Miss Burne mentions one penance designed to make the victim ridiculous, as when he is made to lie on his back on the floor with his arms extended, and declare-- Here I lie! The length of a looby, The breadth of a booby, And three parts of a jackass! --_Shropshire Folk-lore_, pp. 526-27. (_c_) Halliwell gives, in his _Nursery Rhymes_, pp. 324-26, some curious verses, recorded for the first time by Dr. Kenrick in his Review of Dr. Johnson s Shakespeare, 1765, on rules for seemly behaviour, in which the forfeits imposed by barbers as penalties for handling razors, &c, are set forth. Although barbers forfeits are not of the same nature as the nursery forfeits, it is possible that this general custom among so important a class of the community in early times as barbers may have suggested the game. Both Forby in his _Vocabulary of East Anglia_ and Moor in his _Suffolk Words_ bear testimony to the general prevalence of barbers forfeits, and it must be borne in mind that barbers were also surgeons in early days. A curious custom is also recorded in another East Anglian word-list, which may throw light upon the origin of the game from popular custom. A forfeit is incurred by using the word water in a brew-house, where you must say liquor; or by using the word grease in a chandlery, where it is stuff or metal.
=_ Ace. A letter, or a written notice. King. A person to beware of. _=R.=_ Will annoy you in any case. Queen. A shrew or gossip. _=R.=_ She will make you tired.
=_ Sometimes 1,000 points is a game, as in pinochle, and the first player to call out wins if he is correct; if not he loses. Sometimes in three or four-hand, it is agreed to play some number of deals divisible by four, usually 12 or 16. These are indicated by cross marks on the slate, each arm representing a deal. The two players with the higher scores at the end of the hand each rub off a mark and the one who is first to rub off all his marks is the winner, or the last to wipe off is stuck, according to agreement. Any one failing to get as many as 21 points in meld and play is set back a mark. TWO-HAND JASS. When only two play, the game closely resembles American pinochle, the winner of each trick drawing a card from the top of the stock, the loser drawing the next one. All melds are made immediately after winning a trick and before drawing from the stock, only one meld at a time being allowed. It is not necessary to follow suit to anything until the stock is exhausted, after which all melds cease and the second player to each trick must win it if he can, but the jack of trumps still has the privilege of renouncing if a plain suit is led. PATIENCE POKER As its name implies, this is a form of solitaire, but it may be managed so as to provide a pleasing competition for any number of players.
Each player should bid on the possibilities of his hand, however small, so as to guide the others in their selection of partners. _=Partners.=_ If the bidder has proposed to take not more than _=five=_ tricks out of the seven possible, he chooses two partners, and these three play against the remaining four. If he has bid to make _=six=_ or _=seven=_ tricks he chooses three partners, and these four play against the remaining three. Partners cannot refuse to play. _=Playing Alone.=_ Should a player think he can take all seven tricks without any partners, he may bid _=ten=_, which would outrank a bid of seven; but such a bid must be made before seeing the widow. If a player thinks he can win all seven tricks without either widow or partners, he may bid _=twenty=_, which is the highest bid possible. When twenty is bid the cards in the widow must remain untouched. _=Playing.
The moulding of Cocklety-bread is a sport amongst hoydenish girls not quite extinct. It consists in sitting on the ground, raising the knees and clasping them with the hand, and then using an undulatory motion, as if they were kneading dough. My granny is sick and now is dead, And we ll go mould some cocklety bread; Up with the heels and down with the head, And that is the way to make cocklety bread. --Hunter s MSS.; Addy s _Sheffield Glossary_. (_b_) The _Times_ of 1847 contains a curious notice of this game. A witness, whose conduct was impugned as light and unbecoming, is desired to inform the court, in which an action for breach of promise was tried, the meaning of mounting cockeldy-bread; and she explains it as a play among children, in which one lies down on the floor on her back, rolling backwards and forwards, and repeating the following lines:-- Cockeldy bread, mistley cake, When you do that for our sake. While one of the party so laid down, the rest sat around; and they laid down and rolled in this manner by turns. These lines are still retained in the modern nursery-rhyme books, but their connection with the game of Cockeldy-bread is by no means generally understood. There was formerly some kind of bread called cockle-bread, and _cocille-mele_ is mentioned in a very early MS.
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Even the help was dressed up like a lot of cow-pokes, whatever cow-pokes were. This ersatz ranch-house was owned by two completely unlovelies. Peno Rose, who had used his political leverage to get me on the job, I had known since he d been a policy number runner on the lower East Side. His partner, Simonetti, was something else, but somehow I wasn t looking forward to meeting him any more than I was to seeing Rose again. I guess it s the filth within these croupier types that makes them surround themselves with the aseptic immaculacy of iridium and glass. Their office was in a penthouse perched on the slanting roof shakes of the casino. It was big as a squash court, and as high and as square. Every wall was glass. It couldn t have been in greater contrast to the contrived hominess of the casino if they d thought about it for a year. Then, for the last twist, the furnishings were straight out of the old Southwest--Navajo rugs, heavy, Spanish oak desks, and a pair of matching couches or divans of whole steer leather stretched over oak frames.
