In Ellesmere, Miss Burne says, Snap-tongs, called in other circles Magic Music or Musical Chairs, is thus played. Five players take part; four chairs are set in the middle, and one of the players, who holds a pair of tongs, desires the others to dance round them till the clock strikes a certain hour, which is done by snapping the tongs together so many times. While they dance, a chair is taken away, and the player who cannot find a seat has to become the snap-tongs next time.--_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 525. Nacks A game in which pegs of wood play a similar part to the well-known object Aunt Sally. --Robinson s _Mid Yorkshire Glossary_. Namers and Guessers Any number of players can play this game. Two are chosen, the one to be Namer, and the other Guesser or Witch. The rest of the players range themselves in a row.
If a player tells another to go when he can still play himself, he forfeits two points, and his adversary may, if he chooses, take back the cards to the point where the error occurred and have them played over again. The same penalty can be enforced against a player who pegs for a go when he can still play. Suppose the first card played is a Jack. The dealer, holding two Nines, an Eight, and a Five, plays the Five, and pegs 2 for the fifteen. The pone plays a Nine, announcing the total as twenty-four. The dealer cannot pair this Nine, because it would run the count past 31, neither can he play the Eight, so he says, “Go.” The pone pegs the go without playing, which shows that he is also unable to play, having nothing so small as a Seven. Both then turn down the cards already played, and the one whose turn it is to play begins all over again with his remaining cards or card, announcing its face value, his adversary playing after him until their cards are exhausted or they reach another 31. To continue the foregoing example, let us suppose the dealer to play one of his Nines. The pone plays a Jack, and announces “Nineteen.
The one child stands in the centre. The ring of children dance round the way of the sun, first slowly and then more rapidly. First all the children in the ring bow to the one in the centre, and she bows back. Then they dance round singing the first and second verses, the second verse being addressed to the child in the centre. She then whispers a boy s name to one in the ring. This girl then sings the third verse. None in the ring are supposed to be able to answer, and the name of the chosen boy is then said aloud by the girl who asked the question. If the name is satisfactory the ring sing the fourth verse, and the two players then retire and walk round a little. If the name given is not satisfactory the ring sing the fifth verse, and another child must be chosen. When the two again stand in the centre the boys sing the sixth verse.
=_ In case of any irregularity in the deal, the same dealer must deal again. The laws governing misdeals are the same as at whist or bridge. _=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ The play is for tricks alone, but whether the players try to win them or to lose them depends on the declaration. In Grands it is to win; in Nullos, it is to lose. _=BIDDING.=_ The player to the left of the dealer makes the first bid. He may offer to play grand or nullo or he may pass. The moment either grand or nullo is named, the bidding ends. If the first player passes, the next to the left must declare himself.
He considers it to be an old English song which has been fitted for a ring game by the addition of a verse. See Lady on Yonder Hill. Lady on Yonder Hill I. Yonder stands a lovely lady, Whom she be I do not know; I ll go court her for my beauty, Whether she say me yea or nay. Madam, to thee I humbly bow and bend. Sir, I take thee not to be my friend. Oh, if the good fairy doesn t come I shall die. --Derbyshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, i. 387). II.
If either player confuses his cards in any manner with those of the crib, his adversary scores two points, and may also claim a fresh deal. If it is not discovered until he comes to lay out for the crib, that a player has too many cards, the same rules apply that are given for misdealing; but if he has too few cards there is no remedy, as he has lifted his hand. He must lay out two cards for the crib and play with what remain, his adversary scoring two points penalty at the same time. _=THE STARTER.=_ Both players having discarded for the crib, the non-dealer cuts the remainder of the pack, and the dealer lifts the top card from the portion left on the table, turning it face up. The two portions being again united, the turned card is placed face up on the pack, and is known as the starter, because it forms the starting-point in the count for every hand and crib. At least four cards must be left in each packet in cutting for the starter. If the starter is found face up, there must be a new deal. If the starter is a Jack, the dealer immediately pegs two points _=for his heels=_. If he does not peg these two holes before he plays a card the score is lost.
519 (F. H. Low). This game belongs apparently to the ball games used for purposes of divination. Mr. Newell (_Games_, p. 181) describes a similar game to this, in which the player whose name is called drops the ball; he must pick it up as quickly as possible while the rest scatter. He then calls Stand! upon which the players halt, and he flings it at whom he pleases. If he misses his aim, he must place himself in a bent position with his hands against a wall until every player has taken a shot at him. The idea of naming children after the days of the week occurs also in the games of Gipsy, Witch, and Mother, Mother, the Pot boils over.
