It would be useless to formulate rules intended to cover every case that might arise, because the conditions are frequently too complicated to allow the average human intellect to select the exact rule which would apply. All that can be done to assist the beginner is to state certain general principles which are well recognised as fundamental, and to leave the rest to experience and practice at the whist table. _=GENERAL PRINCIPLES.=_ 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.
I ll set him up at my table head, Feed him wi sweet milk and bread, If he likes gang hame on his fine steed. --Biggar (Wm. Ballantyne). (_b_) In Biggar, all the players were seated round the hearthstone, lads on one side, lassies the other; one lad rising up said the first verse, then one acting as maister said the next verse. The young man then said the next two lines, to which the other replied in the two following, and naming at the close any girl he thought would be acceptable. If the lad was pleased he sang the next verse. If he was not pleased with the girl offered him he replied in either of the three following verses. The first of the three was generally said if the girl was thought to be too old; if bad-tempered, the second. If the lad found no fault, but wished to politely refuse, he sang the last verse. The girl then was asked in her turn, and the same formula gone through, she saying either of the three last verses given.
As they go round they sing the verse. At the end each boy leaves hold of his partner s arm and catches the arm of the girl in front, the one who is standing in the centre trying in the confusion to get into a place. If he succeeds, the child left out has to be the one in the centre the next time. (_c_) Mr. Newell (_Games_, p. 101) says this game was called the Baptist Game in Virginia, where it is said to be enjoyed by pious people who will not dance. The American game is played in the same way as the English one. Mr. Newell gives the tune to which the game was sung. The words are almost identical.
There are no discards; sequences of court cards are the only ones that count; tierces are worthless; and a trump suit is added. The _=cards=_ rank K Q J A 10 9 8 7; the K Q J A and 7 of trumps are called honours, and in all sequences the four highest cards in the suit are the only ones that count. _=Counters.=_ Each player is supplied with six white and four red counters, which are passed from left to right as the points accrue. Each red is worth six white, and when all six white counters have been passed over, they must be returned, and a red one passed over in their place. When all the counters, four red and six white, have been passed over, the game is won. _=Dealing.=_ Twelve cards are given to each player, two or three at a time, and the twenty-fifth is turned up for the trump. If this is an honour, the dealer marks one white counter for it. There are no discards.
I m coming! --_Reliquary_, viii. 57. The words are said by the one who has to find the person hidden. In Scotland the game is called Hospy, and is played by boys only, and it can be played only in a village or hamlet in which there is the means of hiding. A Spy is chosen, and a spot, called Parley, is fixed upon at which the Spy stands till all the other players are hid, and to which he can run when pursued. When the players are hid, the cry, Hospy, _i.e._, Ho! spy! is raised by them. The Spy then sets out to find them. The moment he detects one he turns and runs with all his might to the Parley, pursued by the one he has discovered.
| -- | -- | -- | |29.| -- | -- | -- | |30.| -- | -- | -- | |31.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Earls Heaton, Yorks. | Lincolnshire. | Redhill, Surrey. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Green gravel. |Green gravel.