Kit-cat. Kit-cat-cannio. Kittlie-cout. Knapsack. Knights. Knocked at the Rapper. Knor and Spell. LAB. Lady of the Land. Lady on the Mountain.
Checkstone Easther s _Almondbury Glossary_ thus describes this game. A set of checks consists of five cubes, each about half an inch at the edge, and a ball the size of a moderate bagatelle ball: all made of pot. They are called checkstones, and the game is played thus. You throw down the cubes all at once, then toss the ball, and during its being in the air gather up one stone in your right hand and catch the descending ball in the same. Put down the stone and repeat the operation, gathering two stones, then three, then four, till at last you have summed up all the five at once, and have succeeded in catching the ball. In case of failure you have to begin all over again. (_b_) In Nashe s _Lenten Stuff_ (1599) occurs the following: Yet towards cock-crowing she caught a little slumber, and then she dreamed that Leander and she were playing at checkstone with pearls in the bottom of the sea. A game played by children with round small pebbles (Halliwell s _Dictionary_). It is also mentioned in the early play of _Apollo Shroving_, 1627, p. 49.
Deadwood, the pins that fall on the alley, in bowling. Décavé, F., frozen out; the entire amount of the original stake being lost. Défausser, se, F., to discard. D’emblée, F., on the first deal; before the draw. Despatchers, dice which are not properly marked, having two faces alike, such as double fives. Devil’s bed posts, the four of clubs. Discarding, getting rid of a card in plain suits when unable to follow suit and unwilling to trump.
L. Gomme). Dab-an-thricker A game in which the _dab_ (a wooden ball) is caused to spring upwards by a blow on the _thricker_ (trigger), and is struck by a flat, bottle-shaped mallet fixed to the end of a flexible wand, the distance it goes counting so many for the striker.--Ross and Stead s _Holderness Glossary_. This is the same as Knur and Spell. Dab-at-the-hole A game at marbles (undescribed).--Patterson s _Antrim and Down Glossary_. Dalies A child s game, played with small bones or pieces of hard wood. The _dalies_ were properly sheep s trotters.--Halliwell s _Dictionary_.
=_ Should any player have put up an amount which no other player will equal, he takes whatever counters are then in the pool, without showing his hand, and the deal passes to the next player on the dealer’s left. Should only one player come in, and the age decline to make good his ante, the player who has come in wins the blind, unless jack pots are played. Should any player have straddled the blind, or raised the ante, there can be no jack pot. _=21. Making Jacks.=_ If no player will come in, it is a Natural Jack, and all the hands must be abandoned, each player putting up for the ensuing deal the amount agreed upon. If no one has straddled the blind, or raised the ante, and only one player has come in, the age may do one of four things: He may forfeit his blind; or he may make the ante good; or he may raise it; or he may demand that the single player who has come in shall take down his ante, the age putting up twice the amount agreed upon for jack pots; once for himself, and once for the player who came in. All the other players must then put up for the ensuing deal. This is an Only-Two-In Jack. _=22.
The general rules with regard to irregularities in the deal are the same as at Whist, except that a misdeal does not lose the deal. The misdealer must deal again with the same pack, after the players have sorted their cards into suits. It is a misdeal if the dealer fails to present the pack to the other players to cut, or neglects to cut it himself. Should the dealer expose any of his own cards in dealing, that does not invalidate the deal. The deal passes in regular rotation to the left, each pack being used alternately. _=MAKING THE TRUMP.=_ The deal being complete, the player opposite the dealer cuts the still pack, and the player on his right turns up the top card for the trump. The suit to which this card belongs is called _=First Preference=_, and the suit of the same colour is called _=Second Preference=_, or _=Colour=_. The two remaining suits are known as _=Plain Suits=_ for that deal. The cards having been dealt, and the trump turned, each player carefully sorts and counts his cards, to see that he has the correct number, thirteen.
