186 (1888). Another correspondent to the same periodical (i. 204) says that an almost identical game was played at the King s School, Sherborne, some fifty years ago. It was called King-sealing, and the pursuing boy was obliged by the rules to retain his hold of the boy seized until he had uttered-- One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. You are one of the king-sealer s men. If the latter succeeded in breaking away before the couplet was finished, the capture was incomplete. The second game described is almost identical with King Cæsar, played at Barnes. About twenty years ago the game was common in some parts of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, where it was sometimes called Chevy Chase. --_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 233.
Holding up the small cards of adverse suits is a common stratagem; and it is legitimate to use any system of false-carding in trumps if it will prevent the adversaries who have led them from counting them accurately. _=Playing to the Score.=_ The play must often be varied on account of the state of the score, either to save or win the game in the hand. If the adversaries appear to be very strong, and likely to go out on the deal, all conventionalities should be disregarded until the game is saved; finesses should be refused, and winning cards played Second Hand on the first round. If the adversaries are exhausting the trumps, it will often be judicious for a player to make what winning cards he has, regardless of all rules for leading, especially if they are sufficient to save the game. It often happens that the same cards must be played in different ways according to the state of the score, and the number of tricks in front of the player. A simple example will best explain this. Hearts are trumps; you hold two small ones, two better being out against you, but whether in one hand or not you cannot tell. You have also two winning Spades, one smaller being still out. The game is seven-point whist.
Shuffle the full pack of fifty-two cards, cut and turn up the top card. Lay six more cards in a row to the right of the first card, but all face down. Upon the second card of this row place another card face up, and then cards face down on the remaining five of the top row. On the third pile from the left, place another card face up, and then four more face down to the right. Continue this until you have seven cards face up, which will give you twenty-eight cards in your layout. Take out any aces showing, and place them in a row by themselves for “foundations.” Build up on these aces in sequence and suit to kings. On the layout, build in descending sequence, red on black, black on red, turning up the top card when any pile is left without a faced card upon it. If there is more than one card face up on any pile, they must be removed together or not at all. Spaces may be filled only with kings.
I can make diet bread Thick and thin, I can make diet bread Fit for the king; (No. cccxliv.) which may be compared with the rhyme given by Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 136), and another version given by Halliwell, p. 229. If these rhymes belong to this game it would have probably been played by each child singing a verse descriptive of her own qualifications, and I have some recollection, although not perfect, of having played a game like this in London, where each child stated her ability to either brew, bake, or churn. It is worth noting that the Forest of Dean and Berkshire versions have absorbed one of the selection verses of the love-games. Mr. Halliwell, in recording the _Nursery Rhymes_, Nos. cccxliii.
And so she lays down the cushion before a man, who, kneeling upon it, salutes her, she singing-- Welcom, John Sanderson, &c. Then, he taking up the cushion, they take hands and dance round, singing as before. And thus they do till the whole company are taken into the ring. And then the cushion is laid before the first man, the woman singing, This dance, &c. (as before), only instead of come to, they sing go fro, and instead of Welcom, John Sanderson, &c., they sing Farewel, John Sanderson, farewel, farewel; and so they go out one by one as they came in. _Note_, that the woman is kiss d by all the men in the ring at her coming in and going out, and the like of the man by the woman.--_The Dancing Master_: London, printed by J. P., and sold by John Playford at his shop near the Temple Church, 1686, 7th edition.
=_ After the cards are dealt, each player in turn, beginning with the one to the left of the age, or to the left of the last straddler, if any, must either abandon his hand or put into the pool twice the amount of the blind, or of the last straddle. When it comes to the turn of the age, and the straddlers, if any, they must either abandon their hands, or make the amount they have in the pool equal to twice the amount of the blind, or of the last straddle, if any. _=19. Raising the Ante.=_ Each player, when it is his turn to come in, may add to the amount of the ante any sum within the betting limit. This will compel any player coming in after him to equal the total of the ante and the raise, or to abandon his hand; and it will also give such following player the privilege of raising again by any further amount within the betting limit. Should any player decline to equal the amount put up by any previous player, he must abandon his hand, together with all his interest in that pool. Any player who has been raised in this manner may raise again in his turn; and not until each player holding cards has anted an equal amount will the game proceed. _=20. Winning the Antes.
