-- _Ascol._ The play called Fox to the hole.--_Empus._ Ludus Empusæ. Scotch hoppers, or Fox in the hole. A similar game to this is played at Earls Heaton, Yorkshire (Mr. Hardy), and called Goose and Gander. Two players, the Goose and the Gander, stand in a ring, each on one leg. They hop out in turn, and try to catch one of the other players without letting their other leg touch the ground. If they fail in this they get strapped back to the ring.
For instance: In Solo Whist, A is the proposer, B the acceptor, and B has an exposed card in front of him. When Y plays he should say whether or not he wishes to call the exposed card. If he says nothing, B must await Z’s decision. 22. If a player leads a card better than any his adversaries hold of the suit, and then leads one or more other cards without waiting for his partner to play, the latter may be called upon by either adversary to take the first trick, and the other cards thus improperly played are liable to be called; it makes no difference whether he plays them one after the other, or throws them all on the table together, after the first card is played, the others are liable to be called. 23. A player having a card liable to be called must not play another until the adversaries have stated whether or not they wish to call the card liable to the penalty. If he plays another card without awaiting the decision of the adversaries, such other card also is liable to be called. LEADING OUT OF TURN. 24.
If single-head cards are not at hand, the lower part of the double-head cards must be cancelled in some manner. The following are the interpretations of the various cards, the initial _=R=_ meaning that the card is reversed, or standing on its head. _=HEARTS.=_ Ace. The house, or home. King. A benefactor. _=R.=_ He will not be able to do you much good, although he means well. Queen.
Strutt (_Sports_, p. 317) says: This was why the game received this name. It was formerly called Nine Men s Morris and Five-penny Morris, and is a game of some antiquity. It was certainly much used by the shepherds formerly, and continues to be used by them and other rustics to the present hour. An illustration of the form of the merelle table and the lines upon it, as it appeared in the fourteenth century, is given by him, and he observes that the lines have not been varied. The black spots at every angle and intersection of the lines are the places for the men to be laid upon. The men are different in form and colour for distinction s sake, and from the moving these men backwards and forwards, as though they were dancing a morris, I suppose the pastime received the name of Nine Men s Morris, but why it should have been called Five-penny Morris I do not know. The manner of playing is briefly thus:--Two persons, having each of them nine pieces or men, lay them down alternately, one by one, upon the spots, and the business of either party is to prevent his antagonist from placing three of his pieces so as to form a row of three without the intervention of an opponent piece. If a row be formed, he that made it is at liberty to take up one of his competitor s pieces from any part he thinks most to his own advantage, excepting he has made a row, which must not be touched, if he have another piece upon the board that is not a component part of that row. When all the pieces are laid down they are played backwards and forwards in any direction that the lines run, but can only move from one spot to another at one time.
Ten. Prison. Nine. Vexatious delays in business matters. Eight. Bad news. If followed by the ♢ 7, quarrels. Seven. Quarrels which will be lasting unless the card is followed by some hearts. _=R.
At Sharleston the centre child says, What colour is t sky? The other answers, Blue. Centre child says, Follow me true. Here the centre child runs in and out between the others until the one who was touched catches her, when they change places, the first joining the children in the ring.--Sharleston (Miss Fowler). At Beddgelert, Wales (Mrs. Williams), this game is called Tartan Boeth. It is played in precisely the same manner as the English game, but the words used are: Tartan Boeth, Oh ma en llosgi, Boeth iawn Hot Tart. Oh, it burns! very hot! At the words, Very hot! the handkerchief is dropped. (_b_) In this game no kissing takes place, and that this is no mere accidental omission may be shown by Mr. Udal s description of the Dorsetshire game.
Then the 4, 1, 2 will make 4, 5, 6 and 7. Each side continues to throw until it fails to score, when the box must be passed to the adversary. If a combination is overlooked by one side, the other may count it if it continues the sequence on their side. HELP YOUR NEIGHBOUR. Six persons play, with three dice, and five points is Game. Each player has a number, from 1 to 6, and is provided with five counters, and the first to get rid of them wins. Each player in rotation has one throw, and no matter what he throws, the player whose number appears on the upper face of any die thrown counts one point toward game. If No. 2 should throw a four and two sixes, for instance, he would count nothing himself, but No. 4 would count 1, and No.
After that, any ball on the table may be played at, and if it is pocketed, the player has the option of playing at the black ball. If he pockets it, each player pays him the amount of a life, so that the player whose ball was first pocketed would have to pay two, one for his own ball and one for the black. If a ball is pocketed before the balls are all on the table, the player may play on the black; but the following players must play on their colours until the first round is complete. No one is ever dead, and the game may be continued indefinitely, although half an hour is the usual limit. The players share the expense of the table, as at Shell-out. ENGLISH BILLIARDS. This game is played with three balls, one red and two white. Every winning hazard off the red counts 3; hazards off the white count 2, and all carroms count 2. If a player makes a carrom and a losing hazard on the same stroke, it counts 5 if the red was the object ball; 4 if the white was the object ball. A player may make 10 on one stroke by playing on the red, making a carrom, and pocketing all three balls.
