=_ If there are three players, the one cutting the lowest card takes dummy for the first game; he also has the choice of seats and cards, and may deal the first hand for himself or for Mort, as he pleases; but having once made his choice, he must abide by it. The player cutting the intermediate card takes dummy for the second game; and the player cutting the highest card takes it for the third game; each in turn having the choice of seats and cards. These three games finish the rubber or tournée, each having once had the advantage or disadvantage of playing with Mort. It is obligatory to finish the tournée, no player being allowed to withdraw and substitute another without the consent of the other players. In Mort it is very unusual for one person to take dummy continuously. If there are four players, the one cutting the highest card of the four sits out, and takes no part in the first game. It is customary for him to take Mort’s seat, and to make himself useful in sorting dummy’s cards for him. He plays in the three following games, taking Mort in the fourth, or last. Four games complete the tournée for four players. _=POSITION OF THE PLAYERS.
VII. There stands a lady on the mountain, Who she is I do not know: Oh! she wants such gold and silver! Oh! she wants such a nice young man! Now you re married I wish you joy, First a girl and then a boy; Seven years after a son and a daughter, Kiss your bride and come out of the ring. --Berkshire (Miss Thoyts, _Antiquary_; xxvii. 254). (_b_) A ring is formed, one child in the centre. The ring sing the first verse, and then the centre child chooses one from the ring. The chosen pair kiss when the ring has sung the second. The first child then joins the ring, and the game begins again. In the Barnes version the centre child calls one to her from the ring by singing the second verse and naming the child she chooses. (_c_) A version from Lady C.
For instance: If the Five of trumps is led, no one can refuse to follow suit, no matter what trumps he holds; but if the Jack is led, and any player holds the Five alone, he need not play it to the inferior trump lead. If the heart ace is led, and one player holds the Jack alone, and another the Five alone, neither of these cards need be played, because the trump led is inferior to both of them. If a superior trump is played in following suit, such as the Five played on an Eight led, the holder of the lone Jack of trumps or ace of hearts, need not play it, because the lead was inferior. This privilege of reneging is confined to the three highest trumps. _=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ In Spoil Five there are three things to play for. If any one person can win three tricks he takes the pool. If he can win all five tricks he not only gets the pool, but receives an extra counter from each of the other players. If he has no chance to win three tricks, he must bend all his energies to scattering the tricks among the other players, so that no one of them shall be able to get the three tricks necessary to win the pool. When this is done, the game is said to be _=spoiled=_, and as that is the object of the majority in every deal it gives the game its name.
_=THE CONSULTATION.=_ There are several ways of telling fortunes, but one example will suffice. The most important thing is to know what your client wants to be told, and the next is to be sure that she cuts the cards with her left hand. The cards are shuffled, presented to be cut, and then counted off into sevens, every seventh card being laid face up on the table, the six intermediates being placed on the bottom of the pack each time. When twelve cards have been obtained in this manner, they are laid out in a row, and examined to see if the card representing the questioner is among them. If not, they must be gathered, shuffled, cut, and dealt again. A married man with light hair would be the ♢ K, with dark hair, the ♣ K. If he claims to be single, the ♡ J. If your client is a woman, the ♡ Q will do for blondes, the ♣ Q for brunettes. Do not ask if she is married, and take no notice of rings.
Chambers also gives this rhyme (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 152). Branks A game formerly common at fairs, called also Hit my Legs and miss my Pegs. --Dickinson s _Cumberland Glossary_. Bridgeboard [Illustration] A game at marbles. The boys have a board a foot long, four inches in depth, and an inch (or so) thick, with squares as in the diagram; any number of holes at the ground edge, numbered irregularly. The board is placed firmly on the ground, and each player bowls at it. He wins the number of marbles denoted by the figure above the opening through which his marble passes. If he misses a hole, his marble is lost to the owner of the Bridgeboard.--Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy).
