, the dummy at Whist or Bridge. Strong Suits, those in which a number of tricks can be made after the adverse trumps are out of the way. Sub Echo, a trump signal in a plain suit, made after partner has led trumps, and the player has not echoed on the trump lead. Sub-sneak, a two-card suit which is led for the sole purpose of getting a ruff on the third round. Sweating Out, winning a game without taking any risks, by waiting for the trifling points that fall to your share. Systems, any guide that keeps a player from guessing in the distribution of his bets; as distinguished from a martingale, which controls the amount of the wager itself. Table Games, Chess, Checkers, and Backgammon. Tables, the ancient name for Backgammon. Taille, F., a number of packs shuffled together, which are not to be reshuffled or cut until all have been used.
_=Text Books.=_ The following will be found useful:-- Théorie Mathematique du Baccara, by Dormoy. Baccara Experimental, by Billard. Traité Théorique et Pratique Baccara, by Laun. _Westminster Papers_, Vols. X. and XI. BLIND HOOKEY. This game is sometimes called Dutch Bank. Any number of persons may play, and a full pack of fifty-two cards is used.
Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, Here we go round the mulberry bush, On a cold and frosty morning. This is the way we go to school, We go to school, we go to school, This is the way we go to school, On a cold and frosty morning. Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, Here we go round the mulberry bush, On a cold and frosty morning. --Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler). (_b_) The children form a ring, all joining hands and dancing round while singing the first verse. When singing the last line they unclasp their hands, and each one turns rapidly round. They then sing the next verse, suiting their actions to the words they sing, again turning round singly at the last line. This is done with every alternate verse, the first verse being always sung as a chorus or dance in between the different action-verses. The verses may be varied or added to at pleasure. The actions generally consist of washing and dressing oneself, combing hair, washing clothes, baking bread, sweeping the floor, going to and returning from school, learning to read, cleaning boots, and lacing stays.
It is a misdeal: If the cards have not been properly cut, if the dealer does not give the same number of cards to each player on the same round; if he gives too many or too few cards to any player; if he counts the cards on the table, or those remaining in the pack; or if he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to correct the error before dealing another. If the dealer is interrupted in any way by an adversary, he does not lose his deal. _=Bidding.=_ After receiving his nine cards, each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, announces the number of points he will undertake to win if he is allowed to name the trump suit. No player is allowed to bid more than fourteen. If he will not bid, he must say: “I pass.” A bid having been regularly made, any following player must bid higher or pass. There are no second bids. A bid once made can neither be amended nor withdrawn. _=Irregular Bids.
At the conclusion of this verse she selects a girl from the ring and asks her her sweetheart s name, which is imparted in a whisper. Upon this the child in the centre sings the third verse, the ring dancing round as before. If the ring approves her choice, they sing the fourth verse as in the Biggar version, and if they disapprove, the fifth. Chambers does not say whether another child is selected, if this is the case; but it is probable, as he says, the marriage is finally concluded upon and effected by the ring singing the verses which follow. When singing the first line of the eighth verse all the ring unclasps hands for a moment, and each child performs a pirouette, clapping her hands above her head. (_c_) It seems very clear from both the versions given that this is a ceremonial dance, round or at a place sacred to such ceremonies as betrothal and marriage. The version given by Chambers suggests this the more strongly, as the child in the centre acts as mistress of the ceremonies, or go-between, the person who was the negotiator between the parents on either side in bringing a marriage about. The courtesying and bowing of those in the ring to her may show respect for this office. On the other hand, there is the more important office of priest or priestess of the stones suggested by the action of the game, and the reverence to the centre child may be a relic of this. The fact that she asks a girl to tell her her sweetheart s name, and then announces the name of the girl s choice for approval or disapproval by the ring in both versions, points to the time when consent by relations and friends on both sides was necessary before the marriage could be agreed upon--the inquiry regarding the qualifications of the proposed wife, the recital of her housewifely abilities, and the giving of the ring by the boy to the girl are also betrothal customs.