If a player says: “I raise you two blues,” the statement amounts to nothing until the blues have been placed in the pool, and the owner’s hand removed from them. There is no penalty if a player, during the betting, tells his adversaries exactly what he holds; nor is he likely to lose anything by it, for no one will believe him. _=JACK POTS.=_ The addition of jack pots has probably done more to injure Poker than the trump signal has injured Whist. In the early days, when poker parties were small, four players being a common number, it was frequently the case that no one had a pair strong enough to draw to, and such a deal was regarded as simply a waste of time. To remedy this, it was proposed that whenever no player came in, each should be obliged to ante an equal amount for the next deal, and just to demonstrate that there were some good hands left in the pack no one was allowed to draw cards until some one had _=Jacks or better=_ to draw to. The result of this practice was to make jack pots larger than the other pools, because every one was compelled to ante, and this seems to have prompted those who were always wanting to increase the stakes to devise excuses for increasing the number of jack pots. This has been carried so far that the whole system has become a nuisance, and has destroyed one of the finest points in the game of Poker,--the liberty of personal judgment as to every counter put into the pool, except the blind. The following excuses for making jack pots are now in common use: _=After a Misdeal=_ some parties make it a jack; but the practice should be condemned, because it puts it in the power of any individual player to make it a jack when he deals. _=The Buck=_ is some article, such as a penknife, which is placed in the pool at the beginning of the game, and is taken down with the rest of the pool by whichever player wins it.
If a player bids nap and fails, he is usually called upon to double the amount then in the pool, besides paying his adversaries. _=Purchase Nap=_; sometimes called _=Écarté Nap=_, is a variation of the pool game. After the cards are dealt, and before any bids are made, each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, may discard as many cards as he pleases, the dealer giving him others in their place. For each card so exchanged, the player pays one counter to the pool. Only one round of exchanges is allowed, and bids are then in order. A player having once refused to buy, or having named the number of cards he wishes to exchange, cannot amend his decision. Any player winning five tricks on a nap bid takes the entire pool. This is a very good game, and increases both the bids and the play against them. _=Widows.=_ Another variation is to deal five cards in the centre of the table, face downward, the dealer giving the cards to the widow just before helping himself in each round.
If the dealer will not give, he lays the trump card aside, and deals three more cards to each player, including himself; turning up another trump. Should this be a Jack of another suit, the dealer scores a point for it at once. Should it be of the same suit as that first turned up, the Jack cannot be scored, as the dealer has declined to have that suit for the trump. When the same suit is turned up a second time, the card is laid aside; three more cards are given to each player, another trump is turned, and so on until a different suit comes up for the trump. If the pack is exhausted before another suit turns up, the cards must be _=bunched=_, and the same dealer deals again. The dealer’s partner and the pone are not permitted to look at their cards until the eldest hand and the dealer have decided whether to stand or run the cards. Among strict players, if a person looks at his hand before the proper time, the adversaries score a point. The object of this rule is to prevent the possibility of any expression of satisfaction or disapproval of the turn-up trump. No second beg is allowed, but when only two play, if either player is dissatisfied with the new trump he may propose to _=bunch the cards=_. If the proposition is agreed to, the cards are reshuffled and dealt again by the same dealer.
All combinations announced and scored must be laid face upward on the table; but the cards still form part of the player’s hand, and may be led or played at any time, although they must not again be taken in hand until the stock is exhausted. _=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ The reasons for winning or not winning certain tricks will be better understood in connection with the description of the various combinations that count toward game, and the manner of scoring them. _=Brisques.=_ The aces and Tens of each suit are called brisques, and count ten points each towards game. Except for the purpose of getting or keeping the lead, there is no object in winning any trick which does not contain a brisque. Every brisque taken in should be scored at once by the player winning the trick; 10 points for an ace or Ten; 20 points if there are two such cards in the same trick. A player holding or drawing the _=Seven of trumps=_ has the privilege of exchanging it for the turn-up trump, and scoring 10 points at the same time; but he must make the exchange immediately after winning a trick, and before drawing his card from the stock. Should the turn-up card be a Seven, or one exchange have already been made, the exchange can still be made and scored. He cannot score the Seven and make a declaration at the same time.
