MULTIPLICATION. Any number can play, and three dice are used. Each player throws in turn, and the highest die is left on the table; if two are equally high, only one remains. The two other dice are thrown again, and the higher left. The sum of these two is then added together, and the third die is thrown as a multiplier, the result of the multiplication being the player’s score. ROUND THE SPOT. Any number can play, and three dice are used. Nothing counts but the spots that surround a centre one; so that ace, deuce, four, and six count as blanks. The trey counts as 2, and the five as 4. Each player has three throws with the three dice, and the highest total wins.
In the _Comedy of Lingua_, 1607, act iii., sc. 2, Anamnestes introduces Memory as telling how he played at blowe-point with Jupiter when he was in his side-coats. References to this game are also made in _Apollo Shroving_, 1627, p. 49; and see Hawkins _English Drama_, iii. 243. See Dust-Point. Bob Cherry A children s game, consisting in jumping at cherries above their heads and trying to catch them with their mouths (Halliwell s _Dictionary_). It is alluded to in Herrick s _Hesperides_ as Chop Cherry. Major Lowsley describes the game as taking the end of a cherry-stalk between the teeth, and holding the head perfectly level, trying to get the cherry into the mouth without using the hands or moving the head (_Berkshire Glossary_).
=_ It is generally taken for granted that those first in the room have the preference, but if more than the necessary number assemble, the selection must be made by cutting. A second cut will then be required to decide the partnerships, if any, and the positions at the table, the latter being important only in games in which the deal, or some given position at the table, is an advantage or the reverse. The usual method of cutting is to spread the cards face downward on the table, each player drawing one. In some games the cards are thrown round by one of the players. _=Shuffling, Cutting and Dealing.=_ In all games in which the cards are shuffled at all, each player has the right to shuffle, the dealer last. In English speaking countries the cards are always cut by the player on the dealer’s right, who is called the “pone.” In cutting to the dealer in any game there must be as many cards left in each packet as will form a trick; or, if the game is not one of tricks, as many cards as there will be in any player’s hand; four, for instance, at Whist, and five at Poker. The cards are always distributed to each player in rotation from left to right, and each must receive the same number of cards in the same round. In games in which the cards are dealt by two and threes, for instance, it is illegal to give one player two and another three in the same round.
Betsy Bungay. Bicky. Biddy-base. Biggly. Billet. Billy-base. Bingo. Bird-apprentice. Birds, Beasts, and Fishes. Bittle-battle.
1.=_ This is a fine example of the _=Long-suit Game=_. The leader begins with one of the high cards of his long suit. Missing the 2, he knows some one is signalling for trumps, and as it is very unlikely that the adversaries would signal while he was in the lead, he assumes it is his partner, and leads his best trump. His partner does not return the trump, because he holds major tenace over the king, which must be in Y’s hand. At trick 5 B still holds major tenace in trumps, and leads a small card of his long suit to try to get A into the lead again. If A leads trumps again, his only possible card of re-entry for his club suit is gone. At trick 7, if B draws Y’s king, he kills A’s card of re-entry at the same time. _=No. 2.
A version familiar to me is the same as above, but ending with For tumbling over cherry stones. The mother then chased and beat those children she caught. The idea was, I believe, that the children were imitating or mocking their mother (A. B. G.). In Warwickshire the four lines of the Surrey game are concluded by the additional lines-- We don t care whether we work or no, We ll follow our mother on tipty-toe. When the mother runs after them and buffets them.--Northall s _English Folk Rhymes_, p. 393.
Foster. 1908. Bézique and Cribbage, by “Berkeley.” The Royal Game of Bézique, by Chas. Goodall. Pocket Guide to Bézique, by “Cavendish.” Bézique, by J.L. Baldwin. Rubicon Bézique, by “Cavendish.
See also _N. and Q._, iii. 282. (_d_) Two important suggestions occur as to this game. First, that the dance was originally the indication at a marriage ceremony for the bride and bridegroom to retire with the bowster to the nuptial couch. Secondly, that it has degenerated in Southern Britain to the ordinary Drop Handkerchief games of kiss in the ring. The preservation of this Bab at the Bowster example gives the clue both to the origin of the present game in an obsolete marriage custom, and to the descent of the game to its latest form. See Cushion Dance. Bad A rude kind of Cricket, played with a bat and a ball, usually with wall toppings for wickets.
At Winterton and Lincoln the children form a circle, standing arms-length apart. A child holding a handkerchief occupies the centre of the ring and sings: Wiskit-a-waskit, A green leather basket; I wrote a letter to my love, And on the way I lost it; Some of you have picked it up, And put it in your pocket. I have a little dog at home, And it shan t bite you, (Here the singer points to each child in turn) Nor you, nor you, nor you; But it shall bite _you_. Then she drops the handkerchief before her chosen playmate, who chases her in and out of the ring under the arms of the other children until she is captured. The captor afterwards takes the place in the centre, and the original singer becomes a member of the circle.--Miss M. Peacock. The Deptford version of the verse is as follows:-- I had a little dog whose name was Buff, I sent him up the street for a penny orth of snuff, He broke my box and spilt my snuff, I think my story is long enough-- Tain t you, and tain t you, and tis you! --Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase). A Staffordshire and Sharleston version gives some altogether different formulæ:-- What colour s the sky? Blue. Look up again.