_=3.=_ If the striker, when in hand, plays from any position not within the six-inch radius. _=4.=_ If, in the act of striking, he has not at least one foot _touching_ the floor. _=5.=_ If he strikes while a ball is in motion, unless it has come to a rest, as provided in Sec. 10 on Foul Strokes. _=6.=_ If he plays with the wrong ball, except as provided in foregoing Law 10. _=7.
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Never play with a man who looks intently at the pack and shuffles the cards slowly. If he is not locating the cards for the ensuing deal he is wasting time, and should be hurried a little. Never play with a person who leaves the cut portion of the pack on the table, and deals off the other part. In small parties this is a very common way of working what is known as _=the top stock=_. If such a dealer is carefully watched it will usually be found that he seizes the first opportunity to place the part cut off on the top of the part dealt from. The top stock is then ready for the draw, and the judicious player should at once cash his chips and retire from the game. Never play with a man who continually holds his cards very close to his body, or who completely conceals his hand before the draw, or who takes great care to put his discard among previous discards, so that the exact number of cards put out cannot be counted. He is probably working a vest or sleeve hold-out. Some clumsy or audacious sharpers will go so far as to hold out cards in their lap, or stick them in a “bug” under the table. One of the most successful poker sharps ever known, “Eat-um-up Jake” Blackburn, who had a hand like a ham, could hold out five cards in his palm while he carried on all the operations of shuffling, dealing, and playing his hand.
| -- | -- | -- | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.| -- | -- | -- | | 7.| -- | -- | -- | | 8.| -- |Fairest young lady | -- | | | |ever seen. | | | 9.| -- | -- |All pretty fair maids | | | | |are fit to be seen. | |10.|Flowers all faded, | -- | -- | | |none to be seen. | | | |11.
If his proposal is to win a certain number of tricks with a certain suit for trumps, he must name the suit, saying, “Eight Spades,” or “Seven Diamonds,” as the case may be. If he proposes to play without any trump suit, he announces, “Seven Grand,” or whatever the number may be. Such a bid over-calls one of the same number in diamonds. If the eldest hand has no proposal to make, he says, “I pass,” and the others in turn have an opportunity to bid. The bids outrank one another according to their order in the foregoing table, and the rank of the suits in which they are made. The players bid against one another, until all but one declare to pass, he then becomes the single player against the three others. A player having once passed cannot come into the bidding again, even to call a misère. In this respect the game differs from Boston. A player is not compelled to bid the full value of his hand, but it is to his interest to do so, and he should make the full announcement the first time he bids, because if he has had a good hand for ten tricks, and begins with a bid of seven, he cannot increase his proposal unless some player bids over him. _=PARTNERS.
Johnson s Shakespeare, 1765, on rules for seemly behaviour, in which the forfeits imposed by barbers as penalties for handling razors, &c, are set forth. Although barbers forfeits are not of the same nature as the nursery forfeits, it is possible that this general custom among so important a class of the community in early times as barbers may have suggested the game. Both Forby in his _Vocabulary of East Anglia_ and Moor in his _Suffolk Words_ bear testimony to the general prevalence of barbers forfeits, and it must be borne in mind that barbers were also surgeons in early days. A curious custom is also recorded in another East Anglian word-list, which may throw light upon the origin of the game from popular custom. A forfeit is incurred by using the word water in a brew-house, where you must say liquor; or by using the word grease in a chandlery, where it is stuff or metal. The forfeit is to propitiate the offended _genius loci_ (Spurden s _East Anglian Vocabulary_). The element of divination in the custom is perhaps indicated by a curious note from Waldron, in his _Description of the Isle of Man_ (_Works_, p. 55), There is not a barn unoccupied the whole twelve days, every parish hiring fiddlers at the public charge. On Twelfth Day the fiddler lays his head on some of the wenches laps, and a third person asks who such a maid or such a maid shall marry, naming the girls then present one after another; to which he answers according to his own whim, or agreeable to the intimacies he has taken notice of during this time of merriment. But whatever he says is as absolutely depended on as an oracle; and if he happen to couple two people who have an aversion to each other, tears and vexation succeed the mirth.
