They sing while moving round to the tune of Nancy Dawson, and stopping short with courtesy at the conclusion. Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, Here we go round the mulberry bush, And round the merry-ma-tanzie. Disjoining hands, they then begin, with skirts held daintily up behind, to walk singly along, singing-- This is the way the ladies walk, The ladies walk, the ladies walk; This is the way the ladies walk, And round the merry-ma-tanzie. 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.
Two packs should be used in all round games of cards. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ The chief counting elements that are affected by the play being the trump Ten and the cards, it is usual to devote particular attention to winning them. With J A of trumps, or A K, it is best to lead two rounds immediately; but with a tenace, such as J K, or A Q it is better to place the lead on your left if possible. The high cards in the plain suits are capable of being very skilfully managed in this matter of placing the lead. It sometimes happens that a player with the Ten may be fourth hand on a suit of which he has none; or he may catch the Ten with a small honour if it is used in trumping in. The partnership games offer many fine opportunities for playing the Ten into the partner’s hand, especially when it is probable that he has the best trump, or a better trump than the player on the left. In calculating the probabilities of saving the Ten by trumping in, it must be remembered that the greater the number of players, the less chance there is that a suit will go round more than once, because there are only nine cards of each suit in play. Many players, in their anxiety to catch the Ten, overlook the possibilities of their hands in making cards, the count for which often runs into high figures. Close attention should be paid to the score.
The best example of the application of this law is in drawing to bobtails. If you have a four-card flush to draw to, the odds against getting it are about four to one; and unless you can obtain the privilege of drawing to it by paying not more than one-fifth of the amount in the pool, you will lose by it in the long run. The best players never draw to four-card flushes except when they have the age, and the ante has not been raised. There are some players who pretend to be so guided by probabilities that they never go into a pool unless the chances in favour of their having a good hand after the draw are at least equal to the odds they have to bet by going into the pool. This is all nonsense; for no player knows when he goes into a pool how much it will cost him to get out, and the value of his individual hand is an unknown quantity at the best, because it cannot be compared to the others. One thing only is certain, and that is that in the long run the player who goes in with the strongest hand will still have the strongest hand after the draw. This is an important thing to remember in jack pots, in which the value of at least one hand is known. If you draw to a pair smaller than Jacks, you do so with the full knowledge that the pair itself is not strong enough to win. Now what are the odds against your winning the pool? Suppose you hold tens, and draw three cards. Your chance of improving your hand is a little better than one in five.
Cat after Mouse This game, sometimes called Threading the Needle, is played by children forming a ring, with their arms extended and hands clasped; one--the Mouse--goes outside the circle and gently pulls the dress of one of the players, who thereupon becomes the Cat, and is bound to follow wherever the Mouse chooses to go--either in or out of the ring--until caught, when he or she takes the place formerly occupied in the ring by the Cat, who in turn becomes Mouse, and the game is recommenced.--Dorsetshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 214). (_b_) Played at Monton, Lancashire (Miss Dendy); Clapham Middle-Class School (Miss Richardson); and many other places. It is practically the same game as Drop Handkerchief, played without words. It is described by Strutt, p. 381, who considers Kiss-in-the-Ring is derived from this Cat and Mouse. Catchers One bicken is required in this game, and at this a lad must stand with a bat and ball in hand. He hits the ball away along the sand. Another boy picks it up and asks the striker How many? who replies-- Two a good scat, Try for the bat.
If the game were better known, the author is sure it would become a great favourite, especially with those who are fond of the whist family, because Calabrasella is an excellent training school for the use of cards of re-entry, long suits, and tenace positions in the end game. In the combination of two players against the third its tactics very closely resemble Skat, and many interesting and difficult positions occur in every game. _=Cards.=_ Calabrasella is played with the Spanish pack, forty cards, the 10 9 and 8 of each suit being discarded. The cards rank: 3 2 A K Q J 7 6 5 4, the 3 being the highest, and the 4 the lowest, both in cutting and in play. There are no trumps. _=Markers.=_ The game may be scored by paying and taking in counters, each player being provided with about fifty at the beginning of the game, which are purchased from a banker; but the better way is to keep account of the gains and losses of the single player in each deal, in the manner already described in connection with Skat, balancing the account at the end in the same way. _=Players.=_ Calabrasella is played by three persons, two of whom are partners against the third in each hand.