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Dear Annie, dear Annie, your true love is dead, And we send you a letter to turn round your head. --Belfast (W. H. Patterson). II. Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green, The fairest young lady that ever was seen; I ll wash you in milk, And I ll clothe you with silk, And I ll write down your name with a gold pen and ink. O Sally, O Sally, your true love is dead, He sent you a letter to turn round your head. --Berrington, Oswestry (_Shropshire Folk-lore_ p. 510). III.
=_ Special markers are made for scoring at Bézique; but the score may easily be kept by means of counters. Each player should be provided with four white, four blue, and one red, together with some special marker, such as a copper cent or a button. The button stands for 500 points, each blue counter for 100, the red for 50, and the white ones for 10 each. At the beginning of the game the counters are placed on the left of the player, and are passed from left to right as the points accrue, exchanging smaller denominations for higher when necessary. Many persons find it more convenient to peg the game on a pull-up cribbage board, starting at 21, counting each peg as 10 points, and going twice round to the game hole. _=STAKES.=_ Bézique is played for so much a game, 1,000 points up; or for so much a point, the score of the loser being deducted from that of the winner. When a partie of five games is agreed upon, it is usual to have an extra stake upon the odd game, and when three games have been won by the same player, the partie is at an end. It is usual to count it a double game if the loser has not reached 500 points. _=PLAYERS.
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. Many superstitions also attach to the tree. It is possible from these circumstances that the game descends from an old custom of encircling the tree as an act of worship, and the allusion to the rags bears at least a curious relationship to tree worship. If this conclusion is correct, the particular form of the game preserved by Mr.
The carroms and forfeits count as in the regular Three-Ball Game, but the knocking down of the pin scores five points for the striker, who plays until he fails to effect a carrom or knock down the pin. A ball must be hit by the cue-ball before the pin can be scored; playing at the pin direct is not allowed. The pin must be set up where it falls; but in case it goes off the table or lodges on the top of the cushion it must be placed upon the centre spot. The pin leaning against the cushion must be scored as down, and when the pin lodges in the corner of the table, so that it cannot be hit with the ball, it is to be set up on the centre spot. One hundred points generally constitute a game, but any number of points may be agreed upon. THE SPANISH GAME OF BILLIARDS. This game is played in the South, California, and in Mexico and Cuba, and is played with two white and one red ball, and five pins placed similar to those in Pin Pool. The red ball is placed on the red-ball spot, and the first player strikes at it from within the baulk semicircle. The game is scored by winning and losing hazards, carroms, and by knocking over the pins. It is usually played thirty points up.
This is continued, giving two cards to the stock between the ones given to each player, until the last round, when only one card is dealt to the stock. This will result in each player receiving six cards, and twenty being left in the centre of the table for the talon. No trump is turned. Very few players trouble themselves with this method of dealing, preferring to deal three cards to each player alternately, leaving the remaining twenty for the stock. _=Playing.=_ All the regulations for leading, following suit, drawing from the talon, etc., are the same as in Bézique, but the declarations and their values are quite different. _=Brisques.=_ There are twelve brisque cards, the Seven of each suit being added to the usual Aces and Tens. The brisques are not scored as taken in, except in the last six tricks.
XVI. Round the green gravel the grass is so green, And all the fine ladies that ever were seen; Washed in milk and dressed in silk, The last that stoops down shall be married. [Johnnie Smith] is a nice young man, And so is [Bessie Jones] as nice as he; He came to the door with his hat in his hand, Inquiring for [Miss Jones]. She is neither within, she is neither without, She is up in the garret a-walking about. Down she came, as white as milk, With a rose in her bosom as soft as silk. Silks and satins be ever so dear, You shall have a kiss [gown?], my dear, So off with the glove and on with the ring-- To-morrow, to-morrow, the wedding begins. --Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (Miss Matthews). XVII. Around a green gravill The grass is so green, And all the fine ladies Ashamed to be seen. They wash em in milk And dress em in silk-- We ll all cou don together.
His leftmost gun stares Red s in the face, and prevents any effective fire, his middle gun faces Red s middle gun. Some of his cavalry are exposed to the right of the farm, but most are completely covered now by the farm from Red s fire. Red has now to move. The nature of his position is becoming apparent to him. His right gun is ineffective, his left and his centre guns cannot kill more than seven or eight men between them; and at the next move, unless he can silence them, Blue s guns will be mowing his exposed cavalry down from the security of the farm. He is in a fix. How is he to get out of it? His cavalry are slightly outnumbered, but he decides to do as much execution as he can with his own guns, charge the Blue guns before him, and then bring up his infantry to save the situation. Figure 5a shows the result of Red s move. His two effective guns have between them bowled over two cavalry and six infantry in the gap between the farm and Blue s right gun; and then, following up the effect of his gunfire, his cavalry charges home over the Blue guns. One oversight he makes, to which Blue at once calls his attention at the end of his move.
