Drawing cards from the outspread pack may be resorted to in place of cutting. SHUFFLING. 8. Before every deal, the cards must be shuffled. When two packs are used, the dealer’s partner must collect and shuffle the cards for the ensuing deal and place them at his right hand. In all cases the dealer may shuffle last. In _=Boston=_ and in _=Cayenne=_, two packs must be used; and in Boston there must be no shuffling of either pack after the first deal. 9. A pack must not be shuffled during the play of a hand, nor so as to expose the face of any card. CUTTING TO THE DEALER.
See Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Professor Mayor communicated to the _Gentleman s Magazine_ of 1848 (ii.), p. 147, the following early allusions to the game from old dictionaries:-- Gouldman, London, MDCLXIV.-- _Ascoliasmus_, Empusæ ludus: a kind of play wherein boys lift up one leg and hop with the other, where they beat one another with bladders tied to the end of strings. Fox to thy hole. Holyoke, MDCLXXVII.-- _Empusa_. [Greek: para to heni podizein], quòd uno incedat pede. Hence _empusam agere_ is used for a play, hopping on one leg; with us, Fox to his hole.
When the dealer is four, the player may stand on much weaker hands. It is usually best to lead from guarded suits, in preference to single cards. Lead the best of a suit if you have it. If the third trick is the first you win, and you have a trump and another card, lead the trump; but if you have won two tricks, lead the plain suit. _=THE DEALER.=_ When the player asks for cards, the dealer knows that his adversary probably does not hold a jeux de règle. The dealer must not be too sure of this, however, for proposals are sometimes made on very strong hands in order to try for the vole, or to make two points on the refusal. The dealer should assume that he is opposed by the best play until he finds the contrary to be the case, and it is safest to play on the assumption that a player who proposes has not a jeux de règle. For all practical purposes it may be said that the dealer can refuse to give cards with hands a trifle less strong than those on which the player would stand. The general rule is for the dealer to give cards unless he is guarded in three suits; or has a trump, and is safe in two suits; or has two trumps, and is safe in one suit.
Well, make three round curtseys and be off away. [Child goes, returns, knocks at door. Mother says, Come in. ] What have you been doing all this time? Brushing Jenny s hair and combing Jenny s hair. What did her mother give you for your trouble? A silver penny. Where s my share of it? Cat ran away with it. Where s the cat? In the wood. Where s the wood? Fire burnt it. Where s the fire? Moo-cow drank it. Where s the moo-cow? Butcher killed it.
Cat-Beds The name of a game played by young people in Perthshire. In this game, one, unobserved by all the rest, cuts with a knife the turf in very unequal angles. These are all covered, and each player puts his hand on what he supposes to be the smallest, as every one has to cut off the whole surface of his division. The rate of cutting is regulated by a throw of the knife, and the person who throws is obliged to cut as deep as the knife goes. He who is last in getting his bed cut up is bound to carry the whole of the clods, crawling on his hands and feet, to a certain distance measured by the one next to him, who throws the knife through his legs. If the bearer of the clods let any of them fall, the rest have a right to pelt him with them. They frequently lay them very loosely on, that they may have the pleasure of pelting.--Jamieson. Cat s Cradle One child holds a piece of string joined at the ends on his upheld palms, a single turn being taken over each, and by inserting the middle finger of each hand under the opposite turn, crosses the string from finger to finger in a peculiar form. Another child then takes off the string on his fingers in a rather different way, and it then assumes a second form.
| Wakefield. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.| -- | -- | | 2.|Round the green |Around the green | | |gravel. |gravill. | | 3.| -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | | 5.| -- | -- | | 6.| -- | -- | | 7.
Carse). IV. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell! Last night I met you downhearted and sad, And down by the river I met your young man. Choose a lover, choose a lover, Choose a lover, Farewell! Walk to church, love, walk to church, love, Walk to church, love, Farewell! Come to the ring, love, come to the ring, love, Come to the ring, love, Farewell! Give a kiss, love, give a kiss, love, Give a kiss, love, Farewell! --West Grinstead, Sussex (_Notes and Queries_, 8th Series, i. 249, Miss Busk). V. Arabella! Arabella! Arabella! Farewell! Last night when we parted I left you broken-hearted Down by the mill-side. Who ll you have, love? Who ll you have, love? Who ll you have, love? Farewell! Go to church, love, Go to church, love, Go to church, love, Farewell! Come back, love, Come back, love, Come back, love, Farewell! Shake hands, love, Shake hands, love, Shake hands, love, Farewell! Take a kiss, love, Take a kiss, love, Take a kiss, love, Farewell! --Platt School, near Wrotham, Kent (Miss Burne). VI. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell! Last night when we parted I left you broken-hearted, And on the green meadow You was standing alone.
