The expert at fortune telling has a stock of vague suggestions, supposed to be given by the cards, which are so framed as to draw from the client the drift of her hopes and fears. The scent once found, most of the fortune telling is in the nature of confirming the client’s own views of the situation. Nevertheless, when well done, by a good talker, fortune telling is very amusing, especially in a small company. BANKING GAMES. There are two distinct classes of banking games; those that can be played without any apparatus but a pack of cards and some counters; and those which require a permanent establishment and expensive paraphernalia. Among the first, probably the best known banking games are: Vingt-et-un, Baccara, Blind Hookey, and Fan Tan, the latter requiring only one card, the face of which is never seen. In the second class, which are often called table games, probably the best known are: Faro, Keno, Roulette, Rouge et Noir, and Chuck Luck. Each of these games has a number of offshoots, and the distinctions between the original and the variation are sometimes so minute as to be hardly worth mentioning. As a matter of reference, and for the convenience of those who hear these variations spoken of, their names and chief characteristics are here given. Banking games, properly so-called, are those in which one player is continually opposed to all the others.
_=Adversaries of the Misère.=_ In playing against a misère the chief difficulty is to prevent the caller from discarding, and to place the lead with the player who can probably do him the most harm. It is an axiom with solo-whist players that every misère can be defeated, if the weak spot in it can be found; because if the misère was absolutely safe, it would be played as a spread, which would pay the caller twice as much. This is not true, however, for it often happens that the cards are so distributed in the other hands that the call cannot be defeated, however risky it may have been. The weak point in a misère is usually a short suit with one high card in it; or a suit of intermediate length, without the deuce. As it is probable that the caller is short in suits in which the adversaries are long, and long in those in which they are short, he is less likely to get a discard if they lead their shortest suits first. If the misère player has over-called a proposal or a solo, he is likely to be short in the trump suit, or at least safe in it. It is not good play to lead a single Ace; but a King may be very effective; for if no one plays the Ace on it, that card may be absolutely marked in the caller’s hand. In such a case the adversary with the greatest number of that suit should keep it for the attack. If this player can get into the lead, he is not only sure of preventing the caller from discarding, but of allowing the other adversaries to discard to advantage.
I did so! I did so! I had a little dog that said Bow! wow! I had a little cat that said Meow! meow! Shan t bite you--shan t bite you-- Shall bite you. --Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 52). VIII. I sent a letter to my love, I carried water in my glove, I dript it, I dropped it, and by the way I lost it. --Hersham, Surrey (_Folk-lore Record_, v. 87). IX. I have a pigeon in my pocket, If I have not lost it; Peeps in, peeps out, By the way I ve lost it; Drip, drop, By the way I ve lost it. --Earls Heaton (H.
See Conquerors. Cock One boy is chosen Cock. The players arrange themselves in a line along one side of the playground. The Cock takes his stand in front of the players. When everything is ready, a rush across the playground is made by the players. The Cock tries to catch and croon --_i.e._, put his hand upon the head of--as many of the players as he can when running from one side of the playground to the other. Those caught help the Cock in the rush back. The rush from side to side goes on till all are captured.
This must now be put down on the score-sheet. A-B’s honours not counting, as Y-Z went out by cards, the game is a double; A-B not having reached 7 points. The score and markers now stand:-- A-B | 0 | | | | | | | Score: | | | | | | | | Y-Z | 2 | | | | | | | [Illustration: A-B’S, NOTHING. Y-Z’S, 1 GAME, 6 POINTS.] Let us suppose A-B to announce grand on their deal, and to make four by cards, which, multiplied by 8, gives them 32 points; that is, three games, and 2 points to their credit on the marker. The first of these games is a double, Y-Z having 6 points up. The two others are quadruples, put down on the score-sheet thus:-- A-B | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | | | | Score: | | | | | | | | Y-Z | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | [Illustration: A-B’S, 3 GAMES, 2 POINTS. Y-Z’S, 1 GAME, 0 POINTS.] In the next hand let us suppose clubs to be cayenne. Y deals, and plays in colour, spades.
