If there are too few cards, and the pone elects to have the deal stand, the deficiency must be supplied from the top of the pack. _=THE CRIB.=_ The cards dealt, each player takes up his six cards and examines them with a view to laying out two cards, face downward, for the crib; leaving himself four cards with which to play. The four cards which form the crib, two from each hand, always belong to the dealer, and it is usual for each player, in discarding for the crib, to slip his two cards under the end of the cribbage board opposite to that occupied by the remainder of the pack. Cards once laid out for the crib, and the hand removed from them, cannot be taken up again. A penalty of two points may be scored by the adversary for each card so taken up again, whether it is returned to the player’s hand or not. 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.
_=TABLE STAKES.=_ This is one of several variations in arranging the stakes and the betting limit. In some localities it is the custom to allow each player to purchase as many counters as he pleases; in others it is the rule to compel each to buy an equal number at the start, usually two hundred times the amount of the blind. In table stakes the betting limit is always the amount that the player has in front of him; but no player is allowed either to increase or diminish that amount while he has any cards in front of him. Before the cards are dealt for any pool he may announce that he wishes to buy counters, or that he has some to sell to any other player wishing to purchase; but for either transaction the consent of all the other players must be obtained. No player is allowed under any circumstances to borrow from another, nor to be “shy” in any pot; that is, to say, “I owe so many.” If he has any counters in front of him, his betting is limited to what he has; if he has none, he is out of the game, for that hand at least. As a player cannot increase the amount he has in front of him during the play of a hand, it is best to keep on the table at all times as much as one is likely to want to bet on any one hand. It is the usual custom, and an excellent one, to fix upon a definite hour for closing a game of table stakes, and to allow no player to retire from the game before that hour unless he is _=decavé=_, (has lost all his capital). Should he insist on retiring, whatever counters he has must be divided among the other players, and if there are any odd ones after the division, they must be put into the current pool.
=_ Before playing, the throw must be announced by the caster, and if the throw is played as called it stands good, unless an error in the call is discovered before the dice have been touched for the purpose of putting them in the box again. _=9.=_ If a player moves a man a wrong number of points, the throw being correctly called, the adversary must demand that the error be rectified before he throws himself, or the erroneous move stands good. _=10.=_ If a man wrongly moved can be moved correctly, the player in error is obliged to move that man. If he cannot be moved correctly, the other man that was moved correctly on the same throw must be moved on the number of points on the second die, if possible. If the second man cannot be so moved onward, the player is at liberty to move any man he pleases. _=11.=_ Any man touched, except for the purpose of adjusting it, must be moved if the piece is playable. A player about to adjust a man must give due notice by saying, “J’adoube.
_=The Pone’s Leads.=_ When the pone gets into the lead, if he does not return his partner’s suit, he should open his own suits according to the rules already given for all the high-card combinations. If he has no high-card combination, it is usually better for him to lead some card that will beat Dummy than to lead his fourth-best. Suppose he wishes to lead a diamond, in which he holds Q 10 8 4 3; Dummy having the 9 and 6 only. It is better to lead the ten of diamonds than the fourth-best, because if the declarer does not follow with an honour, your partner will not have to sacrifice an honour to keep Dummy from winning the trick with the 9. After the opening lead, when Dummy’s cards are exposed, the knowledge of his cards may change the aspect of the game greatly; but the proper cards to lead to and through Dummy will be better understood in connection with the play against no-trumpers. _=No-trump Leads.=_ The chief difference in the leads against no-trumpers is, that there is no hurry to make your aces and kings, the chief thing being to make some of the smaller cards good for tricks. When you are long in a suit, if you lead out the winning cards first, your partner may have none to lead you later on, and if you cannot make every trick in the suit before you lose the lead, you may never make anything but your one or two high cards. The difference in the leads at no-trump is covered by a very simple rule; if you have only two honours in sequence, do not lead either of them, but begin with the fourth-best, even if your honours are the Ace and King.
Her hands passed up beyond my shoulder, to my neck. It s in yore haid, she said. In yore darlin haid! Fingers worked over my scalp. Oh, there! she gasped. Hit s ahurtin me! Hurtin , hurtin , and I m a draggin it off n yuh! Her backwoods twang sharpened as she aped some contemporary witch. Hurt? She didn t know what it meant. She fired a charge of thermite in my head, and it seared its way down my arm to my fingers. My right arm came off the bed and thrashed like a wounded snake. She wrestled it, climbed onto the bed, and held it down with her boney knees. Her fingers kneaded it, working some imaginary devil out through the fingertips, till the hurt was gone.
