They then dance round quickly and sit down suddenly, or touch the ground with their clothes. A version of this game from Liphook, Hants, almost identical in words, has been sent by Miss Fowler, and another from Crockham Hill, Kent, by Miss Chase. Here s a Soldier Here s a soldier left his lone [_qy._ alone], Wants a wife and can t get none. Merrily go round and choose your own, Choose a good one or else choose none; Choose the worst or choose the best, Or choose the very one you like best. What s your will, my dilcy dulcy officer? What s your will, my dilcy dulcy dee? My will is to marry, my dilcy dulcy officer; My will is to marry, my dilcy dulcy dee. Come marry one of us, my dilcy dulcy officer; Come marry one of us, my dilcy dulcy dee. You re all too old and ugly, my dilcy dulcy officer; You re all too old and ugly, my dilcy dulcy dee. Thrice too good for you, sir, my dilcy dulcy officer; Thrice too good for you, sir, my dilcy dulcy dee. This couple got married, we wish them good joy, Every year a girl and a boy, And if that does not do, a hundred and two, We hope the couple will kiss together.
See Florio s _Italian Dictionary_, 1598: Bazzicchiare, to shake between the hands; to play Handy dandy. Pope, in his _Memoirs of Cornelius Scriblerus_, in forbidding certain sports to his son Martin till he is better informed of their antiquity, says: Neither cross and pile, nor ducks and drakes, are quite so ancient as Handy dandy, though Macrobius and St. Augustine take notice of the first, and Minutius Foelix describes the latter; but Handy dandy is mentioned by Aristotle, Plato, and Aristophanes. Browne, in _Britannia s Pastorals_ (i. 5), also alludes to the game. See Neiveie-nick-nack. Hap the Beds A singular game, gone through by hopping on one foot, and with that foot sliding a little flat stone out of an oblong bed, rudely drawn on a smooth piece of ground. This bed is divided into eight parts, the two of which at the farther end of it are called the Kail-pots. If the player then stands at one end, and pitches the smooth stone into all the divisions one after the other, following the same on a foot (at every throw), and bringing it out of the figure, this player wins not only the game, but is considered a first-rate daub at it; failing, however, to go through all the parts so, without missing either a throw or a hop, yet keeping before the other gamblers (for many play at one bed), still wins the curious rustic game.--Mactaggart s _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.
FROG. This is a very popular game in Mexico, and seems to be an elementary form of Skat, which it resembles in many ways. Even the name may be a corruption of the simple game in Skat, which is called “frage.” The chief differences are that there are four cards added to the pack for frog, and that the players win or lose according to the number of points they get above or below 61, instead of computing the value of the game by matadores. _=Players.=_ Three, four, or five can play; but only three are active in each deal. If four play, the dealer takes no cards. If five play, he gives cards to the two on his left and one on his right. _=Cards.=_ There are thirty-six cards in the pack, which rank: A 10 K Q J 9 8 7 6.
A player may, of course, rearrange his forces to suit his own convenience; brigade all or most of his cavalry into a powerful striking force, or what not. But more guns proportionally lead to their being put out of action too early for want of men; a larger proportion of infantry makes the game sluggish, and more cavalry--because of the difficulty of keeping large bodies of this force under cover--leads simply to early heavy losses by gunfire and violent and disastrous charging. The composition of a force may, of course, be varied considerably. One good Fight to a Finish game we tried as follows: We made the Country, tossed for choice, and then drew curtains across the middle of the field. Each player then selected his force from the available soldiers in this way: he counted infantry as 1 each, cavalry as 1-1/2, and a gun as 10, and, taking whatever he liked in whatever position he liked, he made up a total of 150. He could, for instance, choose 100 infantry and 5 guns, or 100 cavalry and no guns, or 60 infantry, 40 cavalry, and 3 guns. In the result, a Boer-like cavalry force of 80 with 3 guns suffered defeat at the hands of 110 infantry with 4. SIZE OF THE SOLDIERS The soldiers used should be all of one size. The best British makers have standardised sizes, and sell infantry and cavalry in exactly proportioned dimensions; the infantry being nearly two inches tall. There is a lighter, cheaper make of perhaps an inch and a half high that is also available.
The player on the dealer’s right cuts the pack, and, in dividing it, must not leave fewer than four cards in either packet; if in cutting, or in replacing one of the two packets on the other, a card be exposed, or if there be any confusion of the cards, or a doubt as to the exact place in which the pack was divided, there must be a fresh cut. 35. When a player, whose duty it is to cut, has once separated the pack, he cannot alter his intention; he can neither reshuffle nor recut the cards. 36. When the pack is cut, should the dealer shuffle the cards, he loses his deal. A NEW DEAL. 37. There must be a new deal-- I. If during a deal, or during the play of a hand, the pack be proved incorrect or imperfect. II.