Easther (_Almondbury Glossary_) describes it as played with a wooden ball, a spel, and a pommel. Two may play, or two sides. When a player goes in he drives the knor for, say, 100 yards, _i.e._, five score, and he reckons five. Each person has the same number of strokes previously agreed upon, but generally only one innings. The spell is a kind of stage with three or four feet, to drive it into the ground. On the top of this stage is a spring made of steel, containing a cup to receive the knor, which is about one or two inches in diameter, and is made of holly or box. The spring is kept down by a sneck, which is tapped by the pommel when the knor is intended to be struck. The pommel is thus formed--the driving part is frequently of ash-root or owler, in shape like half a sugar-loaf split lengthwise, but only three or four inches long, and the handle is of ash, wrapped with a wax band where held, which is in one hand only.
It being to the advantage of the player with a good suit to exhaust the trumps, it must be desirable to his adversaries to keep theirs, if possible, for the purpose of ruffing this good suit. Trumps are also useful as cards of re-entry, when a player has an established suit, but has not the lead; their most important use, however, is in defending or stopping established suits. _=Rules for Leading Trumps.=_ With five or more trumps, the beginner should always begin by leading them, regardless of the rest of his hand. With three or less he should never lead them, unless he has very strong cards in _=all=_ the plain suits. With four trumps exactly, he should lead them if he has an established suit and a card of re-entry in another suit. A card of re-entry in plain suits is one which is pretty sure to win a trick, such as an Ace, or a guarded King. The following are examples of hands from which trumps should be led originally by a beginner;-- Hearts are trumps in every case. ♡ J 8 6 4 2; ♣ K 3 2; ♢ 10 9 2; ♠ 7 5. ♡ Q 10 2; ♣ A K 5; ♢ K Q 10 9; ♠ A Q 3.
--Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). XI. We re come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, Come to see Jenny Jones, how is she now? Jenny is a-washing, a-washing, a-washing, Jenny is a-washing, you can t see her now. Very well, ladies, very well, ladies, Very well, ladies, we can t see her now. [Then follow the same verses for-- (1) ironing, (2) badly, (3) dead; And the singing proceeds with--] Please, will white do, white do, white do? Please, will white do, please, will it do? White s for the weddingers, the weddingers, White s for the weddingers, that won t do. Please, will blue do, blue do, blue do? Please, will blue do, please will it do? [Then follow verses as before, beginning-- Blue s for the sailors, the sailors, the sailors. Please, will red do, red do? Red s for the soldiers. Then--] Please, will black do, black do, black do? Black s for the funeral, black will do. --Northamptonshire (Rev. W.
_=Dealing.=_ The entire pack is distributed, the dealer giving each player in rotation two or three cards in each round. No trump is turned. All irregularities in the deal are governed by the same laws as at Hearts; but a misdeal does not lose the deal under any circumstances. The same dealer must deal again. _=Objects of the Game.=_ The object in Slobberhannes is to avoid taking either the first or the last trick, or any trick containing the Queen of clubs. The player who wins any of these loses one point, and if he wins all three of them, he loses an extra point, or four altogether. The penalty for a revoke is also the loss of a point. _=Method of Playing.
Each player then selected his force from the available soldiers in this way: he counted infantry as 1 each, cavalry as 1-1/2, and a gun as 10, and, taking whatever he liked in whatever position he liked, he made up a total of 150. He could, for instance, choose 100 infantry and 5 guns, or 100 cavalry and no guns, or 60 infantry, 40 cavalry, and 3 guns. In the result, a Boer-like cavalry force of 80 with 3 guns suffered defeat at the hands of 110 infantry with 4. SIZE OF THE SOLDIERS The soldiers used should be all of one size. The best British makers have standardised sizes, and sell infantry and cavalry in exactly proportioned dimensions; the infantry being nearly two inches tall. There is a lighter, cheaper make of perhaps an inch and a half high that is also available. Foreign-made soldiers are of variable sizes. IV THE BATTLE OF HOOK S FARM AND now, having given all the exact science of our war game, having told something of the development of this warfare, let me here set out the particulars of an exemplary game. And suddenly your author changes. He changes into what perhaps he might have been--under different circumstances.
The players play alternately. This game was played for the most part at Christmas.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor). (_b_) Hairry = rob, Bossie = a wooden bowl, commonly used for making the leaven in baking oat-cakes, and for making brose. This is a very general game amongst schoolboys. Half-Hammer The game of Hop-step-and-jump, Norfolk. This game is played in the west of Sussex, but not in the east. It is played thus by two or more boys.
|A dust, a dust, a | | | | |dust. | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.|Come all ye pretty |Come all ye pretty |We want a pretty | | |maids. |maids. |maiden. | | 7.|And dance along with |Dance upon the grass. |To walk along with us.