It would be easy to give the roads a real significance by permitting a move half as long again as in the open country for waggons or boxed troops along a road. There is a possibility of having a toy railway, with stations or rolling stock into which troops might be put, on such a giant war map. One would allow a move for entraining and another for detraining, requiring the troops to be massed alongside the train at the beginning and end of each journey, and the train might move at four or five times the cavalry rate. One would use open trucks and put in a specified number of men--say twelve infantry or five cavalry or half a gun per truck--and permit an engine to draw seven or eight trucks, or move at a reduced speed with more. One could also rule that four men--the same four men--remaining on a line during two moves, could tear up a rail, and eight men in three moves replace it. I will confess I have never yet tried over these more elaborate developments of Little Wars, partly because of the limited time at my disposal, and partly because they all demand a number of players who are well acquainted with the same on each side if they are not to last interminably. The Battle of Hook s Farm (one player a side) took a whole afternoon, and most of my battles have lasted the better part of a day. VI ENDING WITH A SORT OF CHALLENGE I COULD go on now and tell of battles, copiously. In the memory of the one skirmish I have given I do but taste blood. I would like to go on, to a large, thick book.
Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell! Last night when we parted I believed you broken-hearted, As on the green mountain You stands [_qy._ sang] like a lark. Go to church, love, go to church, love, Go to church, love, Farewell! In the ring, love, in the ring, love, In the ring, love, Farewell! Give a kiss, love, give a kiss, love, Give a kiss, love, Farewell! Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell! --Fernham and Longcot (Miss I. Barclay). 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.
This B prevents, hoping to force two clubs on Y and Z and set the contract. At trick 7, if the hearts are split, the queen must win the ten. If not, Z must win one heart trick. Y makes his contract, losing four odd. BRIDGE. The difference between straight bridge, as it is sometimes called, and auction is in the method of selecting the trump, which must be declared by the dealer or his partner, the opponents having nothing to say except to double the declaration if they think it will not win the odd trick. Another point is that either side can score toward game by getting the odd trick or more, there being no penalties for failure to make the odd except losing the value of the tricks because the dealer never declares to make any given number of tricks on the hand. There are some irregularities which are peculiar to straight bridge that would not apply to auction. These are fully covered by the following description of the game, all other matters, such as the correct card to lead and the manner of combining the hands, have been fully described in connection with auction. _=MAKING THE TRUMP.
_=CHEATING.=_ The greatest advantage at Cribbage is to secure good starters, and for this purpose the greek adopts various methods of trimming and marking the cards so that he may secure a starter exactly suited to his hand. After trimming certain cards a trifle longer or shorter than others, the pack to be cut may be presented to the pone in such a manner that he will unconsciously lift them either by the ends or the sides, according to the wish of the dealer, and so uncover a starter exactly suited to the dealer’s hand or crib. When the sharper has the cut, he can of course uncover any card he pleases. With marked edges, the pone can cut down to a card of any desired denomination. Some audacious gamblers make it a rule to get a starter by simply removing the top card and turning up the next one. It is needless to say that the second card has been carefully pre-arranged. Any person who fingers the pack longer than necessary in cutting starters, or who cuts sometimes by the edge and sometimes by the side, will bear watching. Marked cards and second dealing are great weapons in a game where so much depends on a knowledge of the adversary’s hand, and on securing good counting cards for yourself. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.
Pole. Winning Whist, by Emory Boardman. Chance and Luck, by R.A. Proctor. Complete Poker Player, by John Blackbridge. Bohn’s Handbook of Games. Betting and Gambling, by Major Churchill. TEN PINS. The standard American game of Ten Pins is played upon an _=alley=_ 41 or 42 inches wide, and 60 feet long from the head pin to the foul or scratch line, from behind which the player must deliver his ball.
Rubicon Bézique, by “Cavendish.” Bézique, by Reynolds & Son. Bézique, by English. Règle du Bésique Japonais. Articles in _Macmillan_, Dec., 1861; _Field_, Jan. 30, 1869; _Pall Mall Gazette_, Jan. 23, 27, 1869; _Once a Week_, Feb. 13, Mar. 20, 1869; _Daily News_, Feb.