If it is the holder’s turn to lead, the card must be called before the preceding trick has been turned and quitted, or before the holder has led a different card; otherwise he may lead as he pleases. LAW VIII.--LEADING OUT OF TURN. SEC. 1. If a player leads when it is the turn of an adversary to lead, and the error is discovered before all have played to such lead, a suit may be called from him or from his partner, as the case may be, the first time thereafter it is the right of either of them to lead. The penalty can be enforced only by the adversary on the right of the one from whom a lead can lawfully be called, and the right thereto is lost unless such adversary calls the suit he desires led before the first trick won by the offender or his partner subsequent to the offence is turned and quitted. SEC. 2. If a player leads when it is his partner’s turn and the error is discovered before all have played to such lead, a suit may at once be called from the proper leader by his right-hand adversary.
As this would close the blank end of the line, the first player, whom we shall call A, would have to play on the 5 end, as he has no 6. In order to get the line back to his second longest suit, the blanks, he would play the 5-2, hoping to play 2-0 next time. His adversary, B, would play on this end if he could, but being unable to do so, he gets rid of his heaviest domino, playing the double six. A plays 2-0, and B should now bring in his suit of aces by playing 6-1, which would win the game; but for the sake of illustration we shall suppose that he foolishly plays 6-4. A plays his double four, and the dominoes on the table present the following appearance:-- [Illustration] B, having neither 4 nor 0 on any of his remaining dominoes, says: “_=Go=_,” which signifies that he is blocked, and cannot play. A can now play at either end, and with either of two dominoes; but it would be bad policy to play the 4-5, because his adversary might be able to play to the 5; but it is a certainty that he cannot play to either 0 or 4. If A plays the 4-5, B gets rid of all his dominoes before A can play again. If A plays the 4-0 on the blank end, he will have to play again with his 4-5; but if he plays it on the 4 end he blocks himself. Whether to block the game or not depends on the probable comparative value of the dominoes held by A and B. If A blocks the game by making both ends blank, both players show their remaining dominoes, and the one with the greater number of pips loses as many points as he has pips in excess of the other player.
A trump is always turned up, and the dealer asks each in turn, beginning on his left, whether or not he will play, taking up the cards of those who decline to stand. He then announces his own decision, and proceeds to ask those who have declared to play whether or not they wish to exchange any of the cards originally dealt them. The usual question is simply: “How many?” and the player names the number of cards he wishes to exchange, if any; at the same time discarding others in their places. The number first asked for cannot be amended or recalled. The trump is laid aside, and the cards called for are dealt from the remainder of the pack, without further shuffling. In all other respects, the game is Three-card Loo. FIVE-CARD LOO. This is Irish Loo with some additional variations. Each red counter should be worth five white ones, and the players will require about fifty red counters each at starting. The dealer puts up five red counters.
It scared the daylights out of me, more so because I was flat on my back. Cautiously I turned my head toward the door I had come through. I could see the fuzzy redness of a cigarette in the dark. It brightened as the smoker took a drag. Then I heard the sniffle, and knew who it was. She stood there, apparently leaning against the wall behind her, silently, invisible but for the glow of her cigarette, and not moving her feet. Hello, I said at last. Wasn t sure you wanted to talk, she said out of the dark. It shook me up. She certainly couldn t _see_ me.
=_ Something will interfere with his good intentions. Queen. Your best girl. _=R.=_ She is jealous. Jack. A probable marriage. _=R.=_ It may have to be postponed. Ten.
She blows, she blows, she blows so sweet. Come along in. Buy a shawl, buy a new black shawl, A bonnet trimmed with white and a new parasol. Oh dear, oh dear, what can I do, For next Monday morning is my wedding due. --Shipley, Horsham; _Notes and Queries_, 8th series, i. 210 (Miss Busk). (_b_) The children form a ring by joining hands, one child standing in the centre. They dance round. At the mention of the second name one from the ring goes into the centre. The two kiss at the end of the verse, and the first child takes the place in the ring, and the game begins again.