There are many tricks which, while not exactly fraudulent, are certainly questionable. For instance: A player asks the gallery whether or not he should stand, and finally concludes to propose, fully intending all the time to draw five cards. Another will handle his counters as if about to mark the King; will then affect to hesitate, and finally re-adjust them, and ask for cards, probably taking four or five, having absolutely nothing in his hand. The pone will ask the dealer how many points he has marked, knowing perfectly well that the number is three. On being so informed, he concludes to ask for cards, as if he were not quite strong enough to risk the game by standing; when as a matter of fact he wants five cards, and is afraid of the vole being made against him. There are many simple little tricks practiced by the would-be sharper, such as watching how many cards a player habitually cuts, and then getting the four Kings close together in such a position in the pack that one of them is almost certain to be turned. Telegraphic signals between persons on opposite sides of the gallery who are nevertheless in partnership, are often translated into advice to the player, to his great benefit. Besides these, all the machinery of marked cards, reflectors, shifted cuts, wedges, strippers, and false shuffles are at the command of the philosopher, who can always handle a small pack of cards with greater freedom, and to whom the fashion of dealing in twos and threes is always welcome. The honest card-player has not one chance in a thousand against the professional at Écarté. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.
It is played at Marlborough under the name of Tom Tuff. --H. S. May. See Doncaster Cherries. Bag o Malt A bag o malt, a bag o salt, Ten tens a hundred. --Northall s _English Folk Rhymes_, p. 394. Two children stand back to back, linked near the armpits, and weigh each other as they repeat these lines. See Weigh the Butter.
The moment he reaches 21 he should claim the game, and if his claim is correct he wins, even if his adversary has 21 or more. If he is mistaken, and cannot show out, he loses the game, no matter what his adversary’s score may be. If neither claims out, and both are found to be, neither wins, and the game must be continued to 32 points, and so on, eleven points more each time until one player claims to have won the game. _=Suggestions for Good Play.=_ The principal thing in Cassino is to remember what has been played especially in the counting and high cards, such as Aces, Eights, Nines, and Tens. In making pairs and combinations, give preference to those containing spades, and if you have to trail, do not play a spade if you can help it. If three Aces have been taken in, play the fourth, if you hold it, at the first opportunity, because it cannot be paired; but if there is another Ace to come, keep yours until you can make a good build with it. As between cards which were on the table and those trailed by an adversary, take in those trailed if you have a choice. Take in the adversary’s build in preference to your own, if you can, and build on his build at every opportunity. If Big Cassino is still to come, avoid trailing cards that will make a Ten with those on the table.
It shall be the duty of each player, as soon as his move be made, to stop his own register of time and start that of his opponent, whether the time be taken by clocks, sand-glasses, or otherwise. No complaint respecting an adversary’s time can be considered, unless this rule be strictly complied with. But nothing herein is intended to affect the penalty for exceeding the time limit as registered. _=Abandoning the Game.=_ If either player abandon the game by quitting the table in anger, or in any otherwise offensive manner; or by momentarily resigning the game; or refuses to abide by the decision of the Umpire, the game must be scored against him. If a player absent himself from the table, or manifestly ceases to consider his game, when it is his turn to move, the time so consumed shall, in every case, be registered against him. _=Disturbance.=_ Any player wilfully disturbing his adversary shall be admonished; and if such disturbance be repeated, the game shall be declared lost by the player so offending, provided the player disturbed then appeals to the Umpire. _=The Umpire.=_ It is the duty of the Umpire to determine all questions submitted to him according to these laws, when they apply, and according to his best judgment when they do not apply.
One of the Ins who is touched by one of the Outs is said to be taken, and henceforth loses his right to hold the Gegg. If he who holds the Gegg gets in the den, the Outs are winners, and have the privilege of getting out again. The Outs, before leaving the den, shuffle the Gegg, or smuggle it so between each other that the Ins do not know which person has it. He who is laid hold of, and put to the question, is supposed to deny that he has the Gegg: if he escapes with it, he gets out again.--Jamieson. Genteel Lady A player begins thus:-- I, a genteel lady (or gentleman) came from that genteel lady (or gentleman) to say that she (or he) owned a tree. The other players repeat the words in turn, and then the leader goes over them again, adding, with bronze bark. The sentence goes round once more, and on the next repetition the leader continues, with golden branches. He afterwards adds, and silver leaves, and purple fruit, and on the top a milk-white dove, and, finally, mourning for the loss of his lady-love. If a player should fail in repeating the rigmarole, there is a fine to pay.