After the cards have been dealt in the usual way, the player to the left of the dealer examines his cards, and determines which suit he would prefer to play to get clear of. It may be that if the game were to get rid of clubs instead of hearts, his hand would be a very good one, whereas if the suit were to remain hearts it would be a very bad hand. As the pool will contain thirteen counters to a certainty, he can afford to pay something for the better chance he will have to win it if he is allowed to make clubs the suit to be avoided, instead of hearts. He bids whatever amount he is willing to pay for the privilege of changing the suit, without naming the suit he prefers. The next player then has a bid, and so on in turn, the dealer bidding last. There are no second bids. The player making the highest bid pays into the pool the amount he has bid. He then names the suit to be avoided, and leads for the first trick, regardless of his position with respect to the deal. The dealer’s position is a great advantage, on account of its having the last bid. After the hand is played, those who have taken in any cards of the suit announced to be avoided, pay one counter to the pool for each of them.
A few days are supposed to pass, after which the mother calls to see her children, when the lady tells her she cannot see them. At last she insists upon seeing them, and the children are all sat down behind the lady, and the mother asks one child what the lady has done to her; and she tells her that the lady has cut off her nose, and made a nose-pie, and never give her a bit of it. Each one says she has done something to her and made a pie, and when all have told their tale they all turn on her and put her to prison. The second Dorsetshire game somewhat differs. One child takes seven or eight others whom she pretends are her children. Another child, presumably a mistress in want of servants, stands at a distance. The first child advances, holding the hand of her children, saying the first verse. The dialogue is concluded, and as the woman and her children are supposed to be out of hearing, the last couplet is said or sung. This process is gone through again until the mistress has engaged all the children as her servants, when she is supposed to let them all out to play with the mustard pots, which are represented by sticks or stones, in their hands. The other versions are played as follows:--The children form a line, the one in the middle being the mother, or widow; they advance and retire, the mother alone singing the first verse.
Any one dealing out of turn may be stopped before the last card is dealt. After that the deal must stand, and the packs, if changed, must so remain. 13. It is a misdeal: If the dealer omits to have the pack cut, and the error is discovered before the last card is dealt; or if he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to remedy it before dealing another; or if he counts the cards on the table, or those remaining in the pack; or if it is discovered before all have played to the first trick that any player has not his proper number of cards, the pack being perfect. 14. A misdeal loses the deal unless one of the other players has touched his cards, or in any way interrupted the dealer. 15. If, after the first trick is played to, any two players are found to have more or less than their correct number of cards, the pack being perfect, the one having less shall draw from the hand of the one having more, and each shall pay a forfeit of five counters into the pool. 16. If a player omits to play to any trick, and plays to the following one, he shall not be allowed to correct the error; but shall be compelled to take in the last trick, with whatever hearts it may contain.
(_b_) A number of little girls join hands and form a ring. They all jump round and sing the verses. The game ends by the girls following one of their number in a string, all quacking like ducks.--Northamptonshire. (_c_) Halliwell does not include it among his games, but simply as a nursery paradox. The tune given is that to which I as a child was taught to sing the verses as a song. We did not know it as a game. The Quack, quack! was repeated as another line to the notes of the last bar given, the notes gradually dying away (A. B. Gomme).
If he straddles, he may be straddled again, and so on. In Bouillotte the straddle practically buys from the dealer the privileges of the age. If it goes round until the dealer buys it back himself, the straddling must then be stopped. _=Dealing.=_ As in all French games, the cards are cut by the player on the dealer’s left, and are dealt from right to left. Three cards are given to each player, one at a time, face down, and the thirteenth is then turned face up on the pack. This card is called the _=retourne=_. _=Misdeals.=_ If any card is exposed during the deal, either in the pack or in giving it to a player, it is a misdeal; but the distribution of the cards is continued until each player has received three cards, the exposed card being given out in its regular order. If any player can show triplets, he receives one white counter from each of the other players, and the hands are then abandoned.
As a general rule, a player should not use this signal unless he has a certain trick in the suit in which he signals. Some players use what is called the reverse discard; a signal in one suit meaning weakness in it, and an invitation to lead another. This avoids the necessity for using the good suit for signalling purposes. _=Unblocking.=_ When the original leader shows a suit of five cards, and the Third Hand has four exactly, the latter should keep his lowest card, not for the purpose of echoing, but in order to retain a small card which will not block the holder of the longer suit. If the Third Hand has three cards of the suit led, and among them a card which may block his partner, he should give it up on the second round. For instance: Holding K 4 3, and partner showing a five-card suit by leading Ace then Jack, Third Hand should give up the King on the second round. Again: Holding Q 9 3, partner leading Ace then Eight; Second Hand playing King second round, Third Hand should give up the Queen. Again: Holding K Q, partner leading the 8 originally, won by Fourth Hand with Ace; the King should be discarded or otherwise got rid of at the first opportunity. _=Short-suit Leads.