If either has less than his proper number, his adversary having the right number, the deal stands good, and there is no penalty except that the player with the right number of cards wins and scores for the last trick. If both have less than the right number, the deal stands good, and the actual winner of the last trick scores it. It will be observed that these rules are quite different from the French rules, which have been given in connection with the ordinary game of Bézique. In France, it is always the custom to establish the _status quo_, if possible, and to assume that the error was quite unintentional. In England, all laws are based on the assumption that your adversary is a rogue, and the penalties are absurdly severe, but we have no authority to change them. _=Irregularities in Drawing.=_ If a player has forgotten to take his card from the talon, and has played to the next trick, the English laws compel him to play the remainder of the hand with eight cards; the French laws give his adversary the option of calling the deal void, or allowing the player in error to draw two cards from the stock next time. If a player draws two cards from the stock, instead of one, he must show the second one to his adversary if he has seen it himself. If it was his adversary’s card, he must show his own card also. If he has not seen it, he may put it back without penalty.
See Cockly Jock, Cogs. Cat and Dog An ancient game played in Angus and Lothian. Three play, and they are provided with clubs. These clubs are called dogs. The players cut out two holes, each about a foot in diameter, and seven inches in depth. The distance between them is about twenty-six feet. One stands at each hole with a club. A piece of wood about four inches long and one inch in diameter, called a Cat, is thrown from the one hole towards the other by a third person. The object is to prevent the Cat from getting into the hole. Every time that it enters the hole, he who has the club at that hole loses the club, and he who threw the Cat gets possession both of the club and of the hole, while the former possessor is obliged to take charge of the Cat.
If an erroneous score, affecting the amount of the rubber, be proved, such mistake can be rectified at any time during the rubber. CUTTING. 13. The Ace is the lowest card. 14. In all cases, every one must cut from the same pack. 15. Should a player expose more than one card, he must cut again. FORMATION OF TABLE. 16.
But if the man touched can be legally taken, it must be captured. For playing a man to a square to which it cannot be legally moved, the adversary, at his option, may require him to move the man legally, or to move the King. For illegally capturing an adversary’s man, the offender must move his King, or legally capture the man, as his opponent may elect. For attempting to Castle illegally, the player doing so must move either the King or Rook, as his adversary may dictate. For touching more than one of the player’s own men, he must move either man that his opponent may name. For touching more than one of the adversary’s men, the offender must capture the one named by his opponent, or if _either_ cannot be captured, he may be required to move the King or capture the man which can be taken, at the adversary’s option; or, if _neither_ can be captured, then the King must be moved. A player moving into check may be required, by the opposing player, either to move the King elsewhere, or replace the King and make some other move--but such other move shall not be selected by the player imposing the penalty. For discovering check on his own King, the player must either legally move the man touched, or move the King at his adversary’s option. In case neither move can be made, there shall be no penalty. While in check, for touching or moving a man which does not cover the check, the player may be required to cover with another piece, or move the King, as the opposing player may elect.
_) says that nine round holes are made in the ground, and a ball aimed at them from a certain distance. A second game is played with a board having nine holes, through one of which the ball must pass. Nares quotes several authors to show the antiquity of the game. He shows that the Nine Men s Morris of our ancestors was but another name for Nine Holes. Nine, a favourite and mysterious number everywhere, prevails in games. Strutt (_Sports_, p. 384) also describes the game as played in two ways--a game with bowling marbles at a wooden bridge; and another game, also with marbles, in which four, five, or six holes, and sometimes more, are made in the ground at a distance from each other, and the business of every one of the players is to bowl a marble, by a regular succession, into all the holes, and he who completes in the fewest bowls obtains the victory. In Northamptonshire a game called Nine Holes, or Trunks, is played with a long piece of wood or bridge with nine arches cut in it, each arch being marked with a figure over it, from one to nine, in the following rotation--VII., V., III.
_, ii. 393). Father s Fiddle This is a boys game. One boy says to another, Divv (do) ye ken (know) aboot my father s fiddle? On replying that he does not, the questioner takes hold of the other s right hand with his left, and stretches out the arm. With his right hand he touches the arm gently above the elbow, and says, My father had a fiddle, an he brook (broke) it here, an he brook it here (touching it below the elbow), an he brook it throw the middle, and comes down with a sharp stroke on the elbow-joint.--Keith, Fochabers (Rev. W. Gregor). This is probably the same game as that printed by Halliwell, No. cccxxxv.
