Sir, have I done thee any harm? Coxconian! Coxconian is not my name; tis Hers and Kers, and Willis and Cave. Stab me, ha! ha! little I fear. Over the waters there are but nine, I ll meet you a man alive. Over the waters there are but ten, I ll meet you there five thousand. Rise up, rise up, my pretty fair maid, You re only in a trance; Rise up, rise up, my pretty fair maid, And we will have a dance. --Lady C. Gurdon s _Suffolk County Folk-lore_, p. 65. (_b_) In the Suffolk game the children form a ring, a boy and girl being in the centre. The boy is called a gentleman and the girl a lady.
* Foster’s Self-Playing Cards, by R.F. Foster. x Foster’s Duplicate Whist, by R.F. Foster. Foster’s American Leads, by R.F. Foster. * Foster’s Whist at a Glance, by R.
--Sheffield (S. O. Addy). (_b_) A number of children stand against a wall, and a row of other children face them. They walk backwards and forwards, singing the first and third verses. Then the children who are standing still (against the wall) answer by singing the second and fourth verses. When these are sung the moving line of children take Mary and dance round, singing some lines which my informant, says Mr. Addy, has forgotten. (_c_) I have no description of the way Miss Chase s game is played. It, too, is probably an incomplete version.
|us. |us. | | 8.|For we are going a- | -- |For we are lads a | | |roving. | |roving. | | 9.|We ll take this maid | -- |We ll take this pretty| | |by the hand. | | fair maid by the | | | | |hand. | | 10.| -- | -- | -- | | 11.
The caller should never play single honours second hand, unless he has only one small card of the suit, or the honour is the Ace. With A Q x, second or third hand, the Q must be finessed if the caller has counted on both A and Q for tricks. If he can probably win without the finesse, he should play Ace. If he has tricks enough to win without either A or Q, he should play neither of them. A solo player should be very sure of his call before finessing for over-tricks. _=Adversaries’ Play.=_ The player to the left of the caller should not lead trumps; but if the solo player has had a lead, and has not led trumps himself, the player on his right should take the first opportunity to lead them through him. The player to the left of the caller should not lead from suits headed only by the King; nor from those containing major or minor tenaces. The best leads are from suits headed by Q J or 10, even if short. With such high-card combinations as can be used to force the command in one round, such as K Q, or K Q J, the regular whist leads should be used.
(_c_) The other variants which follow the Halliwell version are limited to the first verse only, as the remainder of the lines are practically the same as those given in Miss Fowler s version which is written at length, and three or four of these apparently retain only the verse given. A London version, collected by myself, is nearly identical with that of Miss Fowler, except that the third line is Shake your ---- a little, a little, instead of as printed. This is sung to the tune given. The incidents in this game are the same throughout. The only difference in all the versions I have collected being in the number of the different positions to be performed, most of them being for right hands, left hands, right feet, left feet, and heads; others, probably older forms, having ears, yourselves, &c. One version, from Eckington, Derbyshire, curiously begins with washing hands and face, combing hair, &c., and then continuing with the Looby game, an apparent mix-up of Mulberry Bush and Looby. Three more versions, Sporle, Cornwall, and Dorsetshire, also have different beginnings, one (Dorsetshire) having the apparently unmeaning I love Antimacassar. (_d_) The origin and meaning of this game appears somewhat doubtful. It is a choral dance, and it may owe its origin to a custom of wild antic dancing in celebration of the rites of some deity in which animal postures were assumed.
A person prohibited from playing an exposed trump is not liable to any penalty if it causes him to revoke. A revoke is established when the trick in which it occurs has been turned and quitted; or when either the revoking player or his partner, whether in his right turn or otherwise, has led or played to the following trick. If a revoke is claimed and proved, the revoking side cannot score any points that deal; but they may play the hand out to prevent the adversaries from making points. If an adversary of the bidder revokes, the bidder’s side scores whatever points it makes that deal, regardless of the number bid. A player may ask his partner whether or not he has a card of the suit in which he renounces and does not trump, and the player may correct his error if the question is asked before the trick is turned and quitted. But if he answers in the negative, there is no remedy. _=Drawing Cards.=_ Any player may ask the others to indicate the cards played by them to the current trick; but he must confine himself to the expression: “Draw cards.” _=Irregular Remarks.=_ A player calling attention in any manner to the trick or to the score, may be called upon to play his highest or lowest of the suit led; or to trump or not to trump the trick during the play of which the remark is made.
