The Partners rode their tiny craft, no larger than footballs, outside the spaceships. They planoformed with the ships. They rode beside them in their six-pound craft ready to attack. The tiny ships of the Partners were swift. Each carried a dozen pinlights, bombs no bigger than thimbles. The pinlighters threw the Partners--quite literally threw--by means of mind-to-firing relays direct at the Dragons. What seemed to be Dragons to the human mind appeared in the form of gigantic Rats in the minds of the Partners. Out in the pitiless nothingness of space, the Partners minds responded to an instinct as old as life. The Partners attacked, striking with a speed faster than Man s, going from attack to attack until the Rats or themselves were destroyed. Almost all the time, it was the Partners who won.
W. Gregor. KIRKCUDBRIGHT-- Auchencairn Prof. A. C. Haddon. LANARKSHIRE-- Biggar Mr. Wm. Ballantyne. Lanark Mr.
The mention of the roast beef and plum pudding for dinner has probably had its origin in the wedding dinner or breakfast, and the inviting of friends to assemble for the wedding dinner. The word Isabella may have been originally something quite different from the name of a girl. I am inclined to think the word was not the name of a person at all; possibly it was something addressed to a particular person in words the sense of which are now lost, and the nearest idea to it was this name. The same thing may also apply to the word farewell, and hence the incongruity of the first few lines in nearly all versions. Jack s Alive. A number of people sit in a row, or on chairs round a parlour. A lighted wooden spill or taper is handed to the first, who says-- Jack s alive, and likely to live; If he dies in your hand you ve a forfeit to give. The one in whose hand the light expires has to pay a forfeit. As the spill is getting burnt out the lines are said very quickly, as everybody is anxious not to have to pay the forfeit.--Addy s _Sheffield Glossary_.
The best method of avoiding this is for each player, as the game proceeds, to announce and claim the lowest trump which has so far appeared, and instead of giving it to the current trick, to leave it turned face up in front of him if it is of no counting value. For instance: Four are playing, and a round of trumps comes out, the six being the lowest. The player holding it announces: “Six for Low,” and keeps the card face up in front of him until some smaller trump appears. It often happens that a player holds a 7 or 8, and having no idea that it will be Low, takes no notice of it. At the end of the hand it is found that both the 7 and 8 are out, the 7 being Low, and the holders of those two cards get into an argument as to which card each of them held. _=SCORING.=_ The last card played, the various points for High, Low, Jack, (if in play), and the Game are claimed, and the player or side holding them puts a counter in the pool for each. The side first getting rid of its seven counters wins the game. If both sides make points enough to win the game on the same deal, High goes out first, then Low, then Jack, and then Game. As already noticed, one card may be both High and Low; the Jack may be High, Low, Jack; and it is even possible, if there is no other trump or counting card in play, for the Jack to be High, Low, Jack, and the Game.
Bandy-wicket The game of Cricket, played with a bandy instead of a bat (Halliwell s _Dictionary_). Toone mentions it as played in Norfolk (_Dict._), and Moor as played in Suffolk with bricks usually, or, in their absence, with bats in place of bails or stumps (_Suffolk Words_). Banger Each boy provides himself with a button. One of the boys lays his button on the ground, near a wall. The other boys snap their buttons in turn against the wall. If the button drops within one span or hand-reach of the button laid down, it counts two (fig. 2); if within two spans, it counts one. When it hits the button and bounces within one span, it counts four (fig. 1); within two spans, three; and above three spans, one.
The matter went no further with Mr J. K. J. The seed lay for a time gathering strength, and then began to germinate with another friend, Mr W. To Mr W. was broached the idea: I believe that if one set up a few obstacles on the floor, volumes of the British Encyclopedia and so forth, to make a Country, and moved these soldiers and guns about, one could have rather a good game, a kind of kriegspiel. ... Primitive attempts to realise the dream were interrupted by a great rustle and chattering of lady visitors.