This method of forcing a ball to go off at a right angle is called “screwing” in England. [Illustration] _=The Follow Shot.=_ If the cue ball is struck above the centre, the rolling motion is set up at once, no matter how hard the ball is struck, and the effect of contact with the object ball is simply to check the motion for a moment, after which the cue ball rolls forward again, deflected only by the angle at which the object ball was struck. The great art in making follow shots is to let the cue follow the ball, the tip passing at least three inches beyond where the ball stood, as shown by the dotted lines in the diagram. When the balls are very close together the cue must be lifted, and the ball struck very much on one side, the cue being behind the centre, as shown in the third position in the diagram of pinch shots. [Illustration] _=The Draw Shot.=_ This is exactly the reverse of the follow shot, the ball being struck below the centre, and the cue passing at least three inches beyond where the ball stood, as shown in the diagram. This gives the cue ball a retrograde motion, similar to that imparted to a child’s hoop by spinning it backward while throwing it forward, so as to make it return. If the object ball is reached before this retrograde motion is exhausted, the effect will be to stop the forward motion of the cue ball, and to give what is left of the retrograde motion full play, making the cue ball return. The two great mistakes made by beginners in playing draw shots are that they pull the cue back, instead of driving it clear through the ball aimed at, and that they strike so hard that the forward motion of the cue ball is too strong for the retrograde motion to overcome it, or the object ball to stop it.
As soon as any player gets together four cards of the same denomination, he lays them face down upon the table in front of him, and they form a trick. A good memory is necessary to play this game well, as it is very important to recall who has asked for certain cards, and which players were unable to supply them. It is a legitimate artifice in the game to ask for a card you already have in your own hand, although you know it will lose your guess, because it may be the only way to prevent another player from drawing several valuable cards from you. For instance: You hold the Fives of diamonds and spades, and have asked for and received the Five of clubs. If you ask for the heart Five, and miss it, the player with that card may draw all yours; but if you ask for the spade Five, and he gets into the ask, he will at once betray the fact that he holds the fourth Five by asking you for the club Five; but he will never think of asking you for the spade Five, because you asked for it yourself. If you can get into the ask again you can immediately make a trick in Fives. SPECULATION. Any number of persons less than ten can play, each contributing an agreed number of counters to the pool, the dealer paying double. The full pack of fifty-two cards is used, and the cards rank from the A K Q down to the 2. In _=dealing=_, the cards are distributed from left to right, one at a time, until each player has received three.
The first card withdrawn is placed about six inches from the box, and the second is laid close to the box itself. [Illustration] Every two cards withdrawn in this manner are called a _=turn=_, and there are twenty-five turns in each deal, Soda and Hoc being dead cards. In making the first turn, the Soda begins the pile farther from the box, and the next card taken out is called a _=loser=_, which is placed close to the box. The card left face upward in the box is the _=winner=_ for that turn, so that there must be a winner and a loser for every turn; the loser outside the box, and the winner left in it. On the next and all following turns, the winning card on the previous turn will be placed on the same pile as the Soda, so that it shall be possible at any time to decide which cards have won, and which have lost. The _=Object of the Game=_ is for the players to guess whether the various cards on which they place their money will win or lose. They are at liberty to select any card they please, from the ace to the King, and to bet any amount within the established limit of the bank. _=The Layout.=_ All bets are made with counters of various colors and values, which are sold to the players by the dealer, and may be redeemed at any time. These counters are placed on the layout, which is a complete suit of spades, enamelled on green cloth, sufficient space being left between the cards for the players to place their bets.
Duffan Ring. Dumb Crambo. Dumb Motions. Dump. Dumps. Dust-point. ELLER Tree. Ezzeka. FATHER S Fiddle. Feed the Dove.
_=Building.=_ A player may have in his hand two cards, the lower of which, if added to a card on the table, would build up its value to that of the higher card still in the player’s hand. For instance: A player holds a 9 and 2, and there is a 7 on the table. He may place the 2 on the 7, announcing the total value; “Nine,” which will notify other players that those two cards cannot be separated; but he cannot take them in until it again comes round to his turn to play, because he is allowed to play only one card at a time, and he has played his card in making the build. Should any other player following him hold a 9, he would be entitled to take in this build, but he could not separate the two cards forming it. A player holding either a 7 or a 2 could not touch either of the cards in the build, because they are no longer a 7 and 2, but a 9, for all practical purposes. _=Increasing Builds.=_ If any player held an Ace and a 10 in his hand, he could increase the 9 build to a 10 build, by putting his Ace on the 7 and 2, and announcing the total value, “Ten.” Any following player would then be unable to win the build with anything but a 10, and the player who originally built it a 9 would lose it unless he also held a 10 in his hand. Should the build remain a 9 until it came round again to the player who originally built it, he could then take it in with his 9, or he might himself increase it to 10, if he had an Ace and a 10 in his hand; but in order to do this the player must have in his hand the cards to win both the original and the increased builds.
