What for? To make a fire. What s the fire for? To boil some water. What s the water for? To boil some chickens in. Where do you get them from? Out of your flock. That I m sure you won t. --Derbyshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, i. 386). The game is played in the usual manner of Fox and Goose games. One is chosen to be the Hen, and one to be the Fox. The rest are the Chickens.
512). V. Down by the greenwood, down by the greenwood, Down by the greenwood tree, One can follow, one can follow, One can follow me. Where must I follow? where must I follow? Follow, follow me. Where must I follow? where must I follow? Follow, follow me. --Earls Heaton (H. Hardy). VI. Mr. Monday was a good man, He whipped his children now and then; When he whipped them he made them dance, Out of Scotland into France; Out of France into Spain, Back to dear old England again.
The tribbit-stick is elsewhere called primstick, gelstick, buckstick, trippit, and trevit. Atkinson says that spell is O.N., spill meaning a play or game, and the probability is that the game is a lineal descendant from the Ball-play of the Old Danes, or Northmen, and Icelanders. Spell and knor is a corruption of spell a knor, the play at ball. Nurspel is simply ball-play, therefore which name, taken in connection with the fact that the game is elsewhere called Spell and Knor, and not Knor and Spell, is significant. There is one day in the year, Shrove Tuesday, when the play is customarily practised, though not quite exclusively.--Atkinson s _Cleveland Glossary_. Easther (_Almondbury Glossary_) describes it as played with a wooden ball, a spel, and a pommel. Two may play, or two sides.
This does not call B, who has the privilege of raising the bet if he pleases. Suppose he raises, and D and A both meet it. On this second round, C having passed out, it is D’s turn to say whether or not he will raise. On the next round it will be A’s turn, and after that it will be B’s second turn, and so on. Should any player meet the bet but refuse to raise, although it is his turn, he still cannot call. If he does not avail himself of his privilege of raising, he must _=pass the word=_ to the player on his right; that is, transfer the privilege to him. If he declines, it is a call; if he raises, it goes on until every player has refused to avail himself of the privilege. 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.
_=Irregularities.=_ It is a misdeal if any card is found faced in the pack, or if the pack is found to be imperfect, and there must be a fresh deal by the same dealer. Any previous cuts or scores made with the imperfect pack stand good. A player dealing out of turn may be stopped before the non-dealer lifts his cards from the table. The penalty for dealing out of turn is two points, if the error is detected in time; otherwise the deal stands good. If the dealer neglects to have the pack cut, exposes a card in dealing, gives too many or too few cards to any player, deals a card incorrectly, and fails to remedy the error before dealing another, or exposes one of his adversary’s cards, the non-dealer scores two points by way of penalty. He also has the option of demanding a fresh deal by the same dealer, or of letting the deal stand. If the error is simply an irregularity in the manner of dealing, or an exposed card, the pone must decide without looking at his cards. If either player has too many or too few cards, the pone may look at the hand dealt him before deciding whether or not to have a fresh deal; but if it is the pone himself that has too many or too few cards, he must discover and announce the error before lifting his cards from the table, or he will not be entitled to the option of letting the deal stand. If the pone has too many cards he may return the surplus to the top of the pack, without showing or naming them.
The second method is the most popular, and probably the fairest, and is now the universal rule. If the false opener does not discover his mistake until he has drawn cards, his action is at least suspicious, and he should be compelled to put up the total amount in the pool, as in case three. In some localities such a player is barred from playing the next two jacks, but compelled to ante his share in each. _=Betting Jacks.=_ When a jack pot has been properly opened, and all have declared whether or not they will stay, and have drawn cards, the players proceed to bet on their hands. As there is no age in jack pots, the rule is for the opener to make the first bet; or, if he has been raised out before the draw, the player next on his left who still holds cards. The opener may decline to bet if he pleases; but if he does so, he must show his openers, and then abandon his hand. If no bet is made, the last player holding cards takes the pool without showing his hand. If a bet is made, each player in turn on the left must abdicate, better, or call, just as in the ordinary pool. At the conclusion of the betting, if there is a call, the best poker hand wins, of course.
The revoking side cannot win the game in that hand; if both sides revoke, neither can win the game in that hand. In _=Cayenne=_ and _=Solo Whist=_, as a penalty for a revoke, the adversaries of the revoking player may take from him three tricks; or may deduct the value of three tricks from his score; or may add the value of three tricks to their own score. The revoking players cannot score slams or game that hand. All slams must be made independently of the revoke penalty. In _=Boston=_, the penalty for a revoke on the part of the bidder is that he is put in for one trick, and must pay four red counters into the next pool. Should an adversary of the bidder revoke, he must pay four red counters into the next pool, and he and his partners must pay the bidder as if he had been successful. On the discovery of a revoke in Boston the hands are usually abandoned; but the cards should be shown to the table, in order that each player may be satisfied that no other revoke has been made. A player revoking in Misère Partout pays five red counters to each of his adversaries and the hands are then abandoned. 31. The revoking player and his partner may require the hand in which the revoke has been made, to be played out, and score all points made by them up to the score of six.