None of the latter would be of any value, as the lowest quatorze is better than the highest trio, and the player with the four Tens could count his three Jacks also. Pairs have no value. The value of any quatorze is 14, as its name implies. Trios are worth 3 only. In discarding, the object is to secure the best counting combinations, and also to retain cards which will win tricks in play. The combinations take precedence of one another in scoring, the first being always Carte Blanche, then the Point, then Sequence, and lastly the Quatorze or Trio. _=DECLARING.=_ Carte blanche must be announced and shown before a discard is made. Each player having discarded and drawn, the elder hand proceeds to announce any counting combinations he holds, which he must declare in regular order, beginning with the point. In announcing the point, the suit is not mentioned, only its value.
In Oxfordshire the maids, when they have put themselves into the fit posture, say thus:-- My granny is sick, and now is dead, And wee l goe mould some cockle-bread. Up with my heels, and down with my head, And this is the way to mould cocklebread. --Aubrey s _Remains_, pp. 43, 44. To make Barley bread (in other districts, Cockley bread ) this rhyme is used in West Cornwall:-- Mother has called, mother has said, Make haste home, and make barley bread. Up with your heels, down with your head, That is the way to make barley bread. --_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 58. The Westmoreland version is given by Ellis in his edition of Brand as follows:-- My grandy s seeke, And like to dee, And I ll make her Some cockelty bread, cockelty bread, And I ll make her Some cockelty bread. The term Cockelty is still heard among our children at play.
Hickety, Bickety Hickety, bickety, pease-scone, Where shall this poor Scotchman gang? Will he gang east, or will he gang west, Or will he gang to the craw s nest? --Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 122). One boy stands with his eyes bandaged and his hands against a wall, with his head resting on them. Another stands beside him repeating the rhyme, whilst the others come one by one and lay their hands upon his back, or jump upon it. When he has sent them all to different places he turns round and calls, Hickety, bickety! till they have all rushed back to the place, the last in returning being obliged to take his place, when the game goes on as before. Chambers adds, The craw s nest is close beside the eye-bandaged boy, and is therefore an envied position. Newell, _Games_, p. 165, refers to this game. See Hot Cockles. Hickety-hackety The game of Hop-scotch, played with a piece of tile, which has to be kicked by the player with the foot on which he hops over lines into various squares marked on the ground.
Chow. Chuck-farthing. Chuck-hole. Chucks. Church and Mice. Click. Click, Clock, Cluck. Clowt-clowt. Clubby. Coal under Candlestick.
While the parent game has been pursuing this prosperous course, many variations have been introduced. One of the most radical changes in the game itself has been cutting down the points from ten to five, which occurred about 1810. Mathews mentions it in 1813 as having occurred since the publication of his first edition in 1804, and Lord Peterborough, the unlucky gambler, for whose benefit the change was introduced, died in 1814. Another great change took place in America, where they played for the tricks alone, the honours not being counted at all. Turning the trump from the still pack was first tried by a Welsh baronet, and is mentioned by Southey in his “Letters of Espriella.” This custom was revived for a time by the Milwaukee Whist Club, and is still sometimes seen in Europe under the name of “Prussian Whist.” Altogether we can trace nineteen games which are clearly derived from whist. Duplicate, Drive, and Progressive whist are simply changes in the arrangement of the players and in the methods of scoring. Prussian whist introduces the cutting of the trump from the still pack. Dummy and Double-dummy are simply whist with a limited number of players, necessitating the exposure of one or more hands upon the table.
_=PLAYING AGAINST DUMMY.=_ Some of the fine points in bridge arise in situations which require a careful consideration of the Dummy’s cards. There are three great principles in playing against Dummy:-- 1st. Lead through the strong suits, and up to the weak. 2nd. Do not lead through a fourchette. 3rd. Do not lead up to a tenace. These rules must not be blindly followed in every instance. They are simply general principles, and some of the prettiest _=coups=_ arise from the exceptional cases.