At the last line they reunite, and again wheel round in a ring, singing as before-- Here we go round the mulberry bush, &c. After which, they perhaps simulate the walk of gentlemen, the chief feature of which is length of stride, concluding with the ring dance as before. Probably the next movement may be-- This is the way they wash the clothes, Wash the clothes, wash the clothes; This is the way they wash the clothes, And round the merry-ma-tanzie. After which there is, as usual, the ring dance. They then represent washing, ironing clothes, baking bread, washing the house, and a number of other familiar proceedings. Chambers quotes a fragment of this little ballet, as practised at Kilbarchan, in Renfrewshire, which contains the following lines similar to those in this game:-- She synes the dishes three times a day, Three times a day, three times a day; She synes the dishes three times a day, Come alang wi the merry-ma-tanzie. She bakes the scones three times a day, Three times a day, three times a day; She bakes the scones three times a day, Come alang wi the merry-ma-tanzie. She ranges the stules three times a day, Three times a day, three times a day; She ranges the stules three times a day, Come alang wi the merry-ma-tanzie. This game originated, no doubt, as a marriage dance round a sacred tree or bush. As it now exists it appears to have no other character than the performance of duties such as those enumerated in the description.
The score was made by hitting the _ner_ a certain distance, but not by the striker running, as in Rounders. --Miss M. Peacock. See Nur and Spell. King by your leave A playe that children have, where one sytting blyndefolde in the midle, bydeth so tyll the rest have hydden themselves, and then he going to seeke them, if any get his place in the meane space, that same is kynge in his roome. --Huloet, 1572. See Hide and Seek. King Cæsar One player is chosen to be King Cæsar by lot or naming. All the others stand in two rows, one row at each end of the ground. A line is drawn on the ground in front of them to mark dens.
And Shakespeare alludes to the custom in the lines-- As fit as ten groats for the hand of an attorney, as Tib s rush for Tom s forefinger. --_All s Well that Ends Well._ The rejoicing and bestowal of the blessing by the ring of friends give an almost complete picture of early Scotch marriage custom. A version of this game, which appeared in the _Weekly Scotsman_ of October 16, 1893, by Edgar L. Wakeman, is interesting, as it confirms the above idea, and adds one or two details which may be important, _i.e._, the choose your maidens one by one, and sweep the house till the bride comes home. This game is called the Gala Ship, and the girls, forming a ring, march round singing-- Three times round goes the gala, gala ship, And three times round goes she; Three times round goes the gala, gala ship, And sinks to the bottom of the sea. They repeat this thrice, courtesying low. The first to courtesy is placed in the centre of the circle, when the others sing:-- Choose your maidens one by one, One by one, one by one; Choose your maidens one by one-- And down goes (all courtesy) Merrima Tansa! She chooses her maidens.
--Chambers _Popular Rhymes_, p. 139. II. Will ye gang wi me, Curcuddie, Gang wi me o er the lea? I lookit roun , saw naebody; Curcuddie, he left me. --Biggar (William Ballantyne). (_b_) This is a grotesque kind of dance, performed in a shortened posture, sitting on one s hams, with arms akimbo, the dancers forming a circle of independent figures. It always excites a hearty laugh among the senior bystanders; but, ridiculous as it is, it gives occasion for the display of some spirit and agility, as well as skill, there being always an inclination to topple over. Each performer sings the verse (Chambers; Mactaggart s _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_). Mr. Ballantyne says that each one apart tried to dance by throwing out their feet and jumping sideways.
III. A single, or game of one point, when their adversaries have scored three or four. 9. The winners of the rubber gain two points (commonly called the rubber points), in addition to the value of their games. 10. Should the rubber have consisted of three games, the value of the losers’ game is deducted from the gross number of points gained by their opponents. 11. If an erroneous score be proved, such mistake can be corrected prior to the conclusion of the game in which it occurred, and such game is not concluded until the trump card of the following deal has been turned up. 12. If an erroneous score, affecting the amount of the rubber, be proved, such mistake can be rectified at any time during the rubber.
| -- | -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.|Your grass is so |The grass is so green.|The grass is so green.| | |green. | | | | 7.|The fairest damsel | -- | -- | | |ever seen. | | | | 8.| -- |The fairest young lady| -- | | | |ever seen.
Where is the water? Ducks have drunk it. Where are the ducks? Butcher killed them. Where is the butcher? Behind the churchyard, cracking nuts, and leaving you the shells. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). III. Please, mother, may we go out to play? Yes, if you don t frighten the chickens. No, mother, we won t frighten the chickens. [They all go out and say, Hush! hush! to pretended chickens.] Where have you been? To grandmother s. What for? To go on an errand.