If the dummy give such information to the declarer, either adversary of the declarer may call a lead. A player, however, at any time may ask what declaration is being played and the question must be answered. 52. A declaration legitimately made cannot be changed after the next player pass, declare, or double. Prior to such action a declaration inadvertently made may be corrected. If, prior to such correction, an adversary call attention to an insufficient or impossible declaration, it may not thereafter be corrected nor may the penalty be avoided. DOUBLING AND REDOUBLING. 53. Doubling and redoubling doubles and quadruples the value of each trick over six, but it does not alter the value of a declaration; _e.g.
=_ 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.
| | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.|A-dis, a-dis, a-das. |A-dis, a-dis, a-dass. |A dish, a dish, | | | | |a dish. | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.|Come all ye pretty |Come my pretty fair |Come all ye pretty | | |maids. |maid.
, 1894; Jan., 1895: Mar., 1895; May, 1895; July, 1895; Oct., 1895. THE LAWS OF DUPLICATE WHIST. _The Laws of Duplicate Whist as Amended and Adopted at the Whist Congress, Niagara Falls, New York, July, 1900; as amended at the Twelfth Congress, June, 1902; as amended at the Thirteenth Congress, July, 1903; Fourteenth A.W.L. Congress, July, 1904; Fifteenth Congress, July, 1905; Sixteenth Congress, July, 1906; Twentieth Congress, July 1910._ DEFINITIONS.
_=16.=_ Forcing any ball off the table, either before or after the score, causes the striker to gain nothing by the stroke. _=17.=_ In the event of either player using his opponent’s ball and scoring, the red must be spotted and the balls broken again by the non-striker; but if no score is made, the next player may take his choice of balls and continue to use the ball he so chooses to the end of the game. No penalty, however, attaches in either case unless the mistake be discovered before the next stroke. _=18.=_ No person except an opponent has a right to tell the player that he is using the wrong ball, or to inform the non-striker that his opponent has used the wrong ball; and if the opponent does not see the striker use the ball, or, seeing him, does not claim the penalty, the marker is bound to score to the striker any points made. _=19.=_ Should the striker [whose ball is in hand], in playing up the table on a ball or balls in baulk, either by accident or design, strike one of them [with his own ball] without first going out of baulk, his opponent may have the balls replaced, score a miss, and follow on; or may cause the striker to play again, or may claim a foul, and have the red spotted and the balls broken again. _=20.
The chief tactics of the game are in getting your men together in advance of your adversary, and covering as many consecutive points as possible, so that he cannot pass you except singly, and then only at the risk of being hit. After getting home, the men should be piled on the ace and deuce points unless there is very little time to waste in securing position. TEXT BOOKS. Backgammon, by Kenny Meadows, 1844. Backgammon and Draughts, by Berkeley. Pocket Guide to Backgammon, by “Cavendish.” Bohn’s Handbook of Games. REVERSI. This game requires a special board of sixty-four squares. Two players are each provided with thirty-two men which are red on one side and black on the other.
One trick may always be risked in a nap hand, such as A Q of trumps, or a King, or even a Queen or Jack in a plain suit; the odds against the adversaries having a better card being slightly increased by the odds against their knowing enough to keep it for the last trick. If the bid is for three tricks only, tenaces, or guarded minor honours in plain suits should be preserved. After the first trick it will sometimes be advantageous for the player to get rid of any losing card he may have in plain suits. It is seldom right to continue the trumps if the bidder held only two originally, unless he has winning cards in two plain suits, in which case it may be better to lead even a losing trump to prevent a possibility of adverse trumps making separately. In playing against the bidder, leave no trick to your partners that you can win yourself, unless a small card is led, and you have the ace. In opening fresh suits do not lead guarded honours, but prefer aces or singletons. 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.
Howell of Boston proposed the manner of contributing to and dividing the pools which is now known as Howell’s Settling. Each player begins with an equal number of counters, usually 100. At the end of the hand, after the hearts have been counted and announced, each player pays into the pool, for every heart he holds, as many counters as there are players besides himself. For instance: A, B, C and D play. A takes three hearts; B and C five each, and D none. There being three players besides himself, A puts up three times three, or 9 counters. B and C put up 15 each, and D none; so that there are 39 in the pool. Each player then takes out of the pool 1 counter for every heart he did _=not=_ hold when the hearts were announced. D, having taken no hearts, gets 13 counters. A, having taken three hearts only, is entitled to 10 counters for the 10 hearts he did not hold, while B and C get 8 each.