_=EUCHRE FOR FIVE PLAYERS.=_ This is practically the same as the seven-handed game, but the pack is reduced to 28 cards, all below the Eight in each suit being deleted. The Joker is not used. Five cards are dealt to each player, by two and three at a time, and the three remaining form the widow. The player bidding _=three=_ tricks takes one partner only. The player bidding _=four=_ or _=five=_ tricks, takes two partners. A player who intends to take the widow, but no partners, can bid _=eight=_ and one who intends to take neither widow nor partners can bid _=fifteen=_. In this form of Euchre the scores are generally known, and 100 points is game. In some clubs it is the practice for the successful bidder to select one of his partners by asking for the holder of a certain card. For instance: B has the lead, and has bid five in hearts, holding the three best trumps, the club ace, and a losing spade.
It is usual for the strongest adversary to sit Right. _=With Four Players=_, we can best describe the arrangement by numbering them 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively, the lowest number, 1, having cut the lowest card, and the others having the right to play Vivant in their numerical order. The initial arrangement would be as follows:-- [Illustration: 4 4 +---------+ +---------+ | Mort. | | Mort. | 2 | | 3 or this:-- 3 | | 2 | Vivant. | | Vivant. | +---------+ +---------+ 1 1 ] For the three succeeding games the arrangement would be:-- [Illustration: 1 2 3 +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ | Mort. | | Mort. | | Mort. | 3 | | 4 4 | | 1 1 | | 2 | Vivant.
So off to prison she must go, She must go, she must go, So off to prison she must go, So early in the morning. If she go then I ll go too, I ll go too, I ll go too, If she go then I ll go too, So early in the morning. So round the meadows we must go, We must go, we must go, So round the meadows we must go, So early in the morning. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). (_b_) In the Deptford version two girls join hands, holding them up as an arch for the other players to tramp through. The first two verses are sung first by one and then by the other of the two girls. At the finish of these the girl then going through the arch is stopped, and the third, fourth, and fifth verses are sung by the two girls alternately. Then finally both girls sing the last verse, and the child is sent as prisoner behind one or other of the two girls. The verses are then begun again, and repeated afresh for each of the troop marching through the arch until all of them are placed behind one or other of the two girls. The two sides thus formed then proceed to tug against each other, and the strongest side wins the game.
If the caller needs only one more trick, it is usually best to lead a trump. If you have three trumps, including the major tenace, pass the first trick if a small trump is led; or if you remain with the tenace after the first trick, be careful to avoid the lead. Discards should indicate weakness, unless you can show command of such a suit as A K, or K Q, by discarding the best of it. This will direct your partners to let that suit go, and keep the others. It is usually better to keep a guarded King than a single ace. The player on the right of the bidder should get into the lead if possible, especially if he holds one or two winning cards. These will either give his partners discards, or allow them to over-trump the bidder. In playing misères, it is better to begin with a singleton, or the lowest of a safe suit. An ace or King two or three times guarded is very safe for a misère, as it is very improbable that any player will be able to lead the suit more than twice; and if the bidder’s missing suit is led, the high card can be got rid of at once. In playing against a misère, discards are important, and the first should be from the shortest suit, and always the highest card of it.
, to shuffle. Misdeal, any failure to distribute the cards properly. Mise, F., the layout, or the original pool. Misère Ouverte. There is no such expression as this in French; the proper term is Misère sur table. See Boston. Mittelhand, G., the second player on the first trick, in Skat. Mixed Pair, a lady and gentleman playing as partners.
An extra hand of five cards is dealt face down, for a widow. Each player in turn can exchange the hand dealt him for the widow, or for the hand abandoned by anyone who has taken the widow, the cards being always face down. The turned trump is not taken up by the dealer, but is left on the pack. The eldest hand leads for the first trick and every man is for himself, each holding his own tricks. At the end of the hand, each player that has not taken a trick receives a counter from each of the others, whether they have taken tricks or not. Then all those that have won tricks put back into the pool a counter for each trick they have taken. The first player to get rid of his twelve counters wins the game. AUCTION EUCHRE. This form of the game is sometimes erroneously called _=French Euchre=_. The French know nothing about Euchre in any form.