S. Sykes). VII. O what has this poor prisoner done, Poor prisoner done, poor prisoner done? O what has this poor prisoner done, So early in the morning? She stole my watch and lost my key, Lost my key, lost my key, She stole my watch and lost my key, So early in the morning. How many pounds to set her free, Set her free, set her free? How many pounds to set her free, So early in the morning? Five hundred pounds to set her free, Set her free, set her free, Five hundred pounds to set her free, So early in the morning. Five hundred pounds we have not got, Have not got, have not got, Five hundred pounds we have not got, So early in the morning. 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).
Feeling a little creaky about falling a couple stories to the ground, I lay down on my back on the narrow parapet, with my hands behind my head to soften the concrete a little, and looked straight up into the night sky. A dawdling August Perseid scratched a thin mark of light across the blackness. I heard a coyote howl. This was desert. This was peace. The dice and chuck-a-luck seemed ten thousand miles away. I heard a sound. Gravel crunched dimly under another foot. Somebody had stepped invisibly onto the roof. It scared the daylights out of me, more so because I was flat on my back.
The partners seat themselves wherever they please, and at the tap of the bell at the head of the table the deal is cut for, and play begins. The winners of the majority of the thirteen tricks at each table go to the next table. Here they may either continue to play as partners, or may divide, which ever has been the style of play decided upon by the hostess. When the partnerships have been drawn for, it is usual to preserve them for the evening. The losing gentleman at each table has the deal for the next hand. _=Scoring.=_ Every hand must be played out for all it is worth, both winners and losers scoring all the tricks they take. If the same partners play together throughout the evening, one score-card will do for the couple. If they divide, each individual must have his or her own score-card. The winners are those who have taken the greatest number of tricks in the agreed number of hands, or during the time limit.
Having drawn his card, even if he has not looked at it, he cannot score any declaration until he wins another trick. The combinations and their values are as follows:-- CLASS A King and Queen of any plain suit, _=Marriage=_ 20 King and Queen of trumps, _=Royal Marriage=_ 40 Sequence of five highest trumps, _=Sequence=_ 250 CLASS B. Spade Queen and diamond Jack, _=Bézique=_ 40 Two spade Queens and diamond Jacks, _=Double Bézique=_ 500 CLASS C. Any _=four Aces=_ 100 Any _=four Kings=_ 80 Any _=four Queens=_ 60 Any _=four Jacks=_ 40 The four court cards in class C may be all of different suits, or any two of them may be of the same suit. A great many misunderstandings arise with respect to the manner and order of making declarations, most of which may be avoided by remembering the following rules: The player making the declaration must have won the previous trick, and must make his announcement before drawing his card from the stock. When the stock is exhausted, so that there is no card to be drawn, no announcement can be made. Only one declaration can be scored at a time, so that a trick must be won for every announcement made, or the combination cannot be scored. This does not prevent a player from making two or more announcements at the same time, but he can score only one of them. A player cannot make a lower declaration with cards which form part of a higher one already made in the same class. For instance: Marriages and sequences belong to the same class.
In the baulk-line nurse there are three principal positions, and two turns, as shown in the diagram. In No. 3 the red ball must be driven to the rail and back with great accuracy, leaving the balls in position No. 1 again. The turns are very difficult. CUSHION CARROMS. This is a variety of the three-ball game in which a cushion must be touched by the cue ball before the carrom is completed. The cushion may be struck first, and the object ball afterward, or the object ball first, and then the cushion. In the _=Three-cushion Carrom Game=_, three cushions must be touched by the cue ball before completing the count. In the _=Bank-shot Game=_, the cue ball must strike at least one cushion before touching the object ball.