Hunt the Slipper. Hunt the Staigie. Hunting. Hurling. Hurly-burly. Huss. Hustle Cap. Hynny-pynny. ISABELLA. JACK S Alive.
These cards are then shuffled, face downward, and each player draws one. The highest of the sequence has the choice of positions, and so on down until all are seated. The player who draws the King deals the first hand. _=Stakes.=_ Each player purchases an equal number of counters from the banker, usually 100. This original _=cave=_ cannot be added to or deducted from. As long as a single counter of it remains the player must call for a sight, just as in freeze-out or table stakes; and not until he is _=decavé=_, [has lost everything,] can he purchase another stake, the amount of which is usually at his own option. _=Blind and Straddle.=_ Before the distribution of the cards, the dealer puts up a blind, usually five counters, which the player on his right has the privilege of straddling. If he straddles, he may be straddled again, and so on.
Should it then be discovered that he has not openers, the false opener is compelled to ante for all the players at the table for another Jack. This is usually called giving them a “free ride.” _=The Kitty=_ is now an almost universal adjunct to the pool. In clubs, it pays for the cards, and for an occasional round of refreshments; in small poker parties it defrays the expense of the weekly supper. When the amount is excessive, or accumulates too rapidly, it is often used to give the players a “free ride” by paying all their antes in a “kitty jack pot.” The kitty is usually kept by the banker, who takes a white counter out of every pool in which triplets or better are shown to the board, and a red counter out of every jack pot. These counters must be kept apart from the other chips, and must be accounted for at the end of the game by paying the kitty so much in cash, just as if it was one of the players. Gambling houses and poker rooms are supposed to derive their entire revenue from this source, and those of the lowest class invent endless excuses for taking out for the kitty. In many houses there is a sliding scale for various hands; one counter being taken for two pairs; two counters for triplets; three for straights or flushes; and a red for fours, jack pots, and misdeals. It is not uncommon for the proprietors of such games to find thirty or forty dollars in the kitty after a night’s play with five-cent chips.
Supposing if I fall in? Good job too! --Hartley Wintney, Winchfield, Hants (H. S. May). XII. Mother, buy the milk-pail, mother, dear mother of mine. Where s the money to come from, children, dear children of mine? Sell father s feather bed, mother, dear mother of mine. Where s your father to sleep in? Father can sleep in the servant s bed. Where s the servant to sleep in? Servant can sleep in the pig-sty. Where s the pig to sleep in? The pig can sleep in the wash-tub. Where shall we wash our clothes? Wash our clothes at the sea-side.
In giving the moves of the men in a game, the names of the six points in the home tables are disregarded, and each player, Black and White, numbers the board from 1 to 24, starting from the square on which he has only two men. The notation for the black moves would be as shown in the margin; that for white being exactly opposite, of course. [Illustration: +---+---+---+---+---+---++---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛂ | | | | | ⛀ || | ⛀ | | | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | | | | ⛀ || | ⛀ | | | | ⛂ | | | | | | | ⛀ || | ⛀ | | | | ⛂ | | | | | | | ⛀ || | | | | | ⛂ | | | | | | | ⛀ || | | | | | ⛂ | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 || 7 8 9 10 11 12 | |24 23 22 21 20 19 ||18 17 16 15 14 13 | | | | | | | ⛂ || | | | | | ⛀ | | | | | | | ⛂ || | | | | | ⛀ | | | | | | | ⛂ || | ⛂ | | | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | | | | ⛂ || | ⛂ | | | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | | | | ⛂ || | ⛂ | | | | ⛀ | +---+---+---+---+---+---++---+---+---+---+---+---+ ] The men on each side are always moved in the direction of their notation numbers. In all the following illustrations the black men move round the board from right to left, like the hands of a clock, while the white men go in the opposite direction; so that the two opposing forces are continually meeting and passing, like the people in the street. The _=Object of the Game=_ is for each player to move his men from point to point in order to get them all into his home table. It does not matter what part of the home table they reach, so that they get across the bar. The men are moved according to the throws of the dice, each player in turn having a throw and a move. After the men on either side are all home, they are taken off the board according to the throws of the dice, and the player who is the first to get all his men off the board in this manner wins the game. If each player has taken off some of his men, the player getting all his off first wins a _=hit=_, which counts as a single game. If one player gets off all his men before his adversary has thrown off a single man, it is a _=gammon=_, and counts as a double game.
The original advance of the enemy was through the open country behind Firely Church and Hook s Farm; I sighted him between the points marked A A and B B, and his force was divided into two columns, with very little cover or possibility of communication between them if once the intervening ground was under fire. I reckoned about 22 to his left and 50 or 60 to his right. [Footnote: Here again the gallant gentleman errs; this time he magnifies.] Evidently he meant to seize both Firely Church and Hook s Farm, get his guns into action, and pound my little force to pieces while it was still practically in the open. He could reach both these admirable positions before I could hope to get a man there. There was no effective cover whatever upon my right that would have permitted an advance up to the church, and so I decided to concentrate my whole force in a rush upon Hook s Farm, while I staved off his left with gun fire. I do not believe any strategist whatever could have bettered that scheme. My guns were at the points marked D C E, each with five horsemen, and I deployed my infantry in a line between D and E. The rest of my cavalry I ordered to advance on Hook s Farm from C. I have shown by arrows on the sketch the course I proposed for my guns.