_=The Revoke.=_ For this dummy is not liable to any penalty, as his adversaries can see his cards. Even should the revoke be occasioned by dummy’s cards being disarranged, or one of them covered up, the adversaries should be as able to detect the error as the partner. Should dummy’s hand revoke, it cannot be remedied after the trick in which it occurs has been turned and quitted; and the game must proceed as if no revoke had occurred. All the penalties for a revoke may be enforced against dummy’s partner, should he renounce in error, and not correct it in time. There being no American laws for dummy, the English penalty of three tricks or three points may be enforced, and the revoking player cannot win the game that hand. _=Cards Played in Error.=_ Dummy’s partner is not liable to any penalty for cards dropped face upwards on the table, or two or more played at once, because it is obvious that Dummy cannot gain any advantage from such exposed cards. _=Leading out of Turn.=_ Should either dummy or his partner lead out of turn, the adversaries may call a suit from the one that should have led.
=_ At the end of each hand, each player or side should claim all honours won, and cards taken in. One player should keep the score, and announce it distinctly, in order that it may be known how many points each player or side requires to win the game. In the case of ties, the Ten counts out first; then cards; then A K Q of trumps in their order, and the Jack last. A revoke, if detected and claimed before the cards are cut for the next deal, immediately ends the game. _=METHODS OF CHEATING.=_ When only one pack is used, the greek can often succeed in dealing himself the Jack of trumps, and usually loses no time in marking the Ten, so that he can at least distinguish the player to whom it is dealt. A player should be carefully watched who keeps his eyes on the pack while shuffling, or who rivets his attention on the backs of the cards as he deals. Two packs should be used in all round games of cards. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ The chief counting elements that are affected by the play being the trump Ten and the cards, it is usual to devote particular attention to winning them.
--Northants (Rev. W. D. Sweeting). VIII. Draw a bucket of water For my lady s daughter; One go rush, and the other go hush, Pretty young lady, bop under my bush. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). IX. Draw a bucket of water For the farmer s daughter; Give a gold ring and a silver watch, Pray, young lady, pop under. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews).
And so she lays down the cushion before a man, who, kneeling upon it, salutes her, she singing-- Welcom, John Sanderson, &c. Then, he taking up the cushion, they take hands and dance round, singing as before. And thus they do till the whole company are taken into the ring. And then the cushion is laid before the first man, the woman singing, This dance, &c. (as before), only instead of come to, they sing go fro, and instead of Welcom, John Sanderson, &c., they sing Farewel, John Sanderson, farewel, farewel; and so they go out one by one as they came in. _Note_, that the woman is kiss d by all the men in the ring at her coming in and going out, and the like of the man by the woman.--_The Dancing Master_: London, printed by J. P., and sold by John Playford at his shop near the Temple Church, 1686, 7th edition.
But if the marriage is first announced, the A 10 J may be added and the sequence scored, after winning another trick. Cards once used in combination cannot again be used in combinations of equal value of the same class. For instance: Four Kings have been declared, and one of them afterward used in the course of play. The player cannot add a new King to the three remaining, and announce four Kings again. A marriage in spades has been declared, and the King got rid of in play. A new King of spades will not make another marriage with the old Queen. A bézique has been scored, and the Jack got rid of in play; a new Jack of diamonds will not make another bézique with the old Queen. Some judgment is necessary in making announcements, the question of time being often important. Suppose hearts are trumps, and the winner of the trick holds double bézique, sixty Queens, and a royal marriage:-- [Illustration: 🃋 🃋 🂭 🂭 🃍 🂽 🂾 ] He cannot lay all these cards down at once, and claim 600 points. Neither can he lay down four Queens and two Jacks, and score 560; nor four Queens and a King and score 100.
... II THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERN LITTLE WARFARE THE beginning of the game of Little War, as we know it, became possible with the invention of the spring breechloader gun. This priceless gift to boyhood appeared somewhen towards the end of the last century, a gun capable of hitting a toy soldier nine times out of ten at a distance of nine yards. 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.
