, letting it drift off. God has been good to me, she said out of the dark.
A has royal marriage and Ace of trumps in his hand, and the Nine is turned up. If A closes, and so compels B to follow suit, he must catch the Jack or Ten of trumps by leading the Ace. If he catches the Jack, that will put him to 26, and showing the royal marriage will put him 66, and make B schneider. If B has no trump, one of the marriage cards can be led without any fear of losing it, and that will put A to 66, even if B plays a Nine to both leads. But if A leads the ace of trumps without closing, B is not compelled to follow suit, and might play the Nine of a plain suit to the Ace of trumps. If A then closed or played on without closing, B might win one of the marriage cards with the Ten, and not only get out of schneider, but reach 66 in plain suits before A could win another trick. On the same principle, a player may think he can reach 66 before his adversary can win a trick, provided he can compel him to follow suit. With two plain-suit Aces and the royal marriage, the pone would close before playing to the first trick, trusting to catch at least 4 points with his two aces, and then to show the marriage, making his adversary schwartz. Some judgment is necessary in deciding whether or not to draw before closing. If a player is allowed to draw, he may get a trump, or a guard to one that you suspect he has.
My room was on the third floor of the flea-bag. Part of the place was only two stories high. The door at the end of my corridor opened out onto the roof. When I had calmed down, I stepped through the door into the cool of the desert night. * * * * * The gravel on the built-up roof crunched in the darkness under my feet as I walked cautiously to the parapet and looked over its edge to the hunk of desert that stretched away toward Reno, out behind the motel. The third story, behind me, cut off the neon glare from the Strip and left the place in inky darkness. There was silence and invisibility out behind the motel. Feeling a little creaky about falling a couple stories to the ground, I lay down on my back on the narrow parapet, with my hands behind my head to soften the concrete a little, and looked straight up into the night sky. A dawdling August Perseid scratched a thin mark of light across the blackness. I heard a coyote howl.
For similar rhymes see Dump, Mother, may I go out? Hey Wullie Wine I. Hey Wully wine, and How Wully wine, I hope for hame ye ll no incline; Ye ll better light, and stay a night, And I ll gie thee a lady fine. Wha will ye gie, if I wi ye bide, To be my bonny blooming bride, And lie down lovely by my side? I ll gie thee Kate o Dinglebell, A bonny body like yersell. I ll stick her up in the pear-tree Sweet and meek, and sae is she: I lo ed her ance, but she s no for me, Yet I thank ye for your courtesy. I ll gie thee Rozie o the Cleugh, I m sure she ll please thee weel eneugh. Up wi her on the bane dyke, She ll be rotten or I ll be ripe: She s made for some ither, and no me, Yet I thank ye for your courtesy. Then I ll gie ye Nell o sweet Sprinkell, Owre Galloway she bears the bell. I ll set her up in my bed-head, And feed her wi milk and bread; She s for nae ither, but jist for me, Sae I thank ye for your courtesy. --Mactaggart s _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_. II.
=_ Counters of any kind are not used in Skat, as the score is kept on a writing pad, which should be ruled into vertical columns for the number of players engaged. _=PLAYERS.=_ Skat is played by three persons. If there are four at the table the dealer takes no cards, but shares the fortunes of those who are opposed to the single player, winning and losing on each hand whatever they win and lose. If there are five or six at the table, the dealer gives cards to the two on his left, and the one next him on the right. Those holding no cards share the fortunes of the two who are opposed to the single player. After the table is formed, no one can join the game without the consent of all those already in, and then only after a _=round=_; that is, after each player at the table has had an equal number of deals. Should any player cut into a table during the progress of a game, he must take his seat at the right of the player who dealt the first hand. When six persons offer for play, it is much better to form two tables, but some persons object to playing continuously, and like the rest given to the dealer when more than three play. There are always three active players in Skat.