_=Laying Out for the Crib.=_ With this knowledge of the objects of game, and the various counting combinations, it will be seen that each player should keep the cards which count the most for him, or which are most likely to form good combinations with different starters. Suppose the non-dealer holds these cards:-- [Illustration: 🃖 🂧 🂨 🂸 🂩 🃚 ] If he puts the two Eights in his adversary’s crib, he not only gives him two very good cards, which go to form a great many valuable combinations, but he leaves himself absolutely nothing but 2 points for a single fifteen, formed by the 9 and 6. It would be a little better, but still very bad play, for him to discard the 8 and 6, leaving himself a sequence of four cards and a fifteen, 6 points altogether. He might do a little better by discarding the 10 and 8, leaving himself a run of four, and two fifteens, 8 points altogether. If he discards either the 10 and 9, or the 10 and 6, he will leave himself a double run of three, a pair, and two fifteens, 12 altogether. Of these two discards, that of the 10 and 6 is better than the 10 and 9, because the 10 and 9 might help to form a sequence in the adversary’s crib, whereas the 10 and 6 are so far apart that they are very unlikely to be of any use. Cards which are likely to form parts of sequences are called _=close cards=_, and those which are too widely separated to do so are called _=wide cards=_. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The crib laid out and the starter cut, the pone begins by playing any card he pleases.
References to this game are also made in _Apollo Shroving_, 1627, p. 49; and see Hawkins _English Drama_, iii. 243. See Dust-Point. Bob Cherry A children s game, consisting in jumping at cherries above their heads and trying to catch them with their mouths (Halliwell s _Dictionary_). It is alluded to in Herrick s _Hesperides_ as Chop Cherry. Major Lowsley describes the game as taking the end of a cherry-stalk between the teeth, and holding the head perfectly level, trying to get the cherry into the mouth without using the hands or moving the head (_Berkshire Glossary_). It is also mentioned in Peacock s _Manley and Corringham Glossary_. Strutt gives a curious illustration of the game in his _Sports and Pastimes_, which is here reproduced from the original MS. in the British Museum.
These discards, once quitted, must not again be looked at. A player looking at his own or his adversary’s discards can be called upon to play with his cards exposed face upward on the table, but not liable to be called. The number of cards discarded must be distinctly announced, and the trump is then laid aside, and the cards given from the top of the pack, without further shuffling. It is considered imperative that the player who has proposed should take at least one card, even if he proposed with five trumps in his hand. The pone helped, the dealer then announces how many cards he takes, placing his discards on his left. The dealer, if asked, must inform his adversary how many cards he took, provided the question is put before he plays a card. After receiving his cards, the pone may either stand or propose again, and the dealer may either give or refuse; but such subsequent stands or refusals do not carry with them any penalty for failure to make three tricks. Should these repeated discards exhaust the pack, so that there are not enough cards left to supply the number asked for, the players must take back a sufficient number from their discards. If the dealer has accepted a proposal, and finds there are no cards left for himself, that is his own fault; he should have counted the pack before accepting. The trump card cannot be taken into the hand under any circumstances.
A player will sometimes have the best card in two suits, and a small trump, and will know that the two best trumps and an unknown card are on his right. If the missing suit is led, and the player on the right trumps, his unknown card must be one of the two other suits, and the player with the command of them should keep both, and throw away his small trump. The discards on the next trick may enable him to determine the suit of the losing card on his right. _=The Last Trump.=_ If two players have an equal number of trumps, each of them having an established suit, it will be the object of both to remain with the last trump, which must bring in the suit. The tactics of each will be to win the third round of trumps; and then, if the best trump is against him, to force it out with the established suit, coming into the lead again with the last trump. So often is it important to win the third round of trumps that few good players will win the second round, unless they can win the third also. With an established suit, a card of re-entry, and four trumps King high, a player should lead trumps; but if his partner wins the first round and returns a small trump, the King should not be put on, no matter what Second Hand plays, unless the card next below the King is fourchette. Some of the most brilliant endings in whist are skirmishes for the possession of the last trump; the player who is at a disadvantage often persistently refuses the fatal force, hoping the leader will be compelled to change his suit, or will lose the lead. _=Drawing the Losing Trump.
Fifty points is game, and the players are usually provided with two varieties of counters for scoring; one worth five points, and the other worth one. The rank of the points in scoring is; High, Low, Jack, Ten (Game), Five, and Nine. The revoke penalty is to be set back the number of points bid, or ten points if there is no bid, and the player in fault cannot score anything that hand. In all other respects the rules are the same as in Auction Pitch. In _=Dom Pedro, or Snoozer=_, the Joker is added to the pack, and the Three, Five, and Nine of trumps count their pip value in scoring. The Joker, or Snoozer, counts fifteen, so that thirty-six points can be bid and made on one deal. The Joker is the lowest trump, so that the deuce of trumps will win it, but it will win any trick in plain suits. Fifty or a hundred points is the game. In counting out, the order of precedence is: High, Low, Jack, Ten (Game), Three, Five, Nine, Snoozer. CINCH, DOUBLE PEDRO, OR HIGH FIVE.