West should always be the dealer in the first hand, North having the original lead. In all published illustrative hands, North is the leader, unless otherwise specified. The deal passes in rotation to the left, and the number of hands played should always be some multiple of four, so that each player may have the original lead an equal number of times. 24 hands at each table is the usual number, and is the rule at all League tournaments. The partners and adversaries should be changed after each eight hands. Three changes in 24 hands will bring each member of a set of four into partnership with every other member for an equal number of hands. [Illustration: N leads +---------+ | | Dealer, W | | E | | +---------+ S ] If two teams of four on a side, A B C D, and W X Y Z, play against each other, the arrangement in a League tournament would be as follows:--that A B C D should represent the players of the visiting club, or challengers, and W X Y Z the home club, or holders; and that the positions of the players should be changed after every four hands. It is usual to play 24 hands in the afternoon, and 24 more at night. A | A | A | A | A | A | W X | Y Z | W Y | X Z | X Y | W Z | B | B | C | C | D | D | | | | | | | 1st. | 2nd.
_=The Layout.=_ The wheel is sunk in the middle of a long table, on each end of which is a layout, and on these layouts all bets are placed. The divisions are as follows:-- The heavy faced type indicates the black numbers: [Illustration: +------+ | 0 | +--------+------+------+------+--------+ | | 1 | =2= | 3 | | | +------+------+------+ | | | =4= | 5 | =6= | | | Passe +------+------+------+ Manque | | | 7 | =8= | 9 | | | +------+------+------+ | | | =10= | =11= | 12 | | +--------+------+------+------+--------+ | | =13= | 14 | =15= | | | +------+------+------+ | | | 16 | =17= | 18 | | | Pair +------+------+------+ Impair | | | 19 | =20= | 21 | | | +------+------+------+ | | | =22= | 23 | =24= | | +--------+------+------+------+--------+ | | 25 | =26= | 27 | | | +------+------+------+ | | | =28= | =29= | 30 | | | Noir +------+------+------+ Rouge | | | =31= | 32 | =33= | | | +------+------+------+ | | | 34 | =35= | 36 | | +--+--+--+------+------+------+--+--+--+ | P| M| D| | | | P| M| D| |12|12|12| | | |12|12|12| +--+--+--+------+------+------+--+--+--+ ] Bets may be made on the following chances: 1. _=En plein.=_ Flat upon any number, which pays 35 for 1. The betting limit at Monte Carlo is 180 francs. 2. _=A cheval=_, on the line between two numbers, which pays 17 for 1. Betting limit on this chance is 360 francs. 3.
If a player chooses to raise without waiting for his turn, of course he can do so. One of the fine points in the game is knowing when to raise the bet yourself, and when to pass the word. _=Rank of the Hands.=_ If a call is made, the hands are shown, and the best Bouillotte hand wins. There are only two classes of hands recognized in Bouillotte, the brelan, and the point; but there are three kinds of brelans, which rank in the following order: _=A Brelan Carré=_ is four of a kind; three in the player’s hand, and the fourth turned up on the pack. If any player holds a brelan, [three of a kind,] of a higher denomination than the brelan carré, the player may turn up the card under the retourne, and if this makes his hand a brelan carré also, he wins the pool. In addition to winning the pool, the holder of a brelan carré receives from each player four white counters. _=A Simple Brelan=_ is three of a kind in the player’s hand, three aces being the highest, and three eights the lowest. In addition to winning the pool, the holder of a simple brelan receives one counter from each of the other players at the table. If two are shown, neither pays the other.
This was afterwards Basique, transformed by the French to Bésique, and by the English to Bézique. One English writer thinks the word is from bésaigne, the double-headed axe. Judging from the rank of the cards, which is peculiar to German games, Bézique may have originated in an attempt to play Binocle with a piquet pack, for Binocle seems to have been originally played with a full pack of fifty-two cards. One German writer says the game is of Swiss origin, and that they probably got it from Spain. In one writer’s opinion, the name Binocle, is derived from _bis_, until, and _knochle_, the knuckle, which would imply that the original meaning was, until some one knuckled; _i.e._, stopped the game by knocking on the table with his knuckles. This interpretation seems far-fetched, but if correct, it would sustain the opinion that Binocle was derived from the old game of Cinq-Cents, in which the player knocked with his knuckles to announce that he had made enough points to win the game. In the opinion of the author, the word “binocle” is a German mispronunciation of the French word “binage,” which was the term used in Cinq Cents for the combination of spade Queen and diamond Jack, as will be seen if the description of Cinq Cents is referred to. Stopping the play is a prominent feature in Sixty-Six, another variation of Bézique, and the connecting link between Binocle and Skat.