[Illustration: 🂨 🃘 🃞* 🂭* 🂴*] 34 to 25 _=Two Pairs.=_ Two of one kind; two of another kind; and one useless card. [Illustration: 🂫 🃋 🂣 🃓 🂹*] 20 to 1 _=Threes.=_ Three of one kind, and two useless cards. [Illustration: 🃉 🂹 🃙 🂭* 🂢*] 46 to 1 _=Straight.=_ All five cards in sequence, but of various suits. [Illustration: 🃉 🂸 🃗 🃆 🂥] 254 to 1 _=Flush.=_ All five cards of one suit, but not in sequence. [Illustration: 🂡 🂮 🂨 🂥 🂣] 508 to 1 _=Full Hand.=_ Three of one kind, and two of another kind; no useless cards.
Blackburne, the English chess champion, regards the game as a dangerous intellectual vice which is spreading to rather an alarming extent. Discussing the matter, after his game with Mr. Bardeleben, he said: “I know a lot of people who hold the view that chess is an excellent means of training the mind in logic and shrewd calculation, provision and caution. But I don’t find these qualities reflected in the lives of chess-players. They are just as fallible and foolish as other folks who don’t know a rook from a pawn. But even if it were a form of mental discipline, which I doubt, I should still object to it on the ground of its fatal fascination. Chess is a kind of mental alcohol. It inebriates the man who plays it constantly. He lives in a chess atmosphere, and his dreams are of gambits and the end of games. I have known many an able man ruined by chess.
THE PINS ARE SET UP THE SAME AS FOR THE GAME OF TEN PINS. Four or six innings constitute a battle or game, except in the case of a tie, when another inning is played. In case that inning should result in a tie also, still another inning is played--in fact, until the scores are unequal. In any inning where a tie occurs the score stands over until the next inning, when each point is counted double. If the two innings result in a tie, the score is tripled. Should the total score result in a tie, sufficient innings are played to make the grand score unequal. The team having the largest score in the previous inning must bowl the first ball, so that the weaker party will have the last ball. Three balls of regulation size (27 inches in circumference) or under are allotted to each player in each inning. Each pin bowled down counts 1, including the king pin. If all the pins except the king pin are bowled down, it counts 12.
He has written the description of each game expressly for this book. The treatment is systematic and uniform. The description of each game begins with the apparatus and the players, and then follows the natural course of play, step by step, until the end. Each part of the game is described in a separate paragraph, and every paragraph is preceded by catch-words in heavy-faced type, so that the entire work is in the nature of a dictionary, in which any part of any game can be found immediately. All technical terms are accompanied by a full definition of their meaning, and are printed in full-face type. All disputed points have been settled in an entirely original manner. Instead of taking any one person as an authority, the history of each game has been traced from its source to its present condition, and its rules have been carefully compared with those of other members of the same family. The times and the reasons for the various changes have been ascertained, and the rules given are not only in strict accord with the true spirit of the game, but are based upon common sense and equity. When official laws for any game exist they are given in full. The list of technical terms is the most complete ever published.
Each player stakes an agreed amount every time, and the dealer then gives one card to his adversary and one to himself. The pone may stand on the first card, or draw; but he does not say anything if he overdraws. The dealer then draws or stands, and both show their cards. The one nearest to 15 wins; but if the result is a tie, or if both have overdrawn, the stakes are doubled, and another hand is dealt, the deal passing from player to player in rotation. BACCARA. This very popular variation of Vingt-et-un originated in the south of France, and came into vogue during the latter part of the reign of Louis Philippe. It is neither a recreation nor an intellectual exercise, but simply a means for the rapid exchange of money, well suited to persons of impatient temperament. The word “Baccara” is supposed to mean “nothing,” or “zero,” and is applied to the hands in which the total pip value of the cards ends with a cypher. There are two forms of the game in common use; Baccara a deux tableaux, and Baccara chemin de fer. The first will be first described.
These should be placed in some covered receptacle, so that they cannot be counted by their owner, and no other player will know how many he has. As it is very seldom that a successful bid is less than five, and never less than four, counters marked as being worth 4, 5, 6 and 7 each will answer every purpose, and will pay every bid made. _=Cutting.=_ The players draw cards from an outspread pack for the choice of seats, those cutting the lowest cards having the first choice. The lowest cut of all deals the first hand, passing the white counter to the player on his left, whose turn it will be to deal next. Ties are decided in the usual way. _=Dealing.=_ The cards are dealt from left to right, two being given to each player for the first round, then three, and then two again, until each player has received seven cards. The four remaining in the pack are then placed in the centre of the table, face down, and form the _=widow=_. No trump is turned.
