The players string for the lead, the one bringing his ball nearer the head cushion having the choice of balls and of the first shot. The great art in the American game is to keep the balls in front of you, so as to leave yourself a comparatively easy shot. Every time you get the cue ball between the two others you will find yourself in difficulties; but whenever both the balls are in front of the cue ball, there will be some chance to score. When there is a choice of several ways of making a shot, the balls being wide apart, it will usually be found that one of them will bring the balls into better position than the others, and for that reason it is called a _=gathering shot=_. The expert tries to get the balls on the rail by a series of these gathering shots, and if any of the three positions shown in the diagram can be arrived at, a large run may be made by the _=rail nurse=_. When the balls are not left in one of these positions they are said to _=break=_, but there are several positions in which they may be recovered by a kiss or a massé shot. In No. 4, the player must be careful to come back on the proper side of the carrom ball, so as to get back to position 2, if possible. [Illustration] [Illustration] [Illustration] When the player reaches the corner, there are three principal positions for accomplishing the turn. In the first shown, the spot white must be touched very lightly on the left side, the cue ball going to the cushion with a strong English on the right side.
The games consist of two main divisions, which may be called descriptive, and singing or choral. The descriptive games are arranged so as to give the most perfect type, and, where they occur, variable types in succession, followed, where possible, by any suggestions I have to make as to the possible origin of the game. The singing games are arranged so as to give, first, the tunes; secondly, the different versions of the game-rhymes; thirdly, the method of playing; fourthly, an analysis of the game-rhymes on a plan arranged by my husband, and which is an entirely novel feature in discussing the history of games; fifthly, a discussion of the results of the analysis of the rhymes so far as the different versions allow; and sixthly, an attempt to deduce from the evidence thus collected suggestions as to the probable origin of the game, together with such references to early authorities and other facts bearing upon the subject as help to elucidate the views expressed. Where the method of playing the game is involved, or where there are several changes in the forms, diagrams or illustrations, which have been drawn by Mr. J. P. Emslie, are inserted in order to assist the reader to understand the different actions, and in one or two instances I have been able to give a facsimile reproduction of representations of the games from early MSS. in the Bodleian and British Museum Libraries. Although none of the versions of the games now collected together are in their original form, but are more or less fragmentary, it cannot, I think, fail to be noticed how extremely interesting these games are, not only from the point of view of the means of amusement (and under this head there can be no question of their interest), but as a means of obtaining an insight into many of the customs and beliefs of our ancestors. Children do not invent, but they imitate or mimic very largely, and in many of these games we have, there is little doubt, unconscious folk-dramas of events and customs which were at one time being enacted as a part of the serious concerns of life before the eyes of children many generations ago.
Michael s and St. Paul s. At Kirkwall the contest was on New Year s Day, and was between up the gates and down the gates, the ball being thrown up at the Cross. At Scarborough, on the morning of Shrove Tuesday, hawkers paraded the streets with parti-coloured balls, which were purchased by all ranks of the community. With these, and armed with sticks, men, women, and children repaired to the sands below the old town and indiscriminately commenced a contest. The following graphic account of Welsh customs was printed in the _Oswestry Observer_ of March 2, 1887: In South Cardiganshire it seems that about eighty years ago the population, rich and poor, male and female, of opposing parishes, turned out on Christmas Day and indulged in the game of Football with such vigour that it became little short of a serious fight. The parishioners of Cellan and Pencarreg were particularly bitter in their conflicts; men threw off their coats and waistcoats and women their gowns, and sometimes their petticoats. At Llanwenog, an extensive parish below Lampeter, the inhabitants for football purposes were divided into the Bros and the Blaenaus. A man over eighty, an inmate of Lampeter Workhouse, gives the following particulars:--In North Wales the ball was called the Bêl Troed, and was made with a bladder covered with a Cwd Tarw. In South Wales it was called Bél Ddu, and was usually made by the shoe-maker of the parish, who appeared on the ground on Christmas Day with the ball under his arm.