Miss Baker (_Northamptonshire Glossary_) says, The May garland is suspended by ropes from the school-house to an opposite tree, and the Mayers amuse themselves by throwing balls over it. A native of Fotheringay, Mr. C. W. Peach, says Miss Baker, has supplied me with the reminiscences of his own youth. He says the May garland was hung in the centre of the street, on a rope stretched from house to house. Then was made the trial of skill in tossing balls (small white leather ones) through the framework of the garland, to effect which was a triumph. See Cuck Ball, Keppy Ball, Monday. Ball and Bonnets [Illustration: Fig. 1.
The players stand in line behind one another, and an odd one takes her place somewhere near the front; at a given signal, such as clapping of hands, the two at the back separate and try to meet again in front before the one on the watch can catch them; they may run where they please, and when one is caught that one becomes the one out. See French Jackie. Loup the Bullocks Young men go out to a green meadow, and there on all-fours plant themselves in a row about two yards distant from each other. Then he who is stationed farthest back in the bullock rank starts up and leaps over the other bullocks before him, by laying his hands on each of their backs; and when he gets over the last one leans down himself as before, whilst all the others, in rotation, follow his example; then he starts and leaps again. I have sometimes thought that we (the Scotch) have borrowed this recreation from our neighbours of the Green Isle, as at their wakes they have a play much of the same kind, which they call Riding Father Doud. One of the wakers takes a stool in his hand, another mounts that one s back, then Father Doud begins rearing and plunging, and if he unhorses his rider with a dash he does well. There is another play (at these wakes) called Kicking the Brogue, which is even ruder than Riding Father Doud, and a third one called Scuddieloof. --Mactaggart s _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_. Patterson (_Antrim and Down Glossary_) mentions a game called Leap the Bullock, which he says is the same as Leap-frog. Dickinson s _Cumberland Glossary Supplement_, under Lowp, says it means a leap or jump either running or standing.
_=6.=_ To constitute a fair throw, each die must rest flat upon the board, and if either die is “cocked” against the other, or against the edge of the board or of a man, both dice must be taken up and thrown again. _=7.=_ If the caster interferes with the dice in any way, or touches them after they have left the box, and before they come absolutely to rest and the throw is called by the caster, the adversary may place face upward on the die or dice so interfered with, any number he chooses, and the caster must play it as if thrown. _=8.=_ 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 the Second Hand holds K J 9 2, instead of playing the best card to the second round, which would be King, he should finesse the Nine. _=With Short Suits.=_ When Second Hand holds such short-suit combinations as:-- [Illustration: 🂽 🂻 🂷 | 🂻 🂺 🂵 ] and a small card is led, his proper play is one of the high cards, because he cannot save both of them. _=On Strengthening Cards Led.=_ This is a difficult point for the beginner, and his best plan is to follow the rules already given for covering cards higher than the Ten. One of the most common errors is to cover a Jack led with a Queen, when holding A Q and others. The Ace should be put on invariably. To play the Queen in such a position is called _=finessing against yourself=_. _=Singly Guarded Honours.=_ Many players put on the King Second Hand, if they hold only one small card with it, and a small card is led.
May a ring is formed by the children joining hands. One child stands in the centre--she represents the Mother. The ring of children say the first, third, and every alternate verse. The child in the centre says the second, fourth, and alternate verses, and the game is played as above, except that when the Mother has said the last verse the children call out, Good job, too, and run off, the Mother chasing them as above. The game does not appear to be sung. (_c_) This game is somewhat of a cumulative story, having for its finish the making angry and tormenting of a mother. All the versions point to this. One interesting point, that of milk-pails, is, it will be seen, gradually losing ground in the rhymes. Milk-pails were pails of wood suspended from a yoke worn on the milkmaid s shoulders, and these have been giving place to present-day milk-cans. Consequently we find in the rhymes only four versions in which milk-pails are used.
4._ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | 8 | | 1 | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | 7 | | | | 2 | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | ♞ | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | 6 | | | | 3 | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | 5 | | 4 | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | 1 | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | 2 | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ♞ | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ ] The peculiarity of the Knight’s move is that it is not retarded by other pieces, because the Knight can jump over them, a privilege which is not given to any other piece on the board. In Diagram No. 5, for instance, the Knights have been legitimately moved, but no other piece could be moved until the Pawns had made way for it. [Illustration: _No. 5._ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | ♘ | | | ♘ | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ♙ | ♙ | ♙ | ♙ | ♙ | ♙ | ♙ | ♙ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ♖ | | ♗ | ♕ | ♔ | ♗ | | ♖ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ ] There are one or two peculiar movements which are allowed only under certain conditions. One of these is _=Castling=_. If there are no pieces between the King and the Rook, and neither piece has been moved, the King may be moved two squares toward the Rook, and at the same time the Rook may be brought round to the other side of the King. The movement must be made with both hands, each manipulating a piece.