[Illustration] (_c_) This sport is found among the illuminations of an old missal formerly in the possession of John Ives, cited by Strutt in his _Manners and Customs_. The two illustrations are facsimiles from drawings in one of the Bodleian MSS., and they indicate the complete covering of the head, and also the fact that the game was played by adults. Gay says concerning it-- As once I play d at _blindman s-buff_, it hap t, _About my eyes the towel thick was wrapt._ _I miss d the swains, and seiz d on Blouzelind._ And another reference is quoted by Brand (ii. 398)-- Sometyme the one would goe, sometyme the other, Sometymes all thre at once, and sometyme neither; Thus they with him play at boyes blynde-man-bluffe. --_The Newe Metamorphosis_, 1600, MS. Other names for this game are Belly Mantie, Billy Blind, Blind Bucky Davy, Blind Harie, Blind Hob, Blind Nerry Mopsey, Blind Palmie, Blind Sim, Buck Hid, Chacke Blynd Man, Hoodle-cum-blind, Hoodman Blind, Hooper s Hide, Jockie Blind Man. (_d_) There is some reason for believing that this game can be traced up to very ancient rites connected with prehistoric worship.
If this young man should chance to die And leave the girl a widow, The birds shall sing, the bells shall ring, Clap all your hands together. --Yorkshire (Henderson s _Folk-lore, Northern Counties_, p. 27). V. Dossy, dossy green grass, Dossy, dossy, doss, Come all ye pretty fair maids And dance upon the grass. I will give you pots and pans, I will give you brass, I will give you anything For a pretty lass. I will give you gold and silver, I will give you pearl, I will give you anything For a pretty girl. Take one, take one, the fairest you can see. You shall have a duck, my dear, You shall have a drake, You shall have a young man Apprentice for your sake. If this young man shall wealthy grow And give his wife a feather, The bells shall ring and birds shall sing And we ll all clap hands together.
=_ Écarté is played by two persons, who sit opposite each other. One is known as the dealer, and the other as the pone, the adversary, the elder hand, the non-dealer, the leader, or the player. _=THE GALLERY.=_ In clubs that make a feature of Écarté, and in which there is a great deal of betting on the outside by the spectators, it is not usual to allow more than one game between the same players, the loser giving place to one of those who have been backing him, and who is called a _=rentrant=_. This is known as playing the _cul-levé_. Any person in the gallery is allowed to draw attention to errors in the score, and may advise the player he is backing, or even play out the game for him, if he resigns. The player need not take the advice given him, which must be offered without discussion, and by pointing only, not naming the suit or cards. If a player will not allow the gallery to back him, taking all bets himself, no one may overlook his hand nor advise him without his permission, and he need not retire if he loses the game. _=CUTTING.=_ The player cutting the highest écarté card deals the first hand, and has the choice of seats and cards.
No matter in what proportion the other tricks may be divided between the three other players, this total payment will always be found correct. For instance: A wins 6 tricks; Y 2; B 5; and Z none. A loses 6 x 3 = 18-7 = 11, of which he gives 4 to Y; 1 to B; and 6 to Z. If two players tie for the greatest number of tricks taken, they calculate their losses in the same manner; but each pays only half the total. For instance: A and Y each take 5 tricks; B taking 1, and Z 2. The 7 red counters lost by A and Y being divided, shows a loss of 35 white counters for each of them. If three players take four tricks apiece, they each pay the fourth man a red counter. _=WINNING THE POOL.=_ Besides the white counters won and lost by the players individually, the successful caller takes the pool, provided he has made a bid of seven tricks or better, which is called _=a pool bid=_. Any lower bid does not entitle him to the pool, unless the other players compel him to play the hand out.
The winner of each trick draws the top card from the talon, and leads again. When any player’s cards are exhausted he withdraws from the game, and the others continue. The player who remains to the end, having a card when his adversary has none, wins the pool. If two players remain with a card each, the winner of the trick draws from the stock, and the card so drawn wins the game, his adversary having none. EARL OF COVENTRY. This game is sometimes called Snip Snap Snorem, by those who are not of a poetical turn of mind. Any number of persons may play, and a full pack of cards is dealt out, one at a time. If some players have a card more than others, it does not matter. The eldest hand lays upon the table any card he pleases, and each player in turn pairs or matches it, if he can, with another of the same denomination, accompanying the action with a rhyme. Suppose the first card played is a King; the person playing it would say: “There’s as good as King can be.
