The players draw for positions at the table and for the first deal, and make up a pool. The cards have no value except the order of their sequence in the various suits. The ace is not in sequence with the King, but below the 2. The dealer distributes the cards, one at a time to each player in rotation, as far as they will go, leaving any odd cards on the table face downward, to form what are known as _=stops=_. As it is desirable to have a number of these stops, it is usual to give only nine cards to each when there are five players. The eldest hand begins by leading any card he pleases which he lays face upward in the centre of the table. If he holds any other cards in sequence above it, he must play them, and when he can no longer continue the series, he says aloud: “Without the Jack,” or whatever the card may be that he fails on. The player on his left must then continue the sequence in the same suit, if he can; or he must say: “Without the Jack.” When the sequence reaches the King, it is stopped, and the player who held the King receives a counter from each player at the table. The same player then begins another sequence with any card he pleases.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | 5 | | 6 | | 7 | | 8 | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | 9 | |10 | |11 | |12 | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |13 | |14 | |15 | |16 | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |17 | |18 | |19 | |20 | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |21 | |22 | |23 | |24 | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |25 | |26 | |27 | |28 | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |29 | |30 | |31 | |32 | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ ] [Illustration: No. 5. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ ] In checker notation the number of the move is never given, as it is in Chess. The moves of the black men are distinguished from those of the white men by being hyphenated, but there are no marks to show when pieces are captured. Letters or figures in the margins are used to refer to possible variations in the play. _=Openings.=_ There are a number of standard openings in Checkers which are formed by the preliminary moves on each side. These openings are known by various fanciful names, dear to all checker-players. In the following list they are arranged in alphabetical order for convenience in reference. +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ | |AYRSHIRE | | | | | | | ALMA.
For instance: A and B are adversaries, and the last trick is played without either announcing that he is sixty-six. On counting, it is found that A has 48 points and a marriage, 68 altogether, while B has 72 points and the last trick, 82 altogether. Neither counts anything. On the next deal let us suppose that A makes 66 before B gets out of schneider, which will give A two points. To these he adds one for the tie on the last deal, and scores three altogether. _=Closing.=_ Closing is turning the trump card face down on the remainder of the pack, which signifies that there shall be no more drawing from the stock, and that the second player in each trick must follow suit if he can, although he is not obliged to win the trick. A player can close only when he has the lead, but having the lead, he may close at any time. The pone may close before leading for the first trick; or after winning the first trick, and before drawing from the stock. The leader may close after one or more tricks have been played, and he may close without drawing from the stock; or he may draw, and then close.
=_ A player having once begun with a suit, either for the purpose of establishing it, or of taking tricks in it, should not change it until he is forced to do so. Running off to untried suits is one of the beginner’s worst faults. There are five good reasons for changing suits, and unless one of them can be applied, the suit should be continued: 1st. In order to lead trumps to defend it. 2nd. In order to avoid forcing partner. 3rd. In order to avoid forcing both adversaries. 4th. Because it is hopeless, and there is some chance in another.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause. Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life. Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for generations to come.
If each hand is a game in itself, it is settled for immediately, either in counters or in money. _=Players.=_ Any number from two to four may play, each for himself, or four may play two against two, partners sitting opposite each other. The players on the dealer’s right and left are known as the pone, and the eldest hand respectively. _=Cutting.=_ The players draw from an outspread pack for positions at the table, the lowest card having the choice and dealing the first hand. If the first cut does not decide, those tying must cut again. If a player exposes more than one card he must cut again. The ace is low. _=Stakes.
I now turned my attention to his still largely unbroken right, from which a gun had maintained a galling fire on us throughout the fight. I might still have had some stiff work getting an attack home to the church, but Red had had enough of it, and now decided to relieve me of any further exertion by a precipitate retreat. My gun to the right of Hook s Farm killed three of his flying men, but my cavalry were too badly cut up for an effective pursuit, and he got away to the extreme left of his original positions with about 6 infantry-men, 4 cavalry, and 1 gun. He went none too soon. Had he stayed, it would have been only a question of time before we shot him to pieces and finished him altogether. So far, and a little vaingloriously, the general. Let me now shrug my shoulders and shake him off, and go over this battle he describes a little more exactly with the help of the photographs. The battle is a small, compact game of the Fight-to-a-Finish type, and it was arranged as simply as possible in order to permit of a full and exact explanation. [Illustration: Fig. 6b--Battle of Hook s Farm.