When _=three=_ play, each for himself, the game is known as _=Cut Throat=_, and the position of the players is immaterial. When _=four=_ play, the partners sit opposite each other. When _=five=_ or _=seven=_ play, the maker of the trump in each deal selects his partners, and they play against the others without any change in their positions at the table. When _=six=_ play, three are partners against the other three, and the opposing players sit alternately round the table. _=STAKES.=_ If there is any stake upon the game, its amount must be settled before play begins. When _=rubbers=_ are played, it is usual to make the stake so much a rubber point. If the winners of the game are five points to their adversaries’ nothing, they win a _=treble=_, and count three rubber points. If the losers have scored one or two points only, the winners mark two points for a _=double=_. If the losers have reached three or four, the winners mark one for a _=single=_.
Please, we ve brought the key back; will you lend us your frying-pan? What to do with? To fry some beans. Where have you got them? Out of your garden. --Earls Heaton (H. Hardy). One child represents an old woman, and the other players carry on the dialogue with her. At the end of the dialogue the children are chased by the old woman. See Mother, Mother, may I go out to Play, Witch. Letting the Buck out This game was played seventy years ago. A ring being formed, the Buck inside has to break out, and reach his home, crying Home! before he can be caught and surrounded. Afterwards these words were sung-- Circle: Who comes here? Buck: Poor Johnny Lingo.
Cuckoo. Cuddy and the Powks. Cudgel. Curcuddie. Curly Locks. Currants and Raisins. Cushion Dance. Cutch a Cutchoo. Cutters and Trucklers. DAB.
=_ During the deal, or at any time before he looks at any card in his hand, the player to the left of the age may straddle the blind by putting up double the amount put up by the age. Should he straddle, the player on his left may double the amount again, provided he has not seen any of his cards; and so on, until the limit of the straddling is reached. This limit must not exceed one-fourth of the betting limit. Should any player in his turn refuse to straddle, no other player on his left can straddle. _=18. The Ante.=_ After the cards are dealt, each player in turn, beginning with the one to the left of the age, or to the left of the last straddler, if any, must either abandon his hand or put into the pool twice the amount of the blind, or of the last straddle. When it comes to the turn of the age, and the straddlers, if any, they must either abandon their hands, or make the amount they have in the pool equal to twice the amount of the blind, or of the last straddle, if any. _=19. Raising the Ante.
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.=_ Bézique is played by two persons, one of whom is known as the _=dealer=_, and the other as the _=pone=_. They cut for choice of seats and deal, the player cutting the highest card having the first choice, and electing whether or not to deal himself. In cutting, the cards rank as in play, and the ace is the highest. If a player exposes more than one card, he must cut again. _=DEALING.=_ The cards are thoroughly shuffled, and presented to the pone to be cut. At least five cards must be left in each packet.
CLARE-- Kilkee { G. H. Kinahan (_Folk-lore Journal_, { vol. ii.) CORK-- Cork Mrs. B. B. Green, Miss Keane. DOWN-- Ballynascaw Miss C. N.
Change your grip and throw the strain somewhere else. Don’t bend your back when delivering the ball. With your feet far apart and knees bent you can start the ball with little or no sound. Don’t be superstitious--13 is a better start than 12. Don’t think it necessary to be a Sandow. Many lightweights bowl well. Don’t get discouraged, you can learn. Any able-bodied person, with ordinary nerve and a good eye, can become quite expert with little practice. Don’t let an alley owner use pins that are worn out. Don’t think you can sandpaper a ball without injuring it.