If the player will not exchange, he must _=knock=_ on the table, to signify that he will stand by the cards he has. If he exchanges, he takes up the offered card, and then has the privilege of trading for ready money or for barter himself. The trading goes on in this way round and round, until some player knocks, when all trading is immediately stopped, and the hands are shown. The best hand wins the pool, the rank of the various combinations being as follows, beginning with the highest:-- _=Triplets.=_ Three aces being the highest, and three deuces the lowest. Pairs have no value. _=Sequence Flushes=_; the ace being allowed to rank as the top or the bottom; Q K A, or A 2 3. _=The Point=_; the greatest number of pips on two or three cards of the same suit in one hand, counting the ace for eleven, and the other court-cards for ten each. A single card of a suit does not count for the point. In case of ties, a point made with three cards will beat one made with two cards.
The dealer makes no extra payments, as he has no perquisites. The first player to lose his three counters pays for the whiskey; and if two or more are frozen out at the same time, the one with the worst hand pays. The game is sometimes varied by playing freeze-out, a value being attached to the three counters, and players who are decavé retiring from the game until all the counters have been won by a single player. Two other combinations are sometimes introduced in either form of Commerce: A flush, three cards of one suit, ranking next below the straight flush; and a single pair outranking the point. Another variety of Commerce is variously known as _=My Ship Sails; or My Bird Sings=_. The counters have a money value, and three are given to each player. Three cards are dealt, face down, and one at a time. There is no widow. The eldest hand may then exchange one card with the player on his left, who must give his card before seeing the one he is to receive. The exchange goes round to the left.
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. _=PROGRESSIVE HEARTS.=_ The general arrangements for the players and their positions are exactly the same as those already described in connection with Progressive Euchre. The players at each table cut for the deal, and play begins with the tap of the bell at the head table. Only one deal is played at each table. There are no counters. At the end of the hand the ladies compare their cards, and the one having the fewer hearts goes to the next higher table. The gentlemen then compare their cards in the same way, so that one lady and one gentleman go up from each table at the end of every hand. They take the seats vacated by those leaving the table they go to. All ties are determined by cutting, those cutting the lower cards going up.
_=Kimberly Solo=_ is for four players, without any proposal and acceptance, solo being the lowest call. If all pass, a six-trick solo with a different trump is allowed. TEXT BOOKS. Solo Whist, by R.F. Green. How to Play Solo Whist, by Wilks & Pardon. For the Laws of Solo Whist, see Whist Family Laws. ILLUSTRATIVE SOLO WHIST HANDS. The dealer, Z, turns up the heart 3 in both hands, and A leads.
Drop Handkerchief. Dropping the Letter. Duck under the Water. Duck at the Table. Duck Dance. Duck Friar. Ducks and Drakes. Duckstone. Duffan Ring. Dumb Crambo.
(_c_) This game is called School-teacher in Belfast. The corruption of Lady of the Land, to Babyland, Babylon, and Sandiland, is manifest. It appears to be only fragmentary in its present form, but the versions undoubtedly indicate that the origin of the game arises from the practice of hiring servants. Mr. Halliwell has preserved another fragmentary rhyme, which he thinks may belong to this game. I can make diet bread Thick and thin, I can make diet bread Fit for the king; (No. cccxliv.) which may be compared with the rhyme given by Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 136), and another version given by Halliwell, p. 229.
If a player makes an erroneous score, it must be taken down, and his adversary marks it as penalty. When a player cannot follow suit, he must draw from the bone-yard until he gets a domino that can be played; but the last two in the stock must never be drawn. When one player gets rid of all his bones, he calls _=domino=_, and scores the nearest multiple of five that is found in the dominoes remaining in his adversary’s hand. Remainders of 3 or 4 count as 5; those of 1 or 2 as nothing; so that 12 pips would count as 10; but 13 would count as 15. The players usually settle at the end of the game for the difference between their scores. Muggins is sometimes varied by playing from both ends of the first doublet set, as well as from the sides. It is not necessary to play on the ends of the first set until one cannot play on the line; but any of the four points may be played to at any time. The end of the first doublet does not count in making multiples of five, but the ends of any dominoes played to it must be counted. If only one end of the first doublet has been played to, there will be three ends to count to make multiples of five; and if both ends of the first doublet have been played to, there will be four ends. Every count must take in all the ends that are in play.
--Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy). Bung the Bucket [Music] --London (J. P. Emslie). [Illustration] A number of boys divide themselves into two sides. One side, the Buckets, stoop down, as for Leap-frog, arranging themselves one in front of the other. The hindmost supports himself against the one in front of him, and the front one supports himself against a wall (fig.). They thus make an even and solid row of their backs. The other side, the Bungs, leap on to the backs of the Buckets, the first one going as far up the row as possible, the second placing himself close behind the first, and so on.
Haddon (Cambridge); Mrs. Harley (Lancashire); and Miss Burne, Platt, near Wrotham (Kent). There are also similar printed versions in _Folk-lore Journal_, vi. 214 (Dorsetshire); _Folk-lore Record_, v. 84 (Hersham, Surrey). Northall prints a version in his _Folk Rhymes_, 362-3, identical with No. 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.
Such a proceeding would evidently be a losing game, for if the experiment were tried twelve times the player would win once only, and would lose eleven times. This would be paying eleven dollars to win three; yet poker players are continually doing this. _=RANK OF THE HANDS.=_ The various combinations at Poker outrank one another in the following order, beginning with the lowest. Cards with a star over them add nothing to the value of the hand, and may be discarded. The figures on the right are the odds against such a hand being dealt to any individual player. Five cards of various suits; not in sequence, and without a pair. [Illustration: 🂡* 🃘* 🂶* 🂴* 🂢*] Even _=One Pair.=_ Two cards of one kind and three useless cards. [Illustration: 🂨 🃘 🃞* 🂭* 🂴*] 34 to 25 _=Two Pairs.
--Madeley, Shropshire (Miss Burne). XIV. Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green, The fairest young lady that ever was seen. As I went up Miss Betsey s stairs to buy a frying-pan, There sat Miss Betsey a-kissing her young man. She pulled off her glove and showed me her ring, And the very next morning the bells did ring. Dear Betsey, dear Betsey, your true love is dead, He s sent you a letter to turn back your head. --Summertown, Oxford (A. H. Franklin, _Midland Garner_, vol. ii.
| | 25.| -- | -- | -- | | 26.|I ll take [ ] for my|Take [ ] for my | -- | | |bride. |bride. | | | 27.| -- | -- | -- | | 28.| -- | -- |Apprentice for your | | | | |sake. | | 29.| -- | -- | -- | | 30.| -- | -- |If this young man | | | | |should happen to die.
|Grant said the little | -- | -- | | |bee. | | | | 8.| -- |Dance o er my lady | -- | | | |lee. | | | 9.| -- | -- |My fair lady. | |10.| -- |With a gay lady. | -- | |11.|Where I d be. | -- | -- | |12.
* Practical Guide to Whist, by Fisher Ames. x Short-Suit Whist, by Val. W. Starnes. * Short Whist, by James Clay. * Theory of Whist, by Dr. W. Pole. * Whist, or Bumblepuppy, by “Pembridge.” Whist Developments, by “Cavendish.
Each party must be bound by the move communicated in writing, or by word of mouth, to the adversary whether or not it be made on the adversary’s board. If the move so communicated should prove to be different from that actually made on the party’s own board, the latter must be altered to accord with the former. IV. If either party be detected in moving the men when it is not their turn to play, or in moving more than one man (except in castling) when it is their turn to play, they shall forfeit the game, unless they can show that the man was moved for the purpose of adjusting or replacing it. V. If either party has, accidentally or otherwise, removed a man from the board, which has not been captured in the course of the game, and made certain moves under the impression that such man was no longer in play, the moves must stand, but the man may be replaced whenever the error is discovered. VI. If either party permit a bystander to take part in the contest, that party shall forfeit the game. * * * * * The foregoing laws differ very slightly from those of the British Chess Association, and it is to be hoped that an international code will be agreed upon before a second edition of this work is issued. CHECKERS, OR DRAUGHTS.
After a time we find a variation introduced in which any number from two to six could play, each for himself, and the player first winning two tricks out of the five marked the point. Later still we find the ace ranking above the King, thus becoming the best trump. If the ace was turned up, the dealer had the privilege of robbing it, or the holder of the ace of trumps could rob the turn-up, discarding any card he pleased, just as in Spoil Five. But in Triomphe the dealer turned up another card, and if that was of the trump suit the holder of the ace could rob that also, and so on until he turned a card of a different suit. This did not alter the trump, but merely stopped the robbing process. 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.