=_ The tricks must be kept separate as they are taken in, and any player is allowed to look at the last trick turned and quitted. Any player looking at any other trick but the last may be penalized ten points. _=Playing Ouverts.=_ The rules of the game require Ouverts to be exposed face upward on the table before a card is played. _=SCORING.=_ The score should always be kept by the player sitting on the right of the first dealer. This will mark the rounds. The score sheet should be ruled in vertical columns, one for each player at the table. Each player is charged individually with his losses and gains, the amounts being added to or deducted from his score, and a plus or a minus mark placed in front of the last figure, so that the exact state of each player’s score will be apparent at a glance. The score of the single player is the only one put down, and it is charged to him as a loss or a gain at the end of each deal.
♡ Q J 10 2; ♣ 5 2; ♢ A K Q 2; ♠ 6 4 3. ♡ A Q 5 4; ♣ K Q J 6 3; ♢ A 9 2; ♠ K. If at any later stage of the hand, a player finds himself with an established suit and a card of re-entry, he should lead trumps if he has four. For instance: The player with the last example should lead trumps if the first round of Clubs either forced the Ace out of his way, or found it with his partner. _=Rules for Leading Plain Suits.=_ It is safest for the beginner to select his longest suit for the original lead; unless he has a four-card suit which is much stronger. Length and high cards, the two elements of strength, are often very nearly balanced. In the following examples the player should begin with the longest suit:-- ♡ A 4 3; ♣ J 10 9 8 3; ♢ A K Q; ♠ K 2. ♡ K 10 8 3; ♣ 4 2; ♢ K Q 10 8 2; ♠ A Q. In the following the four-card suit should be selected:-- ♡ J 3; ♣ 6 5 4 3 2; ♢ J 10 5 3; ♠ Q 8.
Obli, obli O, my first go; And when the nut is struck, Obli, obli onker, my nut will conquer. --_Notes and Queries_, 5th series, x. 378. III. Cobblety cuts, Put down your nuts. --Darlington s _Folk-speech of South Cheshire_. IV. Obbly, obbly onkers, my first conquers; Obbly, obbly O, my first go. --Lawson s _Upton-on-Severn Words and Phrases_. V.
To play the Queen in such a position is called _=finessing against yourself=_. _=Singly Guarded Honours.=_ Many players put on the King Second Hand, if they hold only one small card with it, and a small card is led. This will win the trick as often as it will lose it; but it betrays the hand to the adversary, and enables him to finesse deeply if the suit is returned. It may be done in order to get the lead, and in trumps the practice is very common, and generally right. With Queen and only one small card, it can be demonstrated that it is useless to play the Queen Second Hand, except as an experiment, or to get the lead in desperate cases. With any combination weaker than J 10 x, it is useless to attempt to win the trick Second Hand, and only makes it difficult for the partner to place the cards correctly. _=The Fourchette.=_ When the Second Hand has cards immediately above and below the one led, he should cover. The beginner may have some difficulty in recognising the fact that he holds fourchette if the suit has been round once or twice, and the intermediate cards have been played.
CUT-THROAT EUCHRE. The chief element in the three-handed game is playing to the score. The player with the strong hand must always be kind to the under dog, and partnerships are always formed against the man with the high score. Suppose _=A=_, _=B=_, and _=C=_ are playing, and that _=A=_ has 3 points to his adversaries’ nothing on _=B’s=_ deal. It is to the interest of _=A=_ to euchre _=B=_; but it is to the interest of _=C=_ to let _=B=_ make his point because if _=B=_ is euchred, _=A=_ wins the game. _=B=_ having made his point, _=C=_ deals, and it is then to the interest of _=B=_ to let _=C=_ make his point. Suppose _=C=_ makes a march, 3 points, which puts him on a level with _=A=_. On _=A’s=_ deal it is _=C’s=_ game to euchre him, but _=B=_ must let _=A=_ make his point; so that instead of being opposed by both _=B=_ and _=C=_, as he was a moment ago, _=A=_ finds a friend in _=B=_, and the two who were helping each other to beat _=A=_, are now cutting each other’s throats. On _=B’s=_ deal, _=A=_ does not want to euchre him, for although that would win the game for both _=A=_ and _=C=_, _=A=_, who now has 4 points up, does not wish to divide the pool with _=C=_ while he has such a good chance to win it all himself. Suppose _=B=_ makes his point.