THIRTY-ONE. This game is sometimes called _=Schnautz=_. A pool is made up by any number of players. The dealer takes a pack of fifty-two cards and gives three to each, face down, and three extra cards to the table, dealt face up. Each player in turn to the left can exchange one of his own cards for one of those on the table, the object being to get a flush of three cards of some suit having a pip value of thirty-one; or else to get three of a kind. The aces are worth 11, the other court cards and the ten, 10 each. If no one can get a flush worth thirty-one, three of a kind wins the pool. If no one has three of a kind, the highest pip value shown in one suit wins. Drawing is kept up until some player knocks, after which only one more draw is allowed, the knocker not being allowed to draw again. A player can knock without drawing at all if he wishes to prevent the others from beating his original hand.
| -- | | 30.| -- | | 31.| -- | | 32.| -- | | 33.| -- | | 34.| -- | | 35.|Bells shall ring, cats| | |shall sing. | | 36.| -- | | 37.|We ll all clap hands | | |together.
Libbety-lat. Limpy Coley. Little Dog, I call you. Lobber. Loggats. London. London Bridge. Long-duck. Long Tag. Long Tawl.
When any suit is made the trump, it takes the precedence of the three others only in so far as trumps will win other suits, and the suits which are not trumps are equal in value so far as trick-taking is concerned. As the four Wenzels are always the highest trumps, there will always be eleven cards in the trump suit, and seven in each of the plain suits; so that if clubs were trumps, the rank of the cards would be:-- [Illustration: 🃛 🂫 🂻 🃋 🃑 🃚 🃞 🃝 🃙 🃘 🃗 ] In any of the other suits the rank would be:-- [Illustration: 🂡 🂪 🂮 🂭 🂩 🂨 🂧 ] _=Matadores.=_ The club Jack is always the best trump, and every trump card in unbroken sequence with the club Jack is called a Matadore, provided the sequence is in the hand of the same player. This rule holds whether the sequence was in the hand originally dealt to him or part of it is found in the Skat, should he become possessed of the Skat cards. For instance: Clubs are trumps, and a player holds these cards:-- [Illustration: 🃛 🂻 🃋 🃑 🃚 🃘 🃗 ] He has only one Matadore; but as the Skat cards will belong to him if he has made the trump, he may find in them the spade Jack, which would complete his sequence, giving him six Matadores, instead of one. As one side or the other must have the club Jack in every deal, there must always be a certain number of Matadores, from one to eleven. If the player who makes the trump has them, he is said to play _=with=_ so many; if his adversaries hold them, he is said to play _=without=_ just as many as they hold. The difficult thing for the beginner at Skat to understand is that whether a player holds the Matadores or not, the number of them has exactly the same influence on the value of his game. If one player held these cards [Illustration: 🃛 🂫 🂱 🂺 🂷 ] and wished to make hearts trumps, he would be playing “with two.” If another player wished to make the same suit trumps with these cards:-- [Illustration: 🂻 🃋 🂾 🂽 🂹 🂸 ] he would be playing “without two,” and the value of each game would be exactly the same, no matter which player actually made the trump.
Chambers (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 114) records the tradition that when Oliver Cromwell lay at Haddington he sent to require the governor of Home Castle, in Berwickshire, to surrender; the governor is said to have replied in the above quatrain of juvenile celebrity. The London version is for the boys to run up a hillock, when one of them declares as follows-- I m the King of the Castle; Get down, you dirty rascal, whereupon he pushes down his companions. If another boy succeeds in getting his place he becomes King, and repeats the doggerel (G. L. Gomme). This is a very popular boys game. Newell (_Games_, 164) mentions it as prevalent in Pennsylvania. See Tom Tiddler s Ground. King Plaster Palacey The players are a King and his three sons named White Cap, Red Cap, Brown Cap.