French and Russian Boston are simply varieties of Boston. Solo Whist is an attempt to simplify Boston by reducing the number of proposals and the complications of payments, and eliminating the feature of ‘spreads.’ Scotch Whist introduces a special object in addition to winning tricks--catching the ten of trumps; that card and the honours having particular values attached to them. This variety of whist may be played by any number of persons from two to eight; and its peculiarity is that when a small number play, each has several distinct hands, which must be played in regular order, as if held by different players. Humbug Whist is a variety of double-dummy, in which the players may exchange their hands for those dealt to the dummies, and the dealer may sometimes make the trump to suit himself. German Whist is played by two persons, and introduces the element of replenishing the hand after each trick by drawing cards from the remainder of the pack until the stock is exhausted. Chinese Whist is double-dummy for two, three, or four persons, only half of each player’s cards being exposed, the others being turned up as the exposed cards are got rid of in the course of play. All these varieties have been entirely supplanted and overshadowed by bridge. When they play whist at all, the English think there is nothing better than the original whist, counting honours, and playing to the score. The Americans think Duplicate superior to all other forms, especially when two tables are engaged, and four players are opposed by four others for a specified number of deals.
Then followed the game-rhyme, repeated with each stanza-- Go choose you east, go choose you west, apparently the same as last four lines of Sheffield version. King William is then supposed to enter-- The first girl that I loved so dear, Can it be she s gone from me? If she s not here when the night comes on, Will none of you tell me where she s gone? He then recognises the disguised girl-- There s heart beneath the willow tree, There s no one here but my love and me. He had gone to the war, and promised to marry her when he came back. She wrapped a shawl about her head to see if he would recognise her. This was all the reciter could recollect; the lines of the ballad were sung by an old woman, the ring answering with the game-rhyme. This version seems to indicate clearly that in this game we have preserved one of the ceremonies of a now obsolete marriage-custom--namely, the disguising of the bride and placing her among her bridesmaids and other young girls, all having veils or other coverings alike over their heads and bodies. The bridegroom has to select from among these maidens the girl whom he wished to marry, or whom he had already married, for until this was done he was not allowed to depart with his bride. This custom was continued in sport as one of the ceremonies to be gone through after the marriage was over, long after the custom itself was discontinued. For an instance of this see a Rural Marriage in Lorraine, in _Folk-lore Record_, iii. 267-268.
Francis. GLOUCESTERSHIRE { Holloway s _Dictionary_, _Midland { Garner_. Shepscombe, Cheltenham Miss Mendham. Forest of Dean Miss Matthews. HAMPSHIRE Cope s _Glossary_, Miss Mendham. Bitterne Mrs. Byford. Liphook Miss Fowler. HAMPSHIRE-- Hartley, Winchfield, Witney Mr. H.
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. _=Scoring.=_ A game consists of fifty-one points; fourteen of which must be made on every deal, as follows:-- 1 for _=High=_, or the Ace of trumps. 1 for _=Low=_, or the Deuce of trumps. 1 for the _=Jack=_ of trumps.
When there are several pools on the table, a successful caller takes any of those that contain the limit. When there is only one pool on the table, he must be satisfied with its contents, however small. At the end of the game, after the twelfth hand has been settled for, it is usual to divide the pool or pools equally among the players. But sometimes a grand is played without trumps, making a thirteenth hand, and the pool is given to the player winning the last trick. _=METHODS OF CHEATING.=_ There being no shuffling at Boston, and each player having the right to cut the pack, the greek must be very skilful who can secure himself any advantage by having the last cut, unless he has the courage to use wedges. But Boston is usually played for such high stakes that it naturally attracts those possessing a high degree of skill, and the system adopted is usually that of counting down. The greek will watch for a hand in which there is little changing of suits, and will note the manner of taking up the cards. The next hand does not interest him, as he is busy studying the location of the cards in the still pack. When this comes into play on the next deal, he will follow every cut, and finally cut for himself so that the desired distribution of the suits shall come about.
His trios of Jacks and Tens are shut out by the superior combinations in the elder hand. Having claimed these 27 points, and their correctness having been admitted by the elder hand, the dealer proceeds to play a card. If either player has forgotten to declare anything before he plays, the count is lost. _=Sinking.=_ A player is not obliged to declare any combination unless he wishes to do so, and he may sink a card if he thinks it would be to his advantage to conceal his hand. Sinking is calling only part of a combination, as, for instance, calling 51 for his point when he really has 61; calling a quinte when he has a sixième, or a trio when he has a quatorze. Sinking is usually resorted to only when the player knows from his own hand and discards that what he declares is still better than anything his adversary can hold; but it must be remembered that the part of the declaration which is sunk in this manner is lost. _=Irregular Declarations.=_ If either player claims a combination which he does not hold, and does not remedy the error before he plays a card, he cannot count anything that deal, losing any other declarations he may have made which are correct. His adversary then counts everything in his hand, whether his combinations were inferior or not.