After the last card has been played, each player turns over the tricks he has won, and counts up the pip value of the court cards and Tens that he has won. Whoever has the highest number counts the point for Game. For instance: Two are playing. The elder hand has taken in an ace, two Kings and a Jack, which are collectively worth 11. The dealer has taken in a Queen and a Ten, which are worth 12; so the dealer marks the point for Game. If both players have the same number, or if there is no Game out, which rarely happens, the non-dealer scores Game. If three play, and Game is a tie between the two non-dealers, neither scores. The non-dealer is given the benefit of counting a tie for Game as an offset to the dealer’s advantage in turning Jacks. When no trump is turned, as in Pitch, no one can count Game if it is a tie. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.
The three sights on the end rail at head of the table are not occupied by any ball. The opening stroke _must_ be to strike the _one_-ball. If that ball is holed it is placed to the credit of the player, and he continues his hand until he fails to score, but in continuing he must play each time upon the ball bearing the lowest number on the table. After playing upon that ball, however, should any other be pocketed by the same stroke, irrespective of its number, it shall be placed to the player’s credit so pocketing it. If the line of aim at the ball required to be hit is covered by another ball, the player may resort to a bank play or massé, etc., but should he fail to hit the required ball he forfeits three, receiving a scratch. COW-BOY POOL. 1. The game is played by two or more contestants, on a pool table, with one cue ball and three colored balls numbered respectively 1, 3 and 5. 2.
Green Gravel. Green Grow the Leaves (1). Green Grow the Leaves (2). Gully. HAIRRY my Bossie. Half-Hammer. Han -and-Hail. Hand in and Hand out. Handy-Croopen. Handy Dandy.
_=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ When four play it is sometimes permissible for one to pass out, each in turn to the left having the right. The first thing is for the holder of the six of trumps to exchange it for the turned-up trump. The player to the left of the dealer then leads any card he pleases, and each player in turn must follow suit and must head the trick if he can; by trumping if he has none of the suit led. As soon as a card is played, the player makes his meld, announcing its pip value. The winner of the last trick scores five points for it. _=SCORING.=_ Sometimes 1,000 points is a game, as in pinochle, and the first player to call out wins if he is correct; if not he loses. Sometimes in three or four-hand, it is agreed to play some number of deals divisible by four, usually 12 or 16. These are indicated by cross marks on the slate, each arm representing a deal.
All a Row All a row, a bendy bow, Shoot at a pigeon and kill a crow; Shoot at another and kill his brother; Shoot again and kill a wren, And that ll do for gentlemen. --Northall s _English Folk Rhymes_, p. 386. This is a marching game for very little children, who follow each other in a row. (_b_) Halliwell gives the first two lines only (_Nursery Rhymes_, No. dxv., p. 101), and there is apparently no other record of this game. It is probably ancient, and formerly of some significance. It refers to days of bows and arrows, and the allusion to the killing of the wren may have reference to the Manx and Irish custom of hunting that bird.
If the dealer exposes more than one card after the pack has been properly cut, his adversary may choose which of the exposed cards shall be the starter. In order to understand the motives which govern the players in discarding, and the influences which the starter has upon the value of the hands and crib, it will be necessary to describe the objects of the game, before giving the method of play. _=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ The chief object in Cribbage is to form and to preserve various counting combinations. As these combinations occur in the course of play, or are shown in the hand or crib after the play is over, their value in points is pegged on the cribbage board, and the player who first pegs a sufficient number of these combinations to reach a total of 61 points, wins the game. There are five principal varieties of these counting combinations: Pairs, Triplets, Fours, Sequences, and Fifteens; besides some minor counts which will be spoken of in their proper place. The various counting combinations in Cribbage may arise in two ways. They may be formed by combining the cards played by one person with those played by his adversary; or they may be found in the individual hand or crib after the play is over. In the latter case the starter is considered as part of each hand and crib, increasing each of them to five available counting cards. _=Pairs.
FOUR-HANDED BINOCLE. Four persons may play, each for himself, or two against two as partners, sitting opposite each other. All the cards are dealt, twelve to each player, four at a time, and the last is turned up for the trump. _=Melds=_ are not made until the player holding them has played to the first trick. The eldest hand leads and then melds; the second player plays and then melds, and so on. The card played to the first trick may still be reckoned in the melds. _=Playing.=_ The general rules of play are the same as in the three-handed game; players being obliged to follow suit and to win the trick if able to do so. The fourth player must win his partner’s trick if he can, and any player who cannot follow suit to a trick that is already trumped must under-trump if he is unable to over-trump. _=Scoring.
