She wrapped a shawl about her head to see if he would recognise her. This was all the reciter could recollect; the lines of the ballad were sung by an old woman, the ring answering with the game-rhyme. This version seems to indicate clearly that in this game we have preserved one of the ceremonies of a now obsolete marriage-custom--namely, the disguising of the bride and placing her among her bridesmaids and other young girls, all having veils or other coverings alike over their heads and bodies. The bridegroom has to select from among these maidens the girl whom he wished to marry, or whom he had already married, for until this was done he was not allowed to depart with his bride. This custom was continued in sport as one of the ceremonies to be gone through after the marriage was over, long after the custom itself was discontinued. For an instance of this see a Rural Marriage in Lorraine, in _Folk-lore Record_, iii. 267-268. This ordeal occurs in more than one folk-tale, and it usually accompanies the incident of a youth having travelled for adventures, sometimes in quest of a bride. He succeeds in finding the whereabouts of the coveted girl, but before he is allowed by the father to take his bride away he is required to perform tasks, a final one being the choosing of the girl with whom he is in love from among others, all dressed alike and disguised. Our bridal veil may probably originate in this custom.
|WHILTER. |THE WISP.| DYKE. | IRREGULAR OPENINGS. | | | | | | | | | | 11-15 | 11-15 | 11-15 | 11-15 | 11-15 | 11-15 | 10-15 | | 21 17 | 23 19 | 23 19 | 22 17 | 22 17 | 23 19 | 22 18 | | | 9-14 | 9-13 | 8-11 | 8-11 | 8-11 | 15-22 | | | 22 17 | | 17 14 | 25 22 | 22 17 | 25 18 | | | 7-11 | | | | | | +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ _=The Middle Game.=_ The best way for the student to learn the manner in which the various openings are followed up, is to play over illustrative games, and in doing so he should be careful always to play with the winning side next him. In selecting openings, take those that show the greatest number of wins for the side you propose to play. In all checker books there are marks at the foot of the column to show which side has an advantage, if any exists, at the end of each variation. The Alma, for instance, shows a great many more winning variations for the black men than for the white, and is consequently one of the best openings for Black. Any person who plays correctly can always be sure of avoiding defeat; that is, no one can beat him if he makes no slips, and the worst he can get is a draw.
If clubs are belle, and diamonds petite, and a player who “demands” is over-called by a demand in belle, or a call of six tricks, the first caller cannot advance his bid to six tricks except in the suit which he has already laid on the table; but he may accept the player over-calling him, instead of bidding against him. After a player has once accepted or passed, he cannot bid misère. If no one makes a proposition of any kind, the hands are thrown up; the next dealer contributes to the pool, and a fresh hand is dealt. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ As in Boston, the eldest hand has the first lead, and the others must follow suit if they can, except in the misère des quatre as. When this is played, the bidder may renounce at pleasure for the first ten tricks. _=GATHERING TRICKS.=_ When a partnership is formed, each gathers the tricks he takes. If the partnership loses, the one who has not his complement of tricks must pay the adversaries and double the pool. If the demander has not five, and the acceptor has three, the demander pays.
Suppose B bets a red counter, and C then throws down his hand. D _=sees=_ B, by putting up a red counter; and he then _=raises=_ him, by putting up two blues, increasing his bet as much as the limit will allow him. The age must now abandon his hand or put up one red and two blues to call D, without knowing what B proposes to do. Let us suppose he sees D, and raises another two blues. B must now retire, or put up four blues to call A, without knowing what D will do. He can raise the bet another two blues, or one blue, or a red, or a white even, if he is so minded. If he declines to raise, he cannot prevent D from so doing, because D still has the privilege of replying to A’s raise, and as long as a player has any _=say=_ about anything, whether it is to abdicate, better, or call, he can do any one of the three. It is only when there is no bet made, or when his own bet is either not called or not raised, that a player has nothing to say. Let us suppose B puts up the four blues to call A. It is now D’s turn.
ccclxxvii. (_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.
Christian was a soldier, A soldier, a soldier, Christian was a soldier, and a brave one too. Right hand in, right hand out, Shake it in the middle, and turn yourself about. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). XIII. Friskee, friskee, I was and I was A-drinking of small beer. Right arms in, right arms out, Shake yourselves a little, and little, And turn yourselves about. --Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. p. 49). XIV.
