_=Irregularities and Penalties.=_ There is only one penalty in Loo, to win nothing from the current pool, and to pay either three or six reds to the next pool. If the offender has won any tricks, the payment for them must be left in the pool in white counters, to be divided among the winners of the next pool. The offences are divided, some being paid for to the current pool, such as those for errors in the deal, while others are not paid until the current pool has been divided. If any player looks at his hand before his turn to declare, or the dealer does so before asking the others whether or not they will play, or if any player announces his intention out of his proper turn; the offender in each case forfeits three red counters to the current pool, and cannot win anything that deal, but he may play his hand in order to keep counters in the pool. If he plays and is looed, he must pay. _=Revokes.=_ If a player, when able to do so, fails to follow suit, or to head the trick, or to lead trumps, or to lead the ace of trumps, (or King when ace is turned,) or to trump a suit of which he is void, the hands are abandoned on discovery of the error, and the pool is divided as equally as possible among those who declared to play, with the exception of the offender. Any odd white counters must be left for the next pool. The player in fault is then held guilty of a revoke, and must pay a forfeit of six red counters to the next pool.
There are sixteen white counters in the pool, B’s straddle having made the ante four instead of two. 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.
There are 35 points to be played for in every deal. The six highest cards in each suit, 3 2 A K Q J, have a counting value, the Ace being worth 3, and the others 1 each. The last trick counts 3. _=Declaring.=_ The eldest hand examines his cards and determines whether or not he will _=stand=_; that is, play single handed against the two others. If not, he says “_=pass=_,” and the next player decides. If all three pass, the deal is void, and passes to the next player on the left. If any player stands, he asks for the 3 of any suit he pleases, and if either adversary holds it, he must give it up. If it is in the stock, the player cannot ask for any other card. If he has all four 3’s in his hand he may ask for a 2, but for no lower card.
Platt Miss Burne. Wrotham Miss D. Kimball. { Nodal and Milner s _Glossary_, LANCASHIRE { Harland and Wilkinson s _Folk-lore_, { ed. 1882, Mrs. Harley. Monton Miss Dendy. LEICESTERSHIRE Evan s _Glossary_. Leicester Miss Ellis. LINCOLNSHIRE { Peacock s, Cole s, and Brogden s { _Glossaries_, Rev.
P. Emslie). [Illustration] Cob-nut The children in Yorkshire have a game which is probably an ancient English pastime. Numerous hazel-nuts are strung like the beads of a rosary. The game is played by two persons, each of whom has one of these strings, and consists in each party striking alternately, with one of the nuts on his own string, a nut of his adversary s. The field of combat is usually the crown of a hat. The object of each party is to crush the nuts of his opponent. A nut which has broken many of those of the adversary is a Cob-nut.--Brand, ii. 411; Hunter s _Hallamshire Glossary_.
1.] [Illustration: Fig. 2.] [Illustration: Fig. 3.] [Illustration: Fig. 4.] (_c_) Chambers _Popular Rhymes_, p. 36, gives a slightly different version of the verses, and says they were sung by children at their sports in Glasgow. Mactaggart alludes to this game as Bumpkin Brawly, an old dance, the dance which always ends balls; the same with the Cushion almost.
The deal passes to the left. There are no misdeals. If the cards are not properly distributed, or four cards are not left in the talon, the same dealer must deal again, without penalty. _=Objects of the Game.=_ The chief objects of the game are to win the last trick, and to secure counting cards in the other tricks in the course of play. There are 35 points to be played for in every deal. The six highest cards in each suit, 3 2 A K Q J, have a counting value, the Ace being worth 3, and the others 1 each. The last trick counts 3. _=Declaring.=_ The eldest hand examines his cards and determines whether or not he will _=stand=_; that is, play single handed against the two others.
If all the pins are bowled down, the score is 1. There are no penalties. The dead wood must be removed. Any pins knocked down through the dead wood remaining on the alleys cannot be placed to the credit of the player. Ten innings constitute a game. The maximum is 20. FOUR BACK. [Illustration: 4 3 2 1 O O O O ] The pins are spotted as above. Three balls (not exceeding 6 inches in size) are allotted to each inning. Each pin counts as spotted, and only one pin can be made at a time; if more than one pin is made with one ball, it is termed a break, and the player loses that inning and scores nothing.