Marked cards are of advantage only when the dealer plays, and are of little use beyond telling him what he can turn up for a trump, or what he will find in the Skat. The rule for having four in the game, if possible, is one of the greatest safeguards, unless the dealer is in secret partnership with one of the players. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ The chief things to master in Skat are the values of the hands, the principles of bidding on them, the best methods of playing them, and the proper methods of combining forces with your partner for the time being, in order to defeat the single player. _=Bidding.=_ Some persons attach a great deal of importance to the odds for and against certain cards being in the Skat. If a player without three is forced to risk finding a Matadore in the Skat, it is usually enough for him to know that the odds are about 3 to 1 against it. It is much more important for him to consider what cards may make against him, and what they would count. It is often necessary to estimate very closely the number of points that must fall on a certain number of leads. For instance: You are Vorhand, and hold these cards:-- [Illustration: 🂫 🂻 🃋 🃞 🃝 🃙 🃘 🃗 🃇 🂧 ] Even if you find the Ace and Ten with the best Wenzel in one hand against you, you have an almost certain club Solo, for if you lead a Wenzel, your adversary must either take it, or give you the Ace or Ten.
148. He says: Against May Day, Whitsonday, or other time, euery Parishe, Towne and Village assemble themselves together, bothe men women and children, olde and yong, . . . and either goyng all together or diuidyng themselues into companies, they goe some to the Woodes and groves where they spend all the night in plesant pastimes; and in the morning they return bringing with them birch and branches of trees to deck their assemblies withall . . . and then they fall to daunce about it like as the heathen people did. . .
VIII. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell! Last night when I departed I left her broken-hearted; On the hill yonder there stands your young man. Fetch him here, love, fetch him here, love, Fetch him here, love, Farewell! Shut the gates, love, shut the gates, love, Shut the gates, love, Farewell! Open the gates, love, open the gates, love, Open the gates, love, Farewell! Go to church, love, go to church, love, Go to church, love, Farewell! Show your ring, love, show your ring, love, Show your ring, love, Farewell! --Hanbury, Staffs. (Miss E. Hollis). IX. The trees are uncovered, uncovered, uncovered, The trees are uncovered, Isabella, for me! Last night when we parted we were all broken-hearted, Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, for me! Then give me your hand, love, your hand, love, your hand, love, Then give me your hand, love, and a sweet kiss from you. --Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy). X. When the trees are uncovered, Isabellow, for me.
Now we dance looby, looby, looby; Shake your right hand a little, Shake your left hand a little, And turn you round about. Now we dance looby, looby, looby; Shake your right hand a little, Shake your left hand a little, Shake your right foot a little, And turn you round about. Now we dance looby, looby, looby; Shake your right hand a little, Shake your left hand a little, Shake your right foot a little, Shake your left foot a little, And turn you round about. Now we dance looby, looby, looby; Shake your right hand a little, Shake your left hand a little, Shake your right foot a little, Shake your left foot a little, Shake your head a little, And turn you round about. --Halliwell (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 226). III. Fal de ral la, fal de ral la, Hinkumbooby round about. Right hands in and left hands out, Hinkumbooby round about; Fal de ral la, fal de ral la, Hinkumbooby round about. Left hands in and right hands out, Hinkumbooby round about; Fal de ral la, fal de ral la, Hinkumbooby round about.
See Ball, Keppy Ball, Monday. Buttons Two or more boys take two buttons in their right hands, and try to throw them both into a small hole in the ground about two yards off. The boy who succeeds in getting both buttons in begins first next game, and takes a button as prize. [This seems merely a mild form of marbles.]--Lincolnshire (Rev. ---- Roberts). There were several games played with buttons--some on level ground, in a ring or square; but the most approved was with a hole dug in the earth near a wall, or near the trunk of a large tree. The hole should be about the cavity of a small tea-cup, the players toeing a scratched line about four or five feet from the hole, after tossing for first innings. Each of the players (mostly two) contribute an equal number of buttons, say from two to ten, and of equal value or quality. The one having first turn takes the whole of them in his hand, and by an under-throw, or rather a pitch, endeavours to get the whole, or as many as possible, into the hole.
The batsmen, keeping their sticks in the holes, then agree which of the two holds the Cat. One batsman runs across and puts his stick into the hole behind which the boy kneels whom they consider has the Cat, the other then running to his place. If they are right in their guess, the holder of the Cat throws it across the ground for the opposite bowler to put it in the hole before the second batsman reaches it. If they guess wrongly, the holder of the Cat puts it into the hole as soon as the batsman runs, and they then become the batsmen for the next game. If the batsmen leave their holes unguarded with the stick, the catsmen can at any time put them out, by putting the Cat in a hole. If more than two boys on a side play, the others field as in Cricket. --Barnes (A. B. Gomme). See Cat and Dog.