K. J.--in a room littered with the irrepressible debris of a small boy s pleasures. On a table near our own stood four or five soldiers and one of these guns. Mr J. K. J., his more urgent needs satisfied and the coffee imminent, drew a chair to this little table, sat down, examined the gun discreetly, loaded it warily, aimed, and hit his man. Thereupon he boasted of the deed, and issued challenges that were accepted with avidity..
Now, vanish! I said to the snake. It didn t. Instead the door to my office opened, letting in a little more of the unmistakable smell of the hospital, as well as old Maragon, Grand Master of the Lodge. He was complaining and shaking a finger at me as he came toward my desk. He didn t jump more than a foot when he got a look at my arm. His shaggy gray eyebrows climbed way, way up his forehead in a mutely shouted question. I wouldn t give the old goat the time of day. When I dead-panned him, he shrugged and lowered himself into the chair beside my desk. Thought you hated snakes, Lefty, he said. A guy could get used to almost anything, Grand Master, I said.
If the boy guessed wrongly, he made a forfeit; but if rightly, he was released.--_Notes and Queries_, 4th series, ix. 262. The sport is noticed by Gay-- As at hot-cockles once I laid me down, I felt the weighty hand of many a clown; Buxoma gave a gentle tap, and I Quick rose and read soft mischief in her eye. Halliwell describes it rather differently. The blindfolded boy lies down on his face, and, being struck, must guess who it is that hit him. A good part of the fun consisted in the hardness of the slaps, which were generally given on the throne of honour. He quotes from a MS. play as follows-- It is edicted that every Grobian shall play at Bamberye hott cockles at the four festivals. Indeed a verye usefull sport, but lately much neglected to the mollefieinge of the flesh.
Buk-hid This seems to be an old name for some game, probably Blindman s Buff, Sw. Blind-bock, q. bock and hufwud head (having the head resembling a goat). The sense, however, would agree better with Bo-peep or Hide and Seek. --Jamieson. Bull in the Park One child places himself in the centre of a circle of others. He then asks each of the circle in turn, Where s the key of the park? and is answered by every one, except the last, Ask the next-door neighbour. The last one answers, Get out the way you came in. The centre one then makes a dash at the hands of some of the circle, and continues to do so until he breaks through, when all the others chase him. Whoever catches him is then Bull.
At the conclusion he uncovers his eyes, and if he sees any boys not yet hidden they have to stand still. He seeks the rest, but if he moves far away from his place, called the stooil (stool), one of the hidden boys may rush out and take it, provided he can get there first. Should he fail in this he also has to stand aside; but if any one succeeds, then all run out as before, and the same boy has to say the nominy again. On the other hand, if he finds all the boys without loosing his stooil, the boy first caught has to take his place and say the nominy. The game was thus played in 1810, and is so still, both here and at Lepton.--Easther s _Almondbury and Huddersfield Glossary_. Gipsy I charge my children, every one, To keep good house while I am gone. You, and you [points], but specially you [or sometimes, but specially Sue], Or else I ll beat you black and blue. One child is selected for Gipsy, one for Mother, and one for Daughter Sue. The Mother says the lines, and points to several children to emphasise her words.
See Cushion Dance. Bad A rude kind of Cricket, played with a bat and a ball, usually with wall toppings for wickets. Bad seems to be the pronunciation or variation of Bat. Halliwell says it was a rude game, formerly common in Yorkshire, and probably resembling the game of Cat. There is such a game played now, but it is called Pig. --Easther s _Almondbury Glossary_. Baddin The game of Hockey in Cheshire.--Holland s _Glossary_. Badger the Bear A rough game, sometimes seen in the country. The boy who personates the Bear performs his part on his hands and knees, and is prevented from getting away by a string.
_=CARDS.=_ Double Dummy is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, ranking as at whist both for cutting and playing. Two packs are generally used. _=MARKERS=_ are necessary, and are of the same description as those used in whist. _=PLAYERS.=_ According to the English usage, double dummy is played by two persons, and the table is complete with that number. _=CUTTING.=_ The players cut for the deal; the player cutting the lowest card deals for his dummy first, and has the choice of sitting to the right or left of his opponent. It is usual to select the seat on the right of the living player, because it is possible that one may forget whether or not certain cards have been played, and under such circumstances it is better to lead up to an exposed hand than to one whose contents you are not sure of. The methods of spreading, cutting, deciding ties, etc.
They were willing to fight with them. They were even willing to die for them. But when a Partner liked an individual the way, for example, that Captain Wow or the Lady May liked Underhill, the liking had nothing to do with intellect. It was a matter of temperament, of feel. Underhill knew perfectly well that Captain Wow regarded his, Underhill s, brains as silly. What Captain Wow liked was Underhill s friendly emotional structure, the cheerfulness and glint of wicked amusement that shot through Underhill s unconscious thought patterns, and the gaiety with which Underhill faced danger. The words, the history books, the ideas, the science--Underhill could sense all that in his own mind, reflected back from Captain Wow s mind, as so much rubbish. Miss West looked at Underhill. I bet you ve put stickum on the stones. I did not! Underhill felt his ears grow red with embarrassment.
If two players remain with a card each, the winner of the trick draws from the stock, and the card so drawn wins the game, his adversary having none. EARL OF COVENTRY. This game is sometimes called Snip Snap Snorem, by those who are not of a poetical turn of mind. Any number of persons may play, and a full pack of cards is dealt out, one at a time. If some players have a card more than others, it does not matter. The eldest hand lays upon the table any card he pleases, and each player in turn pairs or matches it, if he can, with another of the same denomination, accompanying the action with a rhyme. Suppose the first card played is a King; the person playing it would say: “There’s as good as King can be.” The first player to lay down another King would say: “There is one as good as he.” The player holding the third King would say: “There’s the best of all the three,” and the holder of the fourth would then triumphantly exclaim: “And there’s the Earl of Coventry.” The fortunate holder of the Earl of Coventry in each round has the privilege of leading a card for the next trick, and the first player to get rid of all his cards wins one counter from the others for every card they hold.