He might repeat the same process with the Ten, King, Queen and Jack, and in six successive tricks he would score this royal sequence six times, making 1500 points out of it. In actual play it is not necessary to go through the formality of playing away a card from the combination on the table, and then replacing it, for it amounts to the same thing if the new card in the hand is led or played, and the fresh combination claimed. Marriages, béziques and fours may be broken up and re-formed in the same way. After declaring 100 Aces, the player may lead or play another Ace, and claim another 100 Aces, scoring them when he wins a trick. In this way, eight Aces actually held might score 500 points. In the bézique combinations, a new card simply re-forms the single bézique. In order to score double, triple, or quadruple bézique, all the cards forming the combination must be on the table at one time, but they may be played and scored one after the other, cumulatively. For instance: A player holding quadruple bézique and showing all eight cards at once would score 4500 only; the minor béziques would be lost. If he had time, and could win tricks enough, he might show the single first, scoring 40, then the double, scoring 500, then the triple, scoring 1500, and finally the quadruple, scoring 4500, which would yield him a grand total of 6540 points. He might declare marriage in hearts, and afterward play three more heart Queens, scoring each marriage, and then three heart Kings, scoring three more marriages.
This game is known in England as Colom-Ball, or Following Pool. The balls are placed in a pool bottle, and shaken up by the marker, who then gives one to each candidate for play in rotation. The player who receives the white ball places it on the spot, and the one who gets the red ball plays from within the D at the head of the table. The marker calls the colour of the player whose turn it is, and notifies him which ball will play on him, so that he may play for safety if he can. The following are Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co.’s rules: The WHITE BALL is spotted. RED BALL plays upon WHITE. YELLOW ” RED. GREEN ” YELLOW. BROWN ” GREEN.
Short Suits=_; ♡5 turned. | R| ♡Q turned. | I| --------------------------------+ C+-------------------------------- A Y B Z | K| A Y B Z +-------+-------+-------+-------+--+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | _♣K_ | ♣5 | ♣7 | ♣3 | 1| Q♢ | K♢ | _A♢_ | 2♢ | | ♡10 | ♡J | _♡Q_ | ♡5 | 2| 2♠ | _A♠_ | J♠ | 5♠ | | _♣Q_ | ♣J | ♣2 | ♣10 | 3| 4♢ | 10♢ | 3♢ | _J♢_ | | ♡7 | ♡3 | _♡9_ | ♡8 | 4| ♡2 | ♡5 | ♡3 | ♡Q | | _J♠_ | 9♠ | 2♠ | 5♠ | 5| ♡6 | _♡A_ | ♡4 | ♡J | | ♣A | ♡4 | _♡6_ | 5♢ | 6| ♣8 | ♣2 | ♣3 | ♣K | | 4♠ | _♡K_ | A♠ | 6♠ | 7| _♡7_ | 8♢ | 5♢ | 7♢ | | J♢ | 7♢ | 2♢ | _K♢_ | 8| _♡K_ | 4♠ | 6♢ | ♡9 | | _♡2_ | 3♢ | 4♢ | A♢ | 9| _K♠_ | 7♠ | 6♠ | 8♠ | | _♣9_ | 6♢ | 3♠ | 8♢ |10| _Q♠_ | ♣4 | ♣5 | 10♠ | | _♣8_ | 9♢ | 7♠ | 8♠ |11| 9♠ | ♣Q | ♣6 | ♡10 | | _♣6_ | 10♢ | K♠ | 10♠ |12| _♡8_ | 9♢ | ♣7 | ♣J | | _♣4_ | Q♢ | _♡A_ | Q♠ |13| _3♠_ | ♣A | ♣10 | ♣9 | +-------+-------+-------+-------+--+-------+-------+-------+-------+ --------------------------------+ +-------------------------------- _=No. 2. American Game=_; | T| _=No. 4. Play to Score=_; ♡8 turned. | R| ♡J turned. | I| --------------------------------+ C+-------------------------------- A Y B Z | K| A Y B Z +-------+-------+-------+-------+--+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | 6♢ | J♢ | _A♢_ | 9♢ | 1| K♠ | 4♠ | 3♠ | _A♠_ | | _♡3_ | 3♢ | 2♢ | 10♢ | 2| ♡3 | ♡9 | _♡Q_ | ♡2 | | ♣9 | ♣K | _♣A_ | ♣3 | 3| 2♠ | 7♠ | 5♠ | _♡4_ | | _♡6_ | 4♢ | 5♢ | ♣4 | 4| ♣2 | _♣K_ | ♣6 | ♣3 | | _♣Q_ | ♣8 | ♣2 | ♣7 | 5| ♡5 | ♡7 | ♡8 | _♡J_ | | ♣6 | ♡4 | _♡9_ | ♣10 | 6| ♡10 | ♣5 | ♡K | _♡A_ | | _♡10_ | 7♢ | 8♢ | ♣J | 7| ♣8 | _♣J_ | 3♢ | ♣4 | | ♣5 | ♡K | _♡A_ | 7♠ | 8| 5♢ | J♢ | _A♢_ | 2♢ | | 4♠ | Q♢ | _♡Q_ | ♡5 | 9| 10♠ | 9♠ | 8♠ | _♡6_ | | 2♠ | 5♠ | _♡J_ | ♡7 |10| ♣Q | ♣7 | 4♢ | _♣A_ | | _A♠_ | 6♠ | Q♠ | K♠ |11| Q♠ | J♠ | 6♠ | _♣10_ | | _J♠_ | 9♠ | 3♠ | 10♠ |12| 10♢ | 7♢ | 6♢ | _♣9_ | | _8♠_ | K♢ | ♡2 | _♡8_ |13| Q♢ | 8♢ | 9♢ | K♢ | +-------+-------+-------+-------+--+-------+-------+-------+-------+ _=No. 1.