Any player on the right of the opener who passed on the first round may now come in. Any player declining to put up the amount for which the pot is opened must abandon his hand, and all his interest in the pool. _=42. Raising the Opener.=_ Any player coming into the pool has the privilege of raising the original opener any amount within the betting limit, and he may in turn be raised again, just as in the ordinary pools. Should the opener decline to meet such a raise, he must show his entire hand before abandoning it. If he declines to do so, he must pay the antes for all the other players for another jack. It is not enough to show openers before the draw, the whole hand must be shown. _=43. Drawing Cards.
We decided that a gun could not be fired if there were not six--afterwards we reduced the number to four--men within six inches of it. And we ruled that a gun could not both fire and move in the same general move: it could either be fired or moved (or left alone). If there were less than six men within six inches of a gun, then we tried letting it fire as many shots as there were men, and we permitted a single man to move a gun, and move with it as far as he could go by the rules--a foot, that is, if he was an infantry-man, and two feet if he was a cavalry-man. We abolished altogether that magical freedom of an unassisted gun to move two feet. And on such rules as these we fought a number of battles. They were interesting, but not entirely satisfactory. We took no prisoners--a feature at once barbaric and unconvincing. The battles lingered on a long time, because we shot with extreme care and deliberation, and they were hard to bring to a decisive finish. The guns were altogether too predominant. They prevented attacks getting home, and they made it possible for a timid player to put all his soldiers out of sight behind hills and houses, and bang away if his opponent showed as much as the tip of a bayonet.
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. In many places counters are not used, and the value of the game is designated by the coins that take their place.
1 places his ball on the “winning and losing” spot, No. 2 plays at No. 1, No. 3 at No. 2, and so on--each person playing at the last ball, unless the striker’s ball be in hand, when he plays at the nearest ball. _=3.=_ When a striker loses a life the next in rotation plays at the ball nearest to his own; but if this player’s ball be in hand, he plays at the ball nearest to the centre of the baulk-line, whether it be in or out of baulk. _=4.=_ When any doubt arises as to the nearest ball, the marker measures the distance, and the player strikes at the ball declared to be nearest his own. _=5.
Nares (_Glossary_) suggests that this game and blow-point resembled the game of Push-pin. See also Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Eller Tree A number of young men and women stand in a line, a tall girl at one end of the line representing the tree. They then begin to wrap round her, saying, The old eller tree grows thicker and thicker. When they have all got round her (the tree), they jump all together, calling out, A bunch of rags, a bunch of rags, and try to tread on each other s toes.--Sheffield, Yorks (S. O. Addy). (_b_) The tree is the alder. It abounds in the North of England more than in any other part of the kingdom, and seems always to have been there held in great respect and veneration.
See Ball, Burly Whush, Keppy Ball. Moolie Pudding The game of Deadelie; one has to run with the hands locked and taen the others.--Mactaggart s _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_. See Chickidy Hand, Deadelie, Hunt the Staigie, Whiddy. More Sacks to the Mill A very rough game, mentioned in Dean Miles MS., p. 180 (Halliwell s _Dictionary_). Lowsley (_Berkshire Glossary_) says this is a favourite game with children at Christmas-time, when wishing for one of a romping character, but he does not describe it further. Northall (_English Folk Rhymes_, p. 354) says that in Warwickshire and Staffordshire boys torture an unfortunate victim by throwing him on the ground and falling atop of him, yelling out the formula, Bags to [on] the mill.
_=Stakes.=_ Sixty-six is played for so much a game, or for so much a point, the loser’s score being deducted from the winner’s. If the loser has not scored at all, it is usually counted a double game. _=Dealing.=_ The cards having been shuffled and presented to the pone to be cut, the dealer gives six cards to each player, three at a time, dealing first to his adversary. There are several ways of making the trump, one of which should be agreed upon before play begins. One way is for the pone to draw a card from the top, the middle, or the bottom of the talon, after the dealer has given each player his six cards. Another way is for the dealer to turn up the seventh card, after dealing the first round of three to each player. Another, and the one generally adopted in America, is for the dealer to turn up the thirteenth card for the trump, after giving six cards to each player. The trump card is left face upward on the table, and is usually placed under the remainder of the pack, which is slightly spread, face down, for the players to draw from.