=_ Nothing obstructs the progress of the beginner so much as his attempts to cover all the ground at once. The more ambitious he is, the greater his necessity for keeping in view the maxim; “One thing at a time: all things in succession.” One must master the scales before he can produce the perfect melody. The novice should first thoroughly understand the object, and the fundamental principle of the game. _=The Object=_ is to win tricks. Not to give information, or to count the hands, or to remember every card played; but simply and only to win tricks. _=The Principle=_ is to secure for certain cards a trick-taking value which does not naturally belong to them; either by getting higher cards out of the way of lower, or by placing the holder of intermediate cards at a disadvantage with regard to the lead. If any person will take the trouble to deal out four hands, and after turning them face up on the table, count how many tricks each side will probably take with its high cards and trumps, he will find that the total will hardly ever be exactly thirteen tricks. Let us suppose the following to be one of the hands so dealt; Z turning up the ♡6 for trumps:-- [Illustration: ♡Q J 8 ♣6 ♢K J 6 5 3 ♠A 9 8 6 ♡4 3 2 +-------+ ♡A K 10 5 ♣A K Q 8 7 4 3 | Y | ♣J 9 ♢7 |A B| ♢A 8 4 ♠Q 7 | Z | ♠K 5 4 2 +-------+ ♡9 7 6 ♣10 5 2 ♢Q 10 9 2 ♠J 10 3 ] On looking over this hand it would appear that A could only make one trick in Clubs, of which the second round would be trumped. His partner can count on five tricks: the two best and the fourth trumps; the ♢A, and the ♠K; a total of six tricks.
If the banker has 8 or 9, and neither of the others has so many, the bank wins everything on the table. If either player has more than the banker, all the bets on that side of the table must be paid. If either player has as many as the banker, all the bets on that side of the table are a stand-off. If either player has less than the banker, all the bets on that side of the table are lost. If a player wrongly announces 8 or 9, he cannot draw cards unless his point was 10 or 20. _=Drawing.=_ If none of the three can show 8 or 9, the banker must offer a card to the player on his right. The card must be slipped off the pack and offered face down. If the player on the right refuses, it is offered to the player on the left, and if he also refuses, the banker must take it himself. If the player on the right takes it, the player on the left may ask for a card also; but whether he does so or not, the banker is not obliged to draw unless he chooses, after the first card offered has been taken by either player.
He might have two more Queens, and would announce: “Sixty Queens, with twenty and twenty to score.” If he scores one of the announcements held over, he still carries on the other. When announcements are carried forward in this manner, it must be remembered that the cards must still be on the table when the time comes to score them. If one of them has been led or played, or the stock is exhausted before the player wins another trick, the score held over is lost. _=Time.=_ On account of the great number of combinations possible at Rubicon Bézique, it is very seldom that a player succeeds in scoring everything he holds. He is allowed to count the cards remaining in the talon, provided he does not disturb their order. This count is often important toward the end of the hand. For instance: You know from the cards you hold, and those played, that your adversary must have in his hand the cards that will make a double bézique on the table into a triple bézique, which would give him 1500 points. If, on counting the stock, you find only six cards remain, and you have three certain winning trumps to lead, you can shut out his 1500 by exhausting the stock before he can win a trick.
” In the doubles, all stakes and contributions to the pool are doubled. If anything remains in the pool at the end, it is divided equally, unless a player demands that it shall be played for until won. Such extra deals are simples. _=RANK OF THE SUITS.=_ The suit turned on the first deal is called “belle” for that game. The suit turned on each succeeding deal is called “petite.” If belle turns up again, there is no petite for that deal. The suits are not first and second preference, as in Boston, but are used only to determine the value of the payments, and to settle which suits partners must name for trumps. The rank of the suits is permanent, as in Boston de Fontainbleau, but the order is, hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades; hearts being highest. In France, the suits rank in this order in Boston de Fontainbleau, but in America diamonds outrank hearts.
This is one of the simplest, and at the same time most popular of the euchre family. Few games have become so widely known in such a short time, or have had such a vogue among all classes of society. So far as the mere winning and losing goes, the result depends largely upon luck, and skill is of small importance. Except in a long series of games the average player has little to fear from the most expert. _=CARDS.=_ Napoleon is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, which rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2; the ace being highest in play; but ranking below the deuce in cutting. _=COUNTERS.=_ As each deal is a complete game in itself it must be settled for in counters, to which some value is usually attached. One player is selected for the banker, and before play begins each of the others purchases from him a certain number of counters, usually fifty. When any player’s supply is exhausted, he can purchase more, either from the banker or from another player.
Musician: I pray you, madam, why say you so? Woman: Because John Sanderson will not come to. Musician: He must come to, and he shall come to, And he must come whether he will or no. And so she lays down the cushion before a man, who, kneeling upon it, salutes her, she singing-- Welcome, John Sanderson, &c. Then, he taking up the cushion, they take hands and dance round singing as before; and this they do till the whole company is taken into the ring. Then the cushion is laid down before the first man, the woman singing, This dance, &c., as before, only instead of come to, they sing go fro, and instead of Welcome, John Sanderson, &c., they sing Farewell, John Sanderson, farewell, &c., and so they go out one by one as they came in.--Charminster (_Notes and Queries_, ii. 517, 518).
The batsmen, keeping their sticks in the holes, then agree which of the two holds the Cat. One batsman runs across and puts his stick into the hole behind which the boy kneels whom they consider has the Cat, the other then running to his place. If they are right in their guess, the holder of the Cat throws it across the ground for the opposite bowler to put it in the hole before the second batsman reaches it. If they guess wrongly, the holder of the Cat puts it into the hole as soon as the batsman runs, and they then become the batsmen for the next game. If the batsmen leave their holes unguarded with the stick, the catsmen can at any time put them out, by putting the Cat in a hole. If more than two boys on a side play, the others field as in Cricket. --Barnes (A. B. Gomme). See Cat and Dog.