One of you rush, two may rush, Please, old woman, creep under the bush; The bush is too high, the bush is too low, Please, old woman, creep under the bush. --Hampshire (Miss Mendham). VII. Draw a pail of water For a lady s daughter; Give a silver pin for a golden ring-- Oh pray, young lady, pop under. --Northants (Rev. W. D. Sweeting). VIII. Draw a bucket of water For my lady s daughter; One go rush, and the other go hush, Pretty young lady, bop under my bush.
8. The dummy should not leave his seat to watch his partner play. He should not call attention to the score nor to any card or cards that he or the other players hold. 9. If a player say, “I have the rest,” or any words indicating that the remaining tricks, or any number thereof, are his, and one or both of the other players expose his or their cards, or request him to play out the hand, he should not allow any information so obtained to influence his play. 10. If a player concede, in error, one or more tricks, the concession should stand. 11. A player having been cut out of one table should not seek admission in another unless willing to cut for the privilege of entry. 12.
This means an outlay of at least 75 counters. When the triplets come, will he get back 75 counters on them? He will probably win the blind, and one or two antes; but the moment he makes his own ante good, every player who cannot beat triplets, knowing his system, will lay down his hand. An extensive observation of the methods of the best players has led the author to the conclusion that the great secret of success in Poker, apart from natural aptitude for the game, and being a good actor, is to _=avoid calling=_. If you think you have the best hand, raise. If you think you have not the best, lay it down. Although you may sometimes lay down a better hand than the one that takes the pool, the system will prove of immense advantage to you in two ways: In the first place, you will find it a great educator of the judgment; and in the second place, it will take almost any opponent’s nerve. Once an adversary has learned your method, it is not a question of his betting a red chip on his hand; but of his willingness to stand a raise of two blues, which he will regard as inevitable if you come in against him at all. The fear of this raise will prompt many a player to lay down a moderately good hand without a bet; so that you have all the advantage of having made a strong bluff without having put up a chip. The system will also drive all but the most courageous to calling your hand on every occasion, being afraid of a further and inevitable raise; and it is an old saying that a good caller is a sure loser. The theory of calling is to get an opportunity to compare your hand with your adversary’s.
Any one dealing out of turn, or with the adversary’s cards, may be stopped before the trump card is turned up, after which the game must proceed as if no mistake had been made. 49. A player can neither shuffle, cut, nor deal for his partner, without the permission of his opponents. 50. If the adversaries interrupt a dealer whilst dealing, either by questioning the score or asserting that it is not his deal, and fail to establish such claim, should a misdeal occur, he may deal again. 51. Should a player take his partner’s deal and misdeal, the latter is liable to the usual penalty, and the adversary next in rotation to the player who ought to have dealt then deals. THE TRUMP CARD. 52. The dealer, when it is his turn to play to the first trick, should take the trump card into his hand; if left on the table after the first trick be turned and quitted, it is liable to be called; his partner may at any time remind him of the liability.
In the various “games,” the four Jacks are always the best trumps, and are known as _=Wenzels=_. The other cards follow the usual German rank; A 10 K Q 9 8 7, the Ace being the highest in plain suits. The German names for the cards are as follows;--_=Jack=_: Wenzel, Bauern, Bube, Jungen, or Unter. _=Ace=_: As, or Daus. _=Ten=_, Zehn. _=King=_, König. _=Queen=_: Dame, Ober, or Königen. _=Nine=_, Neun. _=Eight=_, Acht. _=Seven=_, Sieben.
--Banffshire, Aberdeen (Jamieson). Gobs A London name for the game of Hucklebones. See Fivestones. Green Grass [Music] --Middlesex (Miss Collyer). [Music] --London (A. B. Gomme). [Music] --Congleton (Miss A. E. Twemlow).