Let Sime and me talk it over. Maybe we should get a PC. Nuts, Simonetti told him. I ll think it over, too, I said. See you tomorrow. I turned to go. Simonetti and Smythe followed me out, each for his own reasons, I guess, leaving Rose behind in the cube of glass on the roof, looking like he was going to turn belly-up and take a bite out of the PBX on his desk. * * * * * I wasn t exactly shadowed, but I knew somebody had his eye on me as I wandered about the crowded casino, looking for Sniffles. As far as I could make out, she had vamoosed without trying to hustle another sucker. Her percentage of my winnings had certainly been a disappointment to her.
| | |green. |green. | | | 7.|Fairest damsel ever | -- | -- | | |seen. | | | | 8.| -- |Prettiest young lady | -- | | | |ever seen. | | | 9.| -- | -- | -- | |10.| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- |All pretty maidens are| | | | |_not_ to be seen.
_=IRREGULARITIES IN THE DEAL.=_ The following rules regarding the deal should be strictly observed:-- If any card is found faced in the pack, the dealer must deal again. Should the dealer turn over any card but the trump, while dealing, the adversaries may, if they please, demand a new deal. A player dealing out of turn may be stopped before the trump card is turned; but after that, the deal must stand, afterwards passing to the left in regular order. On the completion of the deal, each player should take up and count his cards to see that he has thirteen; if not, it is a misdeal, and unless the pack is found to be imperfect, the deal passes to the player on the misdealer’s left. The dealer loses the deal:--if he neglects to have the pack cut; if he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to remedy the error before dealing another; if he counts the cards on the table, or those remaining in the pack; if he looks at the trump card before the deal is complete; or if he places the trump card face down, on his own or on any other player’s cards. _=STAKES.=_ When stakes are played for, it should be distinctly understood at the beginning whether the unit is for a game, for a rubber, for rubber points, or for tricks. The English game is invariably played for so much a rubber point; sometimes with an extra stake upon the rubber itself. In America, it is usual to play for so much a game; but in some cases the tricks are the unit, deducting the loser’s score from seven, or playing the last hand out and then deducting the loser’s score.
Take it easy. A slow accurate ball is better than a swift wild one. Don’t put your whole thumb in the finger hole. One joint is enough. Don’t use a large finger hole. Big holes make a ball lop-sided. Don’t roll a ball down the alley when there is a ball in the pit. Don’t use a wide grip if you have a small hand, or two narrow for a big hand. Don’t use chalk on your shoes. It not only cracks the leather, but leaves the runway in bad condition for whoever follows you.
The bidder has the first lead and also the first count. Six deals is a game. SIXTY-SIX. Sixty-six is one of the simplest forms of Bézique, and is an extremely good game for two persons with one pack of cards. _=Cards.=_ Sixty-six is played with a pack of twenty-four cards, all below the Nine being deleted. The cards rank, A 10 K Q J 9; the Ace being the highest, both in cutting and in play. _=Markers.=_ The game may be kept with the small cards in the unused portion of the pack, or with a whist marker or counters. Anything that will score up to seven points will do.
The table of payments will be given later. _=ANNOUNCEMENTS.=_ The proposals rank in the order following, beginning with the lowest. The French terms are given in _=italics=_:-- Five tricks; or eight with a partner, in petite. _=Simple in petite=_. Five tricks; or eight with a partner, in belle. _=Simple in belle=_. Six tricks solo, in any suit. _=Petite independence=_. Little misère.
The smallest proposal he can make is to take 8 tricks with the assistance of a partner. To do this he should have four reasonably sure tricks in his own hand. Some players say he should be strong in trumps; while others claim that the eldest hand should propose only on general strength. The former is the better plan. No other player should propose on trumps alone. This announcement is made by saying “_=I propose=_.” If a player thinks he can take five tricks against the combined efforts of the three other players, he announces: “_=Solo=_.” If he feels equal to a misère, he calls: “_=Misère=_;” and so on, according to the strength of his hand. If he does not feel justified in making a call, he says “_=I pass=_;” and the next player on his left has the opportunity; and so on, until some player has proposed to do something, or all have passed. If any player has proposed for a partner, any of the others, in their proper turn, may accept him by simply saying “_=I accept=_.