586, says it was formerly the custom at weddings, both of the rich as well as the poor, to dance after dinner and supper. In an old Court masque of James I. s time, performed at the marriage ceremony of Philip Herbert and Lady Susan (MS. in the writer s possession), it is directed that, at the conclusion of the performance, after supper the company dance a round dance. This was dancing the bride to bed. William Chappell (_Notes and Queries_, ii. 442) says, I have a tune called A round dance to dance the bride to bed. It dates from about 1630, or earlier, and resembles that of The Hunt is up. Dancing was considered so essential at weddings (according to Grose) that if in a family the youngest daughter should chance to be married before her elder sisters, they must dance at her wedding without shoes. May not the custom of throwing of old and worn-out shoes after the bride have arisen from the practice of dancing? The danced-out shoes may have been the ones used.
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Bag o Malt A bag o malt, a bag o salt, Ten tens a hundred. --Northall s _English Folk Rhymes_, p. 394. Two children stand back to back, linked near the armpits, and weigh each other as they repeat these lines. See Weigh the Butter. Ball I. Stottie ba , hinnie ba, tell to me How mony bairns am I to hae? Ane to live, and ane to dee, And ane to sit on the nurse s knee! --Chambers _Pop. Rhymes of Scotland_, p. 115. II.
If he possess the faculty of paying close attention to the game while he is playing, nothing should prevent his rapid progress. At first he may care little or nothing for “book” whist, but after some experience with book players, he is rather in danger of running to the other extreme, and putting more book into his game than it will carry. Having passed that stage, his next step is usually to invent some system of his own, and to experiment with every hand he plays. By degrees he finds that all special systems of play have some serious defects which over-balance their advantages, and this discovery gradually brings him back to first principles. If he gets so far safely, his game for all future time will probably be sound, common-sense whist, without any American leads, plain-suit echoes, or four-signals, and free from any attempts to take fourteen tricks with thirteen cards. When a whist-player reaches that point, he is probably as near the first class as the natural limitations of his mental abilities will ever permit him to go. _=THE LAWS=_ will be found at the end of the Whist Family of Games. ILLUSTRATIVE WHIST HANDS. A and B are partners against Y and Z. A is always the original leader, and Z is the dealer.
Ball and Bonnets. Ball in the Decker. Ball of Primrose. Baloon. Bandy-ball. Bandy-cad. Bandy-hoshoe. Bandy-wicket. Banger. Bar.
If the dealer takes more than one trick, his adversary scores five points penalty for each so taken. But if the dealer succeeds in taking only one trick, or none at all, he scores five points for every trick his adversary has taken over the book of six. _=PIVOT BRIDGE.=_ This is simply a movement of the players, very popular in social games, which requires that the four originally seated at a table shall remain at that table until the game is ended, and shall not cut for partners after the first rubber, but change in regular order. The usual way is for the first dealer to sit still all the time, the three other players moving round her in a circle at the end of each rubber. This will compel the player on her left to pass behind her and take the seat on her right. At the end of three rubbers, each will have had each of the others for a partner. When there are a number of tables in play, it will be necessary to have a prize for each, giving the first choice to the player who has the highest score in the room. When this method is adopted, it is not necessary to deduct the lower score from the higher at the end of each rubber, so that each player can keep what she gets, the comparative result being the same if the players remain at the same table. This method is open to the objection that if two strong players are opposed to weak ones all the time, it is a great advantage.
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) We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day? Poor Jenny is poorly, poorly, poorly, Poor Jenny is poorly, you can t see her to-day. When can we see her? At five o clock. (Clock strikes five.) We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day? Poor Jenny is dying, dying, dying, Poor Jenny is dying, you can t see her to-day. When shall we see her? (Come) at six o clock. (Clock strikes six.) We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, poor Jenny Jones, We ve come to see poor Jenny Jones, how is she to-day? Poor Jenny is dead, dead, dead, Poor Jenny is dead, you can t see her to-day. What colour will you have for the funeral for poor Jenny Jones? Red? Red is for the soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, Red is for the soldiers, and that won t do. Blue? Blue is for the sailors, sailors, sailors, Blue is for the sailors, and that won t do. Pink? Pink is for the babies, babies, babies, Pink is for the babies, and that won t do.