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 these rhymes belong to this game it would have probably been played by each child singing a verse descriptive of her own qualifications, and I have some recollection, although not perfect, of having played a game like this in London, where each child stated her ability to either brew, bake, or churn. It is worth noting that the Forest of Dean and Berkshire versions have absorbed one of the selection verses of the love-games. Mr. Halliwell, in recording the _Nursery Rhymes_, Nos. cccxliii.
There are seven players, who each take a name from one of the days of the week. One (Sunday) begins by throwing the ball against a wall, calling out at the same time the name of one of the days, who has to run and catch it before it falls. If this one fails to catch the ball, the first player picks up the ball and tries to hit one of the six with it, who all endeavour to escape being hit. If the player succeeds, he again throws the ball against the wall, calling out another day of the week to catch it. If a player gets hit three times, he is out. The winner is he who has either not been hit at all or the fewest times, or who has been able to stay in the longest. The same game is played with twelve children, who are named after the twelve months of the year.--London and Barnes (A. B. Gomme); _Strand Magazine_, ii.
_=9.=_ When the cue-ball is in contact with another, the balls are spotted and the player plays with his ball in hand. _=10.=_ Playing with the wrong ball is foul. However, should the player using the wrong ball play more than one shot with it, he shall be entitled to his score just the same as if he had played with his own; as soon as his hand is out, the white balls must change places, and the game proceed as usual. ON FOUL STROKES.--It is a foul, and no count can be made: _=1.=_ If a stroke is made except with the point of the cue. _=2.=_ If the cue is not withdrawn from the cue-ball before the latter comes in contact with an object-ball.
II. London Bridge is broken down, Dance o er my lady lee, London Bridge is broken down, With a gay lady. How shall we build it up again? Dance o er my lady lee, How shall we build it up again? With a gay lady. Silver and gold will be stole away, Dance o er my lady lee, Silver and gold will be stole away, With a gay lady. Build it up with iron and steel, Dance o er my lady lee, Build it up with iron and steel, With a gay lady. Iron and steel will bend and bow, Dance o er my lady lee, Iron and steel will bend and bow, With a gay lady. Build it up with wood and clay, Dance o er my lady lee, Build it up with wood and clay, With a gay lady. Wood and clay will wash away, Dance o er my lady lee, Wood and clay will wash away, With a gay lady. Build it up with stone so strong, Dance o er my lady lee, Huzza! twill last for ages long, With a gay lady. --[London][5] (Halliwell s _Nursery Rhymes_, clii.
He quickly saw that my chips had stayed on the same side of the line each roll as his. He cursed me for a good luck mascot. Stick with me, Lefty, he said. We ll break the table! I rammed a hard lift under his heart, and then, ashamed of myself, quit it. He turned pale before I took it off him. What s the matter? I asked him, supporting his sagging elbow, still mad at myself for acting so childish. Nothing, nothing, he gasped, starting to recover. He d only been dying, that s all. But it came in second-best compared to holding the dice. No point calling too much attention to him.
_=Playing Alone.=_ The chief peculiarity in Railroad Euchre is in playing alone. Any player announcing to play alone, whether the dealer or not, has the privilege of passing a card, face down, to his partner. In exchange for this, but without seeing it, the partner gives the best card in his hand to the lone player, passing it to him face down. If he has not a trump to give him, he can pass him an ace, or even a King. Even if this card is no better than the one discarded, the lone player cannot refuse it. If the dealer plays alone, he has two discards; the first in exchange for his partner’s best card, and then another, in exchange for the trump card, after seeing what his partner can give him. In this second discard he may get rid of the card passed to him by his partner. If the dealer’s partner plays alone, the dealer may pass him the turn-up trump, or any better card he may have in his hand. 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.
_=SCORING.=_ The number of points won on each game are put down on the score-sheet, each side being credited with the number of points appearing on their markers when the game is finished. To the winners’ score is added: 3 points, for a triple game, if their opponents have not scored; 2 points, for a double game, if their opponents are not half way, or 1 point, for a simple game, if their opponents are 3 or 4. In addition to this, the winners add 4 points, for bonus or consolation, in every instance. From the total thus found must be deducted whatever points have been scored by the losers, whether game points, slams, or both. For instance: Vivant and Mort win a game with the score 8 to 2 in their favor, which is a double. This is put down on the score sheets thus:-- 8 + 2 for the double, + 4 consolation, = 14, minus 2 scored by the opponents; making 12 the net value of the game. Vivant therefore wins 24 points, and each of the adversaries, R and L, lose 12. Again:-- R and L win a simple with a score of 5 to 4, V and M having made a slam. 5 + 1 for the simple, + 4 for consolation, = 10, minus 4 points scored, and 20 for the slam = 24; showing that R and L lose 14 points each, although they won the game.