The dealer’s partner and the pone are not permitted to look at their cards until the eldest hand and the dealer have decided whether to stand or run the cards. Among strict players, if a person looks at his hand before the proper time, the adversaries score a point. The object of this rule is to prevent the possibility of any expression of satisfaction or disapproval of the turn-up trump. No second beg is allowed, but when only two play, if either player is dissatisfied with the new trump he may propose to _=bunch the cards=_. If the proposition is agreed to, the cards are reshuffled and dealt again by the same dealer. If three play, the dealer must give a point to both adversaries if he refuses to run the cards, although only one begs. The dealer cannot give a player enough to put him out. _=DISCARDING.=_ When the cards have been run, the usual practice is to discard all superfluous cards, each player reducing his hand to six, with which he plays. In some clubs it is the rule to keep all the cards if only nine are in each hand, but to discard down to six if two or more rounds were dealt after turning the first trump.
_=The American Game.=_ When a gammon or backgammon counts you nothing more if you win it, and costs you nothing more if you lose it, the tactics of the game are entirely changed. It is folly to take any risks for the sake of a gammon, and any plays which leave unnecessary blots are very bad; for which reason the three throws shown in the foregoing diagram would be absurd in the American game. On the other hand, you may risk being gammoned, or even backgammoned, if it is the only way to save the game. An Englishman cannot take this risk, for he might lose a triple game in attempting to save a single. Secure the five point in your own and your adversary’s home table as soon as possible, and then the bar and four points. After the first few throws the player should take a general survey of the board, in order to see whether he is ahead or behind, or if he has any advantage of position. He must then decide whether he will play a _=backward=_ or a _=forward=_ game. A glance at the relative positions of the men will usually show if one side is much more advanced than the other, without going into any minute calculations as to how many points nearer home one side _may_ be. If, at the beginning of the game, one player makes two or three large throws in succession, while his adversary gets small throws only, the latter will have little chance of winning the game simply by running for home, whereas the former’s best chance will be to follow up his early advantage and get home as fast as possible.
If King Cæsar succeeds in holding a boy, this boy stays in the centre with him and assists in catching the other players (always counting ten before a captive is secured). The dens must always be occupied by some players. If all the players get into one den, King Cæsar can go into the empty den and say, Crown the base, one, two, three, three times before any of the other players get across to that den. If he succeeds in doing this, he can select a boy to run across from one den to the other, which that boy must do, King Cæsar trying to catch him. Other and bigger boys can help this one to get across, to save him from being captured, either by carrying him or running across with him. The game ends when all have been captured and are in the centre. King Cæsar and the other captured boys can leave the centre if they each successively catch three players.--Barnes (A. B. Gomme).
They cut for choice of seats and deal, the player cutting the highest card having the first choice, and electing whether or not to deal himself. In cutting, the cards rank as in play, and the ace is the highest. If a player exposes more than one card, he must cut again. _=DEALING.=_ The cards are thoroughly shuffled, and presented to the pone to be cut. At least five cards must be left in each packet. The cards are then dealt three at a time for the first round, two for the next, and three for the last, each player receiving eight cards. The seventeenth is then turned up for the trump. If this card is a Seven, the dealer scores 10 points for it at once. The trump card is laid on the table by itself, the remainder of the pack, which is called the _=stock=_ or _=talon=_, is slightly spread, to facilitate the process of drawing cards from it, and to be sure that none of the cards remaining in the undealt portion are exposed.
Our bridal veil may probably originate in this custom. In the ballad from which Mr. Newell thinks the game may have originated, a maid has been given in marriage to another than her chosen lover. He rides to the ceremony with a troop of followers; the bride, seeing him approach, calls on her maidens to take off her gold crown and coif her in linen white, to test her bridegroom s affection. This incident, I think, is not to test affection, but the ordeal of recognising his bride, however disguised, and the fact that the hero at once recognises his love, mounts with her on horseback, and flees to Norway, may be considered to support my view. See also Brand, vol. ii. p. 141, under Care Cloth. King s Chair Two children join hands, by crossing their arms, so as to form a seat.