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. _=A=_ will do all he can to euchre _=C=_, but _=B=_ will oppose the scheme, because his only chance for the game is that _=A=_ will not be able to take up the trump on his own deal, and that _=B=_ will make a march. SET-BACK EUCHRE. This is simply a reversal of the ordinary method of scoring, the players starting with a certain number of points, usually ten, and deducting what they make on each deal. The peculiarity which gives the game its name is that if a player is euchred he is _=set back=_ two points, his adversaries counting nothing. The revoke penalty is settled in the same way. The game is usually counted with chips, each player starting with ten, and placing in the centre of the table those that he is entitled to score. BLIND EUCHRE.
The game is called Not, from the ball being made of a knotty piece of wood.--Gloucestershire (Holloway s _Dict. of Provincialisms_). See Hawkey. Noughts and Crosses [Illustration] This game is played on slates by school-children. The accompanying diagram is drawn on the slate, and a certain figure (generally twenty) is agreed upon as game. There are two players, one takes noughts [o], the other crosses [x]. The three places drawn on the slate above the diagram are for the players each to put down marks or numbers for the games they win, the centre place being for Old Nick, or Old Tom. The object of the game is for each player to occupy three contiguous places in a row or line with either noughts or crosses, and to prevent his opponent from doing so. The diagram is of course empty when play begins.
After My pitcher and my can, each child mentions her own name. At Isn t ---- as nice as her? each mentions her sweetheart s name, and the child thus chosen goes into the circle. At the end of the fourth verse they all clap hands, and the one that is sweetheart to him in the middle kisses him. The crouching down is also done in the Forest of Dean version when singing the fourth line. The last one to stoop has to name her sweetheart. When this is done, the children all dance round and sing the other lines. (_d_) The analysis of the game-rhymes is on pp. 178-181. The most constant formulæ of this game-rhyme are shown by this analysis to be Nos. 1, 6, 7, 13, 15, 18, 23, and the variants, though important, are not sufficient to detract from the significance of the normal version.
Against a trump declaration almost every one agrees that it is best to discard the best suit, so that if your partner gets in before you do, he may have something to guide him as to what your best chance is for any more tricks. Against no-trumpers, the majority of players hug every possible trick in their long suit and discard their weak suits, on the ground that it is folly to throw away cards that might win tricks. While this is true, it is also true that in discarding their weak suit they too often enable the declarer to win tricks that they might have stopped. For this reason, many players _=discard the suit they are not afraid of=_; that is, their best protected suit, and keep what protection they have in the weak suits, even if it is nothing but three to a Jack or ten. Unfortunately, no one has yet been able to advance any argument sufficiently convincing for either system to demonstrate that it is better than the other. Some of the best teachers of the game advocate the discard from strength against no-trumps; others teach the weak discard. _=ENCOURAGING DISCARDS.=_ In order to distinguish between discards from weakness and those from strength, many players use what is called an encouraging card. This is anything higher than a six, if they have protection in the suit, or want it led. A player with an established suit, and A 8 2 of another suit, for instance, would discard the 8, to encourage his partner to lead that suit and put him in.
The boy who holds the end of the long strap has also a hard twisted handkerchief, called the _cout_; with this cout he defends the Craw against the attacks of the other boys, who also have similar couts. Before beginning, the Guard of the Craw must call out-- Ane, twa, three, my Craw s free. The first one he strikes becomes the Craw. When the Guard wants a respite, he calls out-- Ane, twa, three, my Craw s no free. (_b_) Jamieson defines Badger-reeshil as a severe blow; borrowed, it is supposed, from the hunting of the badger, or from the old game of Beating the Badger. Then but he ran wi hasty breishell, And laid on Hab a badger-reishill. --_MS. Poem._ Mr. Emslie says he knows it under the name of Baste the Bear in London, and Patterson (_Antrim and Down Glossary_) mentions a game similarly named.