Spot Stroke, a series of winning hazards with the red ball at English billiards. Square Game, one in which the cards are perfectly square, and have not been trimmed for wedges, strippers, etc. Squeezers, cards with indicators on the edges. Stack of Chips, twenty. A “stack of whites” is $5. Starter, the cut card at Cribbage. Stechen, G., to trump. Still Pack, the one not in play when two are used. Stock, cards left after the deal is complete, but which are to be used in the following play.
At the end of the hand, after the hearts have been counted and announced, each player pays into the pool, for every heart he holds, as many counters as there are players besides himself. For instance: A, B, C and D play. A takes three hearts; B and C five each, and D none. There being three players besides himself, A puts up three times three, or 9 counters. B and C put up 15 each, and D none; so that there are 39 in the pool. Each player then takes out of the pool 1 counter for every heart he did _=not=_ hold when the hearts were announced. D, having taken no hearts, gets 13 counters. A, having taken three hearts only, is entitled to 10 counters for the 10 hearts he did not hold, while B and C get 8 each. This exhausts the pool. There are no Jacks in this way of settling.
Light doon and bide wi us a night, We ll choose ye a bonnie lass; Ye ll get your wull and pick o them a , And the time it soon wull pass. Which ane will ye choose, If I with you will bide? The fairest and rarest In a the kintra side. A girl s name was then mentioned. If the lad was pleased with the choice made, he replied-- I ll set her up on a bonnie pear-tree, It s tall and straight, and sae is she; I d keep wauken a night her love to be. If he was not pleased, he replied in one or other of the next three verses-- I ll set her up ayont the dike, She ll be rotten ere I be ripe, The corbies her auld banes wull pike. I ll set her up on a high crab-tree, It s sour and dour, and so is she; She may gang to the mools unkissed by me. Though she be good and fair to see, She s for another, and no for me; But I thank you for your courtesie. When a girl took the place of the lad, she replied in one or other of the three following, according as she was angry or pleased-- I ll put him in a riddle And riddle him o er the sea, And sell to Johnny Groat s For a Scotch bawbee. I ll set him up on my lum-head [chimney], And blaw him up wi pouther and lead; He ll never be kissed though he be dead. I ll set him up at my table head, Feed him wi sweet milk and bread, If he likes gang hame on his fine steed.
The idea was, I believe, that the children were imitating or mocking their mother (A. B. G.). In Warwickshire the four lines of the Surrey game are concluded by the additional lines-- We don t care whether we work or no, We ll follow our mother on tipty-toe. When the mother runs after them and buffets them.--Northall s _English Folk Rhymes_, p. 393. Battledore and Shuttlecock See Shuttlefeather. Bedlams or Relievo [Illustration: Fig.
Philosopher, a card sharp. Piano Hands, hands which run along smoothly at Whist, and yield no opportunities for loss or gain. Piking, making small bets all over the layout at Faro. Playboy, the Jack of trumps at Spoil Five. Plain Suits, those which are not trumps. Point, F., the suit containing the greatest number of pips. Pone, the player on the dealer’s right, who cuts the cards. Ponte, F., one who plays against the banker.
_=No. 3.=_ This example of the _=Short-suit Game=_ is from Val Starnes’ Short-Suit Whist. This is sometimes called the Gambit opening. The leader, having no reason to lead trumps, even with five, and not having three honours in his long suit, prefers the gambit opening of the singly guarded queen. Y holds what is called a potential or imperfect fourchette, and covers, in order to make A-B play two honours to get one trick. B also makes a gambit opening by returning a supporting spade. Three tricks are gained by the two leads of the supporting cards, and five would have been made but for Y’s covering on the first trick. _=No. 4.