=_ In all games it must be assumed that the player’s intentions are honest, and that any errors that arise are committed through inadvertence. Some of our law-makers have attempted so to adjust their codes as to provide against the manœuvres of the blackleg. This is simply impossible. Laws are made for gentlemen, and when it is obvious that a player does not belong to that class the remedy is not to appeal to the laws of the game for protection, but to decline to play with him. _=Etiquette.=_ It should be quite unnecessary to legislate against acts which annoy or do injustice to individuals, but there should be some provision in the laws of every game which will secure to each individual equal rights with others in the enjoyment of the game. Some games are especially selfish; Boston, for instance, in which the four players originally forming the table may monopolise the game for the entire evening, without offering newcomers any chance to cut in. All such games should be limited to a certain number of tournées, at the conclusion of which fresh candidates should be allowed to cut into the table. Technical Terms. G.
A player dealing out of turn may be penalized 10 points. ERRORS IN DEALING. 21. There are no misdeals. No matter what happens, the same dealer must deal again if it was his proper turn to deal. 22. If a card is exposed by the dealer during the deal, there must be a new deal; or if the cards of the players become confused, so that the dealer cannot separate them. 23. If the dealer gives too many or too few cards to any player, or neglects to lay out the skat cards in their proper turn, or does not give the right number of cards in each round, or gives three to one player and four to another, or fails to present the pack to be cut, there must be a new deal, and the dealer is charged 10 points for the error. THE SKAT CARDS.
There is also a description of the game in a little tract called _Barley Breake; or, A Warning for Wantons_, 1607. It is mentioned in Wilbraham s _Cheshire Glossary_ as an old Cheshire game. Barnes, in his _Dorsetshire Glossary_, says he has seen it played with one catcher on hands and knees in the small ring (Hell), and the others dancing round the ring crying Burn the wold witch, you barley breech. Holland (_Cheshire Glossary_) also mentions it as an old Cheshire game. See Boggle about the Stacks, Scots and English. Barnes (Mr.) Mr. Barnes is dead and gone, And left his widder, Three poor children in her arms; What will you give her? Where did you come from? --Played about 1850 at Hurstmonceux, Sussex (Miss Chase). This is probably a forfeit game, imperfectly remembered. See Old Soldier.
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. 519 (F. H. Low). This game belongs apparently to the ball games used for purposes of divination.
In the first place, by simply doubling up you are giving the bank the best of it, because you are not getting the proper odds. If you double up five times you are betting 16 to 1; but the odds against five successive events are 31 to 1, as we have already seen, and the bank should pay you 31 instead of 16. You should not only double, but add the original amount of the stake each time, betting 1, 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, and so on. If you do this, you will win the amount of your original stake for every bet you make, instead of only for every time you win. This looks well, but as a matter of fact doubling up is only another way of borrowing small sums which will have to be paid back in one large sum when you can probably least afford it. Suppose the game is Faro, the chips five dollars a stack, and the limit on cases twenty-five dollars. The limit on cases will then be 400 chips. If eight successive events go against your “system,” which they will do about once in 255 times, your next bet will be beyond the limit, and the banker will not accept it. At Monte Carlo the smallest bet is a dollar, and the limit is $2,400. They roll about 4,000 coups a week, and if you were to bet on every one of them, doubling up, you would win about $1,865, one dollar at a time, and would lose $4,092 simply through being unable to follow your system beyond the limit of the game during the two or three occasions, in the 4,000 coups, that your system would go against you for eleven or more coups in succession.
Hop, not touching lines, from No. 1 to No. 4, and out. Throw stone into No. 2. Do as before. And so successively into Nos. 3 and 4. Next balance stone on shoe, then on the palm of hand, then on the back of hand, then on the head, then on the shoulder, then on the eye (tilt head back to keep it from falling). In each case walk round once with it so balanced and catch at end.
If neither C nor D had a card of the winning suit, C would win from D on account of his better point. If we transposed the club ace and spade ace, spades would be the winning suit, because the elder hand, A, had the best card of it; but C would take the remainder of the pool, because he held a spade, while D did not. As it is, C is decavé, and must purchase another stake, or retire from the game. If C had lost this pool with a brelan in his hand, he would not be decavé; because after losing the pool, and all he had staked therein, B, who had passed out, would have to pay him for the brelan, and with this one white counter he would have to call for a sight in the next pool he entered. _=Methods of Cheating.=_ As in all games in which winning depends entirely on the cards held, and not on the manner of playing them, Bouillotte offers many opportunities to the greek. The small number of cards in the pack, and the consequent ease with which they may be handled, enable even the clumsiest card sharpers to run up brelan carrés, make false shuffles, and shift cuts. There is one trick, called the poussette, which consists in surreptitiously placing more counters on the table when the player finds he has a hand worth backing. Marked cards, and packs trimmed to taper one way, biseautés, are among the most common weapons of the French tricheurs. As in Poker, it is best to avoid playing with strangers.