, described in connection with whist, are those employed in dummy. _=Position of the Players.=_ The players are distinguished, as at whist, by the two first and last letters of the alphabet, and their positions at the table are indicated in the same manner. There is no mark to distinguish the dummy hand; a defect which is remedied in the French system. _=Dealing.=_ At the beginning of a rubber, dummy’s partner presents the pack to his _=left-hand=_ adversary to be cut, and deals from right to left, beginning with the player on his right, and turning up the last card for dummy’s trump. When two packs are used, there is no rule as to which player shall collect and shuffle the still pack. On this point the French rules are very explicit. The general rules with regard to irregularities in the deal are the same as at whist. The cards having been dealt, it is usual for dummy’s partner to take up and sort the dummy first.
Mount the Tin One child throws a tin (any kind of tin will do) to some distance, and then walks towards it without looking round. The other children, in the meantime, hide somewhere near. The child who threw the tin has to guard it, and at the same time try to find those who are hiding. If he sees one he must call the name, and run to strike the tin with his foot. He does this until each one has been discovered. As they are seen they must stand out. The one who was first found has to guard the tin next time. Should one of the players be able to strike the tin while the keeper is absent, that player calls out, Hide again. They can then all hide until the same keeper discovers them again.--Beddgelert (Mrs.
| -- |Says the little D. | -- | | 8.| -- | -- | -- | | 9.|My fair lady. |Fair lady. |My fair lady. | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.| -- | -- | -- | |13.
The objection to this practice was that many hands were worth much more than 2 points, and in some cases the spade make would have gone game at the score. This led to the practice of playing “royal spades,” which were played at 10 and then at 9 a trick, sometimes with a penalty of 20 if the declarer failed to make the odd. Shortly after this, later in 1910, there developed a decided rebellion against the dealer’s monopoly of the make, and in order to allow any player at the table who held good cards to get the benefit of them, whether he was the dealer or not, bidding for the privilege of making the trump came into vogue. This was the starting point of auction, its chief difference from the older game being that only the side that made the highest bid for the declaration could score toward game. The full number of tricks bid had to be made, and if they were not made, the adversaries scored in the honour column for penalties, the penalty being always the same, regardless of the trump suit. The great disparity in the values of the suits as then played practically confined the bidding to the hearts and royal spades. This soon brought about another change, which was to raise the values of all the suits except spades and to cut down the no-trumper. This was done in 1912, and made it possible for any suit to go game on the hand. All the well known writers on whist and bridge came out with text-books on auction, and the newspapers took up the subject in weekly articles. Although to many the game now seemed perfect, there were those that felt the helplessness of weak hands to offer any defence in the bidding against a run of no-trumpers or hearts and royals.
Any person having announced to play alone, either of his adversaries may play alone against him; discarding and taking partner’s best card in the same manner. Should the lone player who makes the trump be euchred by the lone player opposing him, the euchre counts four points. It is considered imperative for a player holding the Joker, or the right bower guarded, to play alone against the lone hand, taking his partner’s best; for as it is evident that the lone hand cannot succeed, there is a better chance to euchre it with all the strength in one hand than divided. If any player, in his proper turn, announces to play alone, and asks for his partner’s best, the partner cannot refuse; neither can he propose to play alone instead. _=Scoring.=_ With the exception of the four points for euchreing a lone hand, the scoring is exactly the same as in the ordinary four-handed game; but there are one or two variations which are sometimes agreed upon beforehand in order to make points still more rapidly. _=Laps.=_ If a player makes more points than are necessary to win the game, the additional points are counted on the next game, so that there is always an inducement to play lone hands, even with 4 points up. _=Slams.=_ If one side reaches five points before the other has scored, it is a slam, and counts _=two games=_.
XIV. I have a little dog and it lives in my pocket. It shan t bite you, &c. Now you re married I hope you ll enjoy First a girl and then a boy; Seven years gone, and two to come, So take her and kiss her and Send her off home. --Wolstanton, North Staffs. Potteries (Miss A. A. Keary). (_b_) In Dorsetshire a ring is formed by all the players joining hands except one. The odd player, carrying a handkerchief, commences to walk slowly round the outside of the ring, repeating the words; then, touching each one with her handkerchief as she passes, she says, Not you, not you, not you, &c.