Suppose a spare to be followed by a strike, the frame in which the spare was made would be worth 20. If he made 5 pins only, the spare would be worth 15. Although the player is supposed to have three balls in each inning, and is allowed to count all he makes on three balls if he gets a strike or a spare, he is not allowed to roll three balls on a break. It was formerly the custom to let him roll the third ball on the chance of getting a break of 10. This was afterward changed to giving him 10 pins, without rolling for them, if he got 9 on two balls; but the present rule is to call it a break if he does not get a strike or a spare in two balls, and not to waste time in rolling the third ball. _=Scoring.=_ Instead of putting down the amount made in each inning, the total of the frame is added to the total of the previous score, so that the last figure put down shows the total score up to and including that frame. The following illustration shows the total score of a player for ten innings. The top line of figures gives the number of the frame. The second shows the number of pins knocked down by each ball rolled, and the third line shows how the scores would be actually put down on the blackboard, the strike, spare, and break marks being placed above the figures.
_=CUTTING.=_ The methods of cutting are the same as those described in connection with Bridge, and ties are decided in the same manner. _=PLAYERS’ POSITIONS.=_ The four players at a whist table are usually distinguished by the letters A, B, Y, Z; the first two letters of the alphabet being partners against the last two, and their positions at the table being indicated as follows:-- [Illustration: Y +-----+ | | A | | B | | +-----+ Z ] Z is always the dealer; A the original leader, or first hand; Y the second hand; B the third hand; and Z the fourth hand. After the first trick, some other player may become the leader; the one on his left being the second hand; his partner the third hand, and the player on his right the fourth hand. B is the pone. _=DEALING.=_ The cards having been properly shuffled, the dealer presents them to the _=pone=_ to be cut. The American laws require that after separating the pack, the pone shall place the cut part, which he lifts off, nearer the dealer. Beginning at his left, the dealer distributes the cards one at a time in rotation, until the pack is exhausted.
In settling at the end of the hand, the player having taken no hearts, [each of the others having taken at least one,] wins the pool. Two players having taken none, the other two having each at least one, divide it, the odd counter remaining until the next pool. Three players having taken none, the thirteen counters remain in the pool, forming a Jack, which can be won only by one player taking no hearts, each of the others having taken at least one. During the time the Jack is played for, and until it is won, each player must add to the pool by paying for the hearts he takes in each hand. 30. In Auction Hearts, the player to the left of the dealer has the first bid, the dealer the last, and there is no second bid. THE BÉZIQUE FAMILY. This family includes three of our most popular games; Bézique itself, Binocle, and Sixty-Six. These are all comparatively modern games, but are descended from very old stock, the best known of the ancestors being Marriage, Matrimony, and Cinq-Cents. The etymology of the word Bézique is very much disputed.
B. Z., the letters used to distinguish the positions of the four players at Whist; A-B being partners against Y-Z., and Z. having the deal. Backgammon. If a player throws off all his men before his adversary has thrown off any, and while one or more of the adversary’s men are still on the side of the board next the winning player, it is a backgammon, or triple game. Bath Coup, holding up Ace Jack on a King led by an adversary. Battre, F., to shuffle.
If he has good suits, he should make sure of two rounds of trumps by leading the Ace. When the solo player is depending on the plain suits for tricks, and has one long suit, he should make what winning cards he has in the other plain suits in preference to leading trumps, for his only danger is that his long suit will be led often enough to give his adversaries discards in the other suits. If a proposal was made before the solo was called, it is better for the solo player to sit on the left of the player that proposed. 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.
| -- | -- | -- | |21.| -- | -- | -- | |22.| -- | -- | -- | |23.|He sent letter to turn|He sent letter to turn| -- | | |your head. |your head. | | |24.| -- | -- |She s left off her | | | | |wedding to turn back | | | | |her head. | |25.| -- | -- | -- | |26.| -- | -- |Mother, is it true; | | | | |What shall I do? [Then| | | | |repeat Nos.
Tourné, in the order of the suits. Grand Tourné. Solo in diamonds, hearts and spades. Nullo, worth 20. Solo in clubs. Grand Solo, worth 16. Null ouvert, worth 40. Grand ouvert. The multipliers were the same as those used in the modern game, but the player had no means of using them in his bids. It will be observed that the modern value of the various games seeks to preserve the old rank by assuming the lowest possible bid on any given game.