_) says it is a game rather for exercise than contention; it was well known and practised in England in the fourteenth century, and is mentioned as one of the sports of Prince Henry, son of James I., in 1610. Strutt (_Sports and Pastimes_, p. 96) gives two illustrations of what he considers to be baloon ball play, from fourteenth century MSS. Bandy-ball A game played with sticks called bandies, bent and round at one end, and a small wooden ball, which each party endeavours to drive to opposite fixed points. Northbrooke in 1577 mentions it as a favourite game in Devonshire (Halliwell s _Dict. of Provincialisms_). Strutt says the bat-stick was called a bandy on account of its being bent, and gives a drawing from a fourteenth century MS. book of prayers belonging to Mr. Francis Douce (_Sports_, p.
This adds nothing to the interest or skill of the game; but rather tends to create confusion and delay, owing to the numerous disputes as to the correctness of the count. The total to be accounted for in each deal is 104. In settling, the player with the smallest number collects from each of the others the amount they have in excess of his. If two or more players have an equal number, or none at all, they divide the amount collected from each of the others. For instance: Four play, A has 8 points, B 24, C 18, and D 54. As 8 points is the lowest, B pays A 16, C pays him 10, and D pays him 46. If A and B had 8 each, C 32, and D 56, C would pay 24, and D 48; and A-B would divide the amount between them. The chief variation in play arises from the fact that one who must win a heart trick cannot always afford to play his highest heart as in the ordinary game. _=JOKER HEARTS.=_ In this variation, the heart deuce is discarded, and the Joker takes its place.
So soon as the pancake bell rang men and boys assembled with sticks having a knob or hook at the end. A wooden ball was thrown down, and two parties engaged in striving which could get the ball by striking it with their sticks to one end of the Newarke first--those who did so were the victors. This game was called Shinney, or Hockey. About one o clock the Whipping Toms appeared on the scene of action. These were three men clad in blue smock frocks, with very long waggon whips, who were accompanied by three men with small bells. They commenced driving the men and boys out of the Newarkes. It was very dangerous sometimes; they would lash the whip in such a manner round the legs of those they were pursuing as to throw them down, which produced laughter and shouting. Some would stop, and turn to the whipper and say, Let s have a pennyworth, and he would guard and parry off the lashes with his shinney stick. When the whipper was successful in lashing him he demanded his penny, and continued lashing until he paid. This was continued until five o clock, then the game terminated.
and cccxliv., as quoted above, says, They are fragments of a game called The Lady of the Land, a complete version of which has not fallen in my way. Mr. Udal s versions from Dorsetshire are not only called The Lady of the Land, but are fuller than all the other versions, though probably these are not complete. Mr. Newell (_Games_, pp. 56-58) gives some versions of this game. He considers the original to have been a European game (he had not found an English example) in which there were two mothers, a rich and a poor one; one mother begging away, one by one, all the daughters of the other. (_d_) This game no doubt originates from the country practice of hiring servants at fairs, or from a dramatic Hirings being acted at Harvest Homes. The Good-bye of mother and daughters belongs, no doubt, to the original game and early versions, and is consistent with the departure of a servant to her new home.
The Witch tells her it s a barrel of pork. No, no, this is my Monday; run away home. Upon this Monday jumps up from her crouching or kneeling posture [the children were generally put by the Witch behind some chairs all close together in one corner of the room], and runs off, followed by all the others and their Mother. The Witch tries to catch one, and if successful that child becomes Witch next time.--A. B. Gomme. A probable explanation of this game is that it illustrates some of the practices and customs connected with fire-worship and the worship of the hearth, and that the pot is a magical one, and would only boil over when something wrong had occurred and the Mother s presence was necessary. The pot boils over directly a child is taken away, and appears to cease doing this when the Mother comes in. It is remarkable, too, that the Witch should want to borrow a light from the fire; the objection to the giving of fire out of the house is a well-known and widely-diffused superstition, the possession of a brand from the house-fire giving power to the possessor over the inmates of a house.
In Cornwall the leader, when at fault, says-- Uppa, uppa, holye! If you don t speak My dogs shan t folly. --Courtney (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 73). Other versions of this holloa are-- Whoop, whoop, and hollow! Good dogs won t follow Without the hare cries, Peewit. --Halliwell s _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 66. Sound your holler, Or my little dog shan t foller. --Northall s _English Folk Rhymes_, p. 357. This game is played in Wales under the name of Hunt the Fox.
It is now more generally called The Hole, but the old designation is not quite extinct. It is otherwise played in Angus. Three holes are made at equal distances. He who can first strike his bowl into each of these holes thrice in succession wins the game (Jamieson). It is alluded to in _The Life of a Scotch Rogue_, 1722, p. 7. See Bun-hole. Carrick Old name for Shinty in Fife.--Jamieson. Carry my Lady to London I.