For instance: Right leads the 9; caller plays the 5; left the 10; and the last player finds he holds K Q J 6 of the suit. He should know that the caller has nothing between the 5 and the 9, and must have the Ace; so his cards were probably A 5 4 3 2. While it is manifestly impossible to catch him on that suit, it may still be led three times, in order to give the partners discards, as both of them must be short. If this estimate of the caller’s cards is wrong in anything, it is not with regard to the Ace, so there is not the slightest danger in continuing the suit. As a general rule, the suit first led by an adversary should be returned, unless the player winning the trick has a singleton in another suit, when he should lead that. The suit led by the caller, if he was eldest hand, should not be returned. Some judgment of character must be used in playing on a caller’s own lead. An adventurous player will sometimes call a misère on a hand which contains a singleton 5 or 6, and will lead it at once; trusting that second hand will imagine it to be safe, and cover it. Players should be aware of this trap, and never cover a misère player’s own lead if they can help it, unless the card led is below a 4. _=ABUNDANCE.
61. Should the dummy call attention to any other incident in the play in consequence of which any penalty might have been exacted, the declarer may not exact such penalty. Should the dummy avail himself of rights (_h_) or (_i_), after intentionally looking at a card in the hand of a player, the declarer may not exact any penalty for the offence in question. 62. If the dummy, by touching a card or otherwise, suggest the play of one of his cards, either adversary may require the declarer to play or not to play such card. 62_a_. If the dummy call to the attention of the declarer that he is about to lead from the wrong hand, either adversary may require that the lead be made from that hand. 63. Dummy is not subject to the revoke penalty; if he revoke and the error be not discovered until the trick be turned and quitted, whether by the rightful winners or not, the trick must stand. 64.
Dig his grave wide and deep, strow it with flowers; Toll the bell, toll the bell, twenty-four hours. --Norfolk, 1825-30 (J. Doe). (_b_) One boy lies down and personates Booman. Other boys form a ring round him, joining hands and alternately raising and lowering them, to imitate bell-pulling, while the girls who play sit down and weep. The boys sing the first verse. The girls seek for daisies or any wild flowers, and join in the singing of the second verse, while the boys raise the prostrate Booman and carry him about. When singing the third verse the boys act digging a grave, and the dead boy is lowered. The girls strew flowers over the body. When finished another boy becomes Booman.
In case of ties for low, they divide the losses of the others. POKER GIN. This is a variety of poker rum in which the deadwood must not exceed ten points and each player is allowed not only to put aside his own combinations after the call for a show-down comes, but may add any of his odd cards to the combinations laid out by the one who calls for a show-down. Suppose that in the example given for poker rum, the caller showing 6 7 8 9 of hearts, J Q K of clubs, and nine in his deadwood, another player has in his ten cards the 7 8 9 of diamonds; 6 7 8 of spades, two fours and the tens of clubs and hearts. When the show-down is called for, he has twenty-eight points in his deadwood; but by adding his club ten to the caller’s sequence of J Q K, and the heart ten to the caller’s 6 7 8 9 in that suit, he reduces his deadwood to eight points, the pair of fours, and beats the caller out by a point. _=PENALTIES.=_ If any player turns out to have less in his deadwood than the caller, as in the example just given, the caller forfeits ten points to him, in addition to having to pay for the difference. Should a player call for a show-down when he has more than ten in his deadwood, he loses five points to each of the others at the table and takes up his cards again. DOUBLE-PACK RUM. _=CARDS.
Here there was nothing to fight, nothing to challenge the mind, to tear the living soul out of a body with its roots dripping in effluvium as tangible as blood. Nothing ever moved in on the Solar System. He could wear the pin-set forever and be nothing more than a sort of telepathic astronomer, a man who could feel the hot, warm protection of the Sun throbbing and burning against his living mind. * * * * * Woodley came in. Same old ticking world, said Underhill. Nothing to report. No wonder they didn t develop the pin-set until they began to planoform. Down here with the hot Sun around us, it feels so good and so quiet. You can feel everything spinning and turning. It s nice and sharp and compact.