It felt relaxing and reassuring. He could sense her welcome of him. It was scarcely a thought, just a raw emotion of greeting. At last they were one again. In a tiny remote corner of his mind, as tiny as the smallest toy he had ever seen in his childhood, he was still aware of the room and the ship, and of Father Moontree picking up a telephone and speaking to a Scanner captain in charge of the ship. His telepathic mind caught the idea long before his ears could frame the words. The actual sound followed the idea the way that thunder on an ocean beach follows the lightning inward from far out over the seas. The Fighting Room is ready. Clear to planoform, sir. THE PLAY Underhill was always a little exasperated the way that Lady May experienced things before he did.
IX. Stepping up the green grass, Thus, and thus, and thus; Will you let one of your fair maids Come and play with us? We will give you pots and pans, We will give you brass, We will give you anything For a pretty lass. No! We won t take your pots and pans, We won t take your brass, We won t take your anything For a pretty lass. Stepping up the green grass, Thus, and thus, and thus; Will you let one of your fair maids Come and play with us? We will give you gold and silver, We will give you pearl, We will give you anything For a pretty girl. Yes! Come, my dearest [Mary], Come and play with us, You shall have a young man Born for your sake. And the bells shall ring And the cats shall sing, And we ll all clap hands together. --Addy s _Sheffield Glossary_. X. Up and down the green grass, This, and that, and thus; Come all you fair maids And walk along with us. Some will give you silver, Some will give you gold, Some will give you anything For a pretty lass.
(_c_) I have heard other rhymes added to this, to determine whether the players shall marry or not, the future husband s calling, dress to be worn, method of going to church, &c. (A. B. Gomme). Strutt describes a handball game played during the Easter holidays for Tansy cakes (_Sports_, p. 94). Halliwell gives rhymes for ball divination (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 298) to determine the number of years before marriage will arrive. Miss Baker (_Northamptonshire Glossary_) says, The May garland is suspended by ropes from the school-house to an opposite tree, and the Mayers amuse themselves by throwing balls over it. A native of Fotheringay, Mr.
| +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.| -- | -- | -- | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.| -- |L. B. is broken down. |L. B.
XIII. How many miles to London? Three score ten. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes, and back again. Open the gate and let me through. Not unless you re black and blue. Here s my black and here s my blue, Open the gates and let me through. Dan, Dan, thread the needle; Dan, Dan, sew. --_Suffolk County Folk-lore_, p. 63. XIV.
_=No. 4.=_ At the third trick, a hasty or careless player would have been only too glad of the opportunity to get in his Pedro. But Y reasons that there are only two trumps unaccounted for, the Ten and Left Pedro. If B has one, it must fall to this trick. He cannot have both, for A drew only two cards. If A has both, Y must catch his Pedro, no matter how A plays; and as long as Y does not get into the lead himself, he cannot lose his own Pedro. At trick 5, A naturally places the Pedro with Z, as Y did not save it on the King, and it is perfectly natural for A to trump with his Pedro, intending to lead the Ten to catch Z’s. A-B score nothing, not having made good their bid. Y-Z score Right and Left Pedro, and Low, 11 points; adding the 8 points bid but not made by A-B, 19 altogether.
=_ The dealer presents the pack to his adversary to be cut, and then gives thirteen cards to each player, one at a time, turning up the twenty-seventh card for the trump, and laying it on the talon, or remainder of the pack. _=PLAYING.=_ The non-dealer begins by leading any card he pleases, and his adversary must follow suit if he can. The winner of the first trick takes the trump card into his hand, and his adversary takes the card immediately under it, but without showing or naming it. Each player thus restores the number of cards in his hand to thirteen. The card which is now on the top of the talon is turned up, and the winner of the next trick must take it, his adversary taking the one under it, as before, and turning up the next. In this manner it will be seen that the winner of each trick must always get a card which is known to his adversary, while the loser of the trick gets one which remains unknown. When the talon is exhausted, the thirteen cards in each hand should be known to both players if they have been observant, and the end game becomes a problem in double dummy. _=STAKES.=_ The game is usually played for so much a point, the player having won the majority of the tricks receiving the difference between the number of his tricks and those of his adversary.