_=Counters.=_ Each player should be provided with seven white counters to mark the game. If stakes are played for, red counters are used to make up the pool, one player acting as the banker to sell and redeem all red counters. _=Dealing.=_ Six cards are dealt to each player, three at a time, but no trump is turned. All the rules for irregularities in the deal are the same as in Seven-up, but a misdeal does not lose the deal under any circumstances. _=Objects of the Game.=_ As in Seven-up, the object of each player is to get rid of his seven counters, one of which he is entitled to put in the pool for each of the following points: For holding the _=highest=_ trump in play; for holding (having dealt to him) the _=lowest=_ trump in play; for winning a trick with the _=Jack=_ of trumps in it; for making the greatest number of the pips that count for the _=game=_ point. The details of these points have already been explained in connection with Seven-up. If the count for Game is a tie, no one scores it.
--_Useful Transactions in Philosophy_, p. 44. This rhyme is repeated when it is decided to begin any game, as a general call to the players. The above writer says it occurs in a very ancient MS., but does not give any reference to it. Halliwell quotes the four first lines, the first line reading Boys and girls, instead of Boys, boys, from a curious ballad written about the year 1720, formerly in the possession of Mr. Crofton Croker (_Nursery Rhymes_). Chambers also gives this rhyme (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 152). Branks A game formerly common at fairs, called also Hit my Legs and miss my Pegs.
Why would you do that? she said at length. You are going to the bank, first thing. You ve got all that money. It s thousand dollar bills! And you re writing on them. She frowned at me, sniffling again. Do I _really_ see it? she asked. Is that right? I ll make it right, I said. Come on, I told her. If we re going to stay up all night, we need fuel. How long since you ve tackled a twenty-ounce sirloin? * * * * * The Lodge has unmentioned influence.
H. Busk (_Notes and Grinstead { Queries_). Ninfield Mr. C. Wise. { Northall s _Folk Rhymes_, _Notes and WARWICKSHIRE { Queries_, _Northants Notes and { Queries_, Mr. C. C. Bell. WILTSHIRE-- Marlborough, Manton, Ogbourne Mr.
26. Should a player leave a table during the progress of a rubber, he may, with the consent of the three others, appoint a substitute to play during his absence; but such appointment becomes void upon the conclusion of the rubber, and does not in any way affect the rights of the substitute. 27. If a player break up a table, the others have a prior right of entry elsewhere. SHUFFLING. 28. The pack must not be shuffled below the table nor so the face of any card be seen. 29. The dealer’s partner must collect the cards from the preceding deal and has the right to shuffle first. Each player has the right to shuffle subsequently.
It is usual to count the deals by opening the blade of a pocket-knife, which is placed on the table by the player on the dealer’s right. When it comes to his turn to deal, he partly opens one blade. When he deals again he opens it entirely, and the third time he closes it; that being the third round, and the last deal of the game. [Illustration: FOURTH DEAL. EIGHTH DEAL.] _=POSITION OF THE PLAYERS.=_ The four players at Boston are distinguished by the letters A Y B Z. [Illustration: Y +-------+ | | A| |B | | +-------+ Z ] Z is the dealer, and A is known as the _=eldest hand=_. There are no partnerships in Boston, except that of three players combined against the fourth, who is always spoken of as _=the caller=_. The players having once taken their seats are not allowed to change them without the consent of all the others at the table.
The counts run into enormous figures, and 6000 is not an uncommon score for the winner. In _=CHOUETTE BÉZIQUE=_, one of several players agrees to take all bets, and has the choice of deal and seats without cutting. His adversaries may consult together in playing against him. If the chouette player wins, one of his opponents takes the loser’s place; but if he loses, the same player opposes him for the next game. The adversaries usually cut to decide which of them shall play the first game against the chouette player, the highest card having the privilege. If there are four players, two may play against two, each consulting with his partner and sharing his bets. BINOCLE. The word Binocle is spelt in many different ways, all of which, are, however, phonetic equivalents of the correct one. The word is probably derived from the French word “binage,” which was the name given to the combination known as “binocle,” and which seemed a better term than “cinq cents” as the game was no longer 500 points up. In all German works on card games the name is spelt as we give it; but the pronunciation of the initial “b” in the German is so near that of “p,” that “Pinocle” is nearer the correct spelling than any other form.
_=CARDS.=_ Cribbage is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, which have no rank except the order of their sequence; K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 A, the Ace being always the lowest, either in cutting or in play. The cards have also a counting or pip value, the three court cards, K Q J, and the 10 being worth ten points each. All other cards, including the Ace, retain their face value. There are no trumps, and the four suits are therefore equal in value at all times. _=MARKERS.=_ The game is 61 points, and is scored or “pegged” on a cribbage board, which has a double row of 30 holes on each side, and a game-hole at each end. The players are each provided with two pegs, and they score the points as they accrue by advancing their pegs from left to right according to the number of points they make. For instance: One player makes 6 for his first count. He places one of his pegs in the sixth hole from the left-hand end of the board.