His fourth move is also a mistake; he should develop the Knights before the Bishops. KtxP BxKBP ch Kt-Q5 mate 5 ---- 6 -------- 7 ---------- BxQ K-K2 On his fifth move, Black jumps at the chance to win White’s Queen, but this is not of the slightest benefit to him, because the object of the game is not to win the Queen, but to mate the King. At the seventh move the beginner will see that the black King cannot move out of check, neither can he move into check by taking the Bishop. He has no piece that can capture the Knight that gives the check, and nothing can be interposed, so he is mated, and White wins. Here is another simple little game. Take the black pieces this time, but make the white men move first, of course. P-K4 Kt-KB3 KtxP 1 ---- 2 ------ 3 ------ P-K4 Kt-KB3 Kt-QB3 You don’t take the King’s Pawn; it is much more important to develop your pieces rapidly. KtxKt P-Q3 B-Kt5 4 ----- 5 ----- 6 ----- QPxKt B-QB4 KtxP White’s sixth move is bad, and you immediately take advantage of it. If he takes your Knight with his Pawn, you will take his K B P with your Bishop, and say “Check.” If he takes the Bishop you win his Queen.
=_ Several ingenious methods have been devised for handling large numbers of players, especially in domestic parties; Safford and Mitchell having both distinguished themselves in this line. The simplest form has been suggested by Mitchell, and is especially adapted for social gatherings of ladies and gentlemen. As many tables as possible are filled; all the ladies sitting N & E; the gentlemen S and W. [Illustration: LADY L +---------+ +---------+ | N | | N | GENTLEMAN|W E|LADY G|W E|L | S | | S | +---------+ +---------+ GENTLEMAN G ] The number of hands dealt at each table must be adjusted to the number of tables filled, and the time to be devoted to play. The trays containing the hands are passed to the West, and all the gentlemen move one table to the East, the ladies sitting still. In all the changes each gentleman keeps to his original point of the compass, South or West. When he arrives at the table he started from, the round is finished. If an odd number of tables are engaged in play, the changes may take place in regular order to the end. If even, a dummy must be put in; but as that is objectionable in a social gathering, it is better to adopt one of the two systems following, unless half the number of tables is an odd number, when the method already described may be used. _=1st Method.
--Biggar (W. Ballantyne). IV. Dissy, dissy, green grass, Dissy, dissy, duss, Come all ye pretty fair maids And dance along with us. You shall have a duck, my dear, And you shall have a drake, And you shall have a nice young man To love you for your sake. If this young man should chance to die And leave the girl a widow, The birds shall sing, the bells shall ring, Clap all your hands together. --Yorkshire (Henderson s _Folk-lore, Northern Counties_, p. 27). V. Dossy, dossy green grass, Dossy, dossy, doss, Come all ye pretty fair maids And dance upon the grass.
Cherry-pit. Chicamy. Chickidy Hand. Chinnup. Chinny-mumps. Chock or Chock-hole. Chow. Chuck-farthing. Chuck-hole. Chucks.
_ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | ♖ | | | | ♚ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ♝ | | | | | ♟ | ♟ | ♟ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ♞ | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | ♔ | | | | | ] The white Rook has just been moved down to the edge of the board, giving “check.” As the black King can move only one square at a time, he cannot get out of check by moving, because the only squares to which he could go would still leave him in check from the Rook. Neither the Knight nor the Bishop can interpose to shut out the Rook’s attack; neither of those pieces can capture the Rook; and the Pawns cannot move backward; so the black King is mated, and White wins the game. A mate may take place in the middle of the board, as shown in Diagram No. 9. [Illustration: _No. 9._ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ♛ | ♚ | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | ♕ | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | ♔ | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ♜ | | | | | | | ] If the black Queen moves diagonally four squares, placing herself in front of the white King, and on the same horizontal file as the black Rook, it will be check-mate, because the white King cannot get out of one check into another by taking the Queen, which is protected by the Rook. For the same reason he cannot move, as the only squares open to him would leave him in check from the Queen, or move him into check from the black King. _=Stalemate.
|Draw a bucket of |Draw a bucket of |Draw a bucket of | | |water. |water. |water. | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.|For my lady s |For the farmer s |For my lady s | | |daughter. |daughter. |daughter. | | 5.