The second time she is scratched and chased. When caught she takes the Mouse s place.--Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase). This is evidently the same game as Ghost in the Garden and Ghost in the Copper, in a decaying stage. There is no _raison d etre_ for either mouse or cobbler. Probably these words are a corruption of the older Ghost in the Copper. Muffin Man [Music] --Earls Heaton (H. Hardy). [Music] --Congleton Workhouse (Miss A. E.
4). When all were thus paired, they formed into line, facing each other, and danced somewhat like the country dance of Sir Roger. [Illustration: Fig. 1.] [Illustration: Fig. 2.] [Illustration: Fig. 3.] [Illustration: Fig. 4.
Let us assume this is a shell, and it is quite easy to make a rule that will give the effect of its explosion. Half, or, in the case of an odd number, one more than half, of the men within three inches of this shell are dead, and if there is a gun completely within the circle of three inches radius from the shell, it is destroyed. If it is not completely within the circle, it is disabled for two moves. A supply waggon is completely destroyed if it falls wholly or partially within the radius. But if there is a wall, house, or entrenchment between any men and the shell, they are uninjured--they do not count in the reckoning of the effect of the shell. I think one can get a practical imitation of the effect of rifle-fire by deciding that for every five infantry-men who are roughly in a line, and who do not move in any particular move, there may be one (ordinary) shot taken with a 4 7 gun. It may be fired from any convenient position behind the row of five men, so long as the shot passes roughly over the head of the middle man of the five. Of course, while in Little Wars there are only three or four players, in any proper Kriegspiel the game will go on over a larger area--in a drill-hall or some such place--and each arm and service will be entrusted to a particular player. This permits all sorts of complicated imitations of reality that are impossible to our parlour and playroom Little Wars. We can consider transport, supply, ammunition, and the moral effect of cavalry impact, and of uphill and downhill movements.
=_ Each player or side should be provided with seven counters. As the points accrue, these counters are got rid of by placing them in a pool in the centre of the table. By this method a glance will show how many each side or player has “to go,” that is, how many will put him out. _=PLAYERS.=_ Two, three or four persons may play. When three play, the game resembles Cut-throat Euchre, each for himself. When four play, two are partners against the other two, and the partners sit opposite each other. The player on the dealer’s left, or his adversary if only two play, is always spoken of as the eldest or elder hand. The one on the dealer’s right is the pone. _=CUTTING.
Experience shows that a bid of 25 would be about the amount a good player would make on such a hand as we are considering, if the pool were not a Jack, and he had first say. The next player, Y, now examines his hand. Let us suppose that he finds ♡ 6 4 3; ♣ A K 10; ♢ 8 7 5 3; ♠ 6 5 4. If the first bidder is offering on clubs, it is evident that he will lead them, as the successful bidder has the original lead in Auction Hearts; and it is equally evident that if he does so, a player with A K 10 will have to pay for most of the pool. If any of the other suits is the one bid on, B has as good a chance for the pool as any one, at least to divide it. With two men still to bid, a good player would probably make himself safe by shutting out A’s bid, probably offering 26. Let us suppose B then to examine his hand, finding ♡ J 10; ♣ Q 9 8 7; ♢ A 10 9; ♠ 10 9 8 2. Being unsafe in everything, he passes, and practically submits to his fate, his only hope being that the pool will result in a Jack. Z then examines his hand, finding ♡ Q 9 7 5 2; ♣ none; ♢ Q J 6 2; ♠ A K Q J. He sees at once that on spades he would lose everything, and on diamonds he would have a very poor chance.
Should any player cut into a table during the progress of a game, he must take his seat at the right of the player who dealt the first hand. When six persons offer for play, it is much better to form two tables, but some persons object to playing continuously, and like the rest given to the dealer when more than three play. There are always three active players in Skat. The one who makes the trump is called _=the player=_, or Spieler; the two opposed to him are called the _=adversaries=_, or Gegners; while those who hold no cards are called _=im Skat=_, or Theilnehmer. Of the three active players, the one who leads for the first trick is called _=Vorhand=_; the second player is called _=Mittelhand=_, and the third _=Hinterhand=_. The person sitting on the dealer’s right, to whom the cards are presented to be cut, is called the _=pone=_. No person is allowed to withdraw from the game without giving notice in advance, and he can retire only at the end of a round of deals. It is usual to give notice at the beginning of a round, by saying: “This is my last.” _=CUTTING.=_ Positions at the table are drawn for, the cards ranking as in play, Jacks being the best, and the suits outranking one another in order, so that there can be no ties in cutting.