If the dealer leads out of turn, there is no penalty, but he cannot correct the error if the second hand has played. _=Cards Played in Error.=_ If any player but the Dummy omits to play to a trick and does not correct the error until he has played to the next trick, his adversaries may claim a new deal. If any one, excepting Dummy, plays two cards to a trick and does not discover it, he is responsible for any revokes that he may make in consequence of not having the card in his hand. _=OBJECT OF THE GAME.=_ As in all members of the whist family, the object in Bridge is to win tricks, the highest card played of the suit led winning, and trumps, if any, winning against all other suits. At the end of each hand the side that has won any tricks in excess of the book, scores them, after multiplying their number by the unit of value settled upon by the doubling, if any took place. As soon as either side reaches or passes 30, they win the game; but the hand must be played out, and all tricks taken must be counted. The total is written on the score-sheet; the score of the losers standing to their credit until the final accounting at the end of the rubber. _=RUBBERS.
If a player thinks he would have a better chance to reach 66 first if his adversary was compelled to follow suit, he may close the stock. For instance: A’s mental count is 35, and he holds in his hand a marriage, and the Ace of another plain suit; but no trumps. If he closes at once, and leads the Ace, his adversary will have to follow suit, and the 11 points will put the closing player to 46. He can then show his marriage, without leading it, and claim 66. But if the adversary should turn out to have none of the suit led, and should trump the Ace, A might never reach 66, and B would count two points. A player may close, hoping to make schneider or schwartz. For instance: A knows his score is 13, while B has 32. A has royal marriage and Ace of trumps in his hand, and the Nine is turned up. If A closes, and so compels B to follow suit, he must catch the Jack or Ten of trumps by leading the Ace. If he catches the Jack, that will put him to 26, and showing the royal marriage will put him 66, and make B schneider.
VI. Here comes an old woman from Baby-land, With six poor children by the hand. One can brew, one can bake, And one can make a lily-white cake; One can knit, one can spin, And one can make a bed for a king. Please will you take one in? [choose out one] Now poor ---- she is gone Without a farthing in her hand, Nothing but a gay gold ring. Good-bye! Good-bye! Good-bye, mother, good-bye! --Isle of Man (A. W. Moore) VII. Here comes a poor widow from Sandalam, With all her children at her hand; The one can bake, the other can brew, The other can make a lily-white shoe; Another can sit by the fire and spin, So pray take one of my daughters in. The fairest one that I can see Is pretty [Mary] come to me. And now poor [Mary] she is gone Without a guinea in her hand, And not so much as a farthing.
_=Multipliers.=_ The foregoing are simply the standard counting values of these various games. In calculating the actual value of a player’s game, in order to see how much he may safely offer in the bidding, and how much he would win if successful in his undertaking, these standard values are multiplied as follows:-- Five classes of games are recognized, beginning with the lowest, in which the player gets the necessary 61 points, but does not make his adversaries schneider. This is simply called “game,” and as it must always be either won or lost, it is a constant factor. The value of the game is 1, and each better game is numbered in regular order, the five varieties being as follows: The Game, 1. Schneider, 2. Schwarz announced or Schwarz, 3. Schwarz after announcing Schneider, 4. Schwarz announced, 5. These numbers are added to the number of Matadores, and the total thus found is multiplied by the unit value of the game.
225). From Longcot, Berks, a version sent me by Miss I. Barclay has no fourth line to the verses. (_d_) This game is probably, unless we except Mulberry Bush, the most popular and the most widely played of any singing game. It might almost be called universal. This is shown by the fact that there are few counties where it is not known, and also that important variants, either in the words or in the method of playing, are rarely met with. In all the versions which have been sent there are only the following variations in the words, and these are principally in the refrain, or last line of each verse: On a cold and frosty morning ends by far the greater number of versions; On a fine summer s morning, So early in the morning, All on a summer s morning, Five o clock in the morning, On a cold and sunny morning, coming next in number. The Belfast version ends, May! May! May! and a Newbury and Marlborough fourth line is simply a repetition of the second, Nuts in May, nuts in May. In the first line of the verse the only important variant seems to be the Symondsbury Gathering nuts away and Gathering nuts to-day. Gathering nuts away also occurs in one version from Newbury (Berks), Nuts and May appearing in the larger number after the more usual Nuts in May.