The card that shows is called the “gate.” If it is of the same suit as either of the cards in the top layout, the banker pays all bets on that layout. If there is a card of the same suit as the gate in the bottom layout, the banker pays that also. If there is no card of the same suit as the gate in either of the layouts, the banker wins from that layout; so that he may win or lose from either or both on the same gate. The pack is then turned face down, the gate is drawn off and thrown aside and two fresh layouts are made, as before and the bets placed before the new gate is shown. This is continued until the pack is exhausted. THREE-CARD MONTE. This is a purely gambling game, chiefly useful for separating fools from their money. The dealer takes three cards, slightly bent lengthwise, so as to be more easily picked up by the ends. One of these is shown, and the players are told to watch it.
If the duplicate of any of those cards can be played, the holder of the card at once takes all the money staked upon it; but if he fails to get rid of it before some player wins the game by getting rid of all his cards, the player who is found with one of the layout cards in his hand at the end must double the amount staked on that card, to which the next dealer will add the usual contribution. The player who first gets rid of all his cards collects from the other players a counter for every card they hold. These cards must be exposed face up on the table, so that all may see who has to double the various pools. If any of the layout cards are in the stock, the pool simply remains, without doubling. There are a great many variations of Pope Joan. Sometimes a layout very similar to that in Matrimony is used, Pope taking the place of Pair, and Game that of Best. A trump is turned by the dealer, and Matrimony is King and Queen of trumps, Intrigue Queen and Jack of trumps, Confederacy, King and Jack of trumps. The player holding these cards will of course be able to play both of them if he can play one in a sequence, and will take the pool for the combination. If he holds one card and another player holds the other, they divide the pool. If one of the cards is in the stock, the pool remains.
Ten innings constitute a game. Three balls (not exceeding 6 inches in size) are bowled. One pin of the frame must be left standing, or the inning goes for nothing. There are no penalties. The dead wood must be removed. Any pins knocked down through the dead wood remaining on the alley cannot be placed to the credit of the player. The maximum is 10. FIVE BACK. [Illustration: O O O O . .
138, who was rector of Ilket s Hall, in the county of Suffolk, says the ball was about the size of a cricket-ball, and was driven through a narrow goal; and from the evidence of the parish clerk it seems certain that it was not Football. See also Spurden s _East Anglian Words_, and _County Folk-lore, Suffolk_, pp. 57-59. There are Upper Campfield and Lower Campfield at Norton Woodseats. They are also called Camping fields. This field was probably the place where football and other village games were played. These fields adjoin the Bocking fields. In Gosling s Map of Sheffield, 1736, Campo Lane is called _Camper Lane_. The same map shows the position of the old Latin school, or grammar school, and the writing school. These schools were at a very short distance from Campo Lane, and it seems probable that here the game of football was played (Addy s _Sheffield Glossary_).
[The butt may also be used for playing a ball in hand up the table in order to strike a ball in baulk.] _=11.=_ Foul strokes do not score to the player, who must allow his opponent to follow on. They are made thus: By striking a ball twice with the cue; by touching with the hand, ball, or cue an opponent’s or the red ball; by playing with the wrong ball; by lifting both feet from the floor when playing; by playing at the striker’s own ball and displacing it ever so little (except while taking aim, when it shall be replaced, and he shall play again). _=12.=_ The penalty for a foul stroke is losing the lead, and, in case of a score, an opponent must have the red ball spotted, and himself break the balls, when the player who made the foul must follow suit, both playing from the D. If the foul is not claimed the player continues to score, if he can. _=13.=_ After being pocketed or forced off the table the red ball must be spotted on the top spot, but if that is occupied by another ball the red must be placed on the centre spot between the middle pockets. _=14.
I am particularly indebted to Colonel Mark Sykes for advice and information in this matter. He has pointed out to me the possibility of developing Little Wars into a vivid and inspiring Kriegspiel, in which the element of the umpire would be reduced to a minimum; and it would be ungrateful to him, and a waste of an interesting opportunity, if I did not add this Appendix, pointing out how a Kriegspiel of real educational value for junior officers may be developed out of the amusing methods of Little War. If Great War is to be played at all, the better it is played the more humanely it will be done. I see no inconsistency in deploring the practice while perfecting the method. But I am a civilian, and Kriegspiel is not my proper business. I am deeply preoccupied with a novel I am writing, and so I think the best thing I can do is just to set down here all the ideas that have cropped up in my mind, in the footsteps, so to speak, of Colonel Sykes, and leave it to the military expert, if he cares to take the matter up, to reduce my scattered suggestions to a system. Now, first, it is manifest that in Little Wars there is no equivalent for rifle-fire, and that the effect of the gun-fire has no resemblance to the effect of shell. That may be altered very simply. Let the rules as to gun-fire be as they are now, but let a different projectile be used--a projectile that will drop down and stay where it falls. I find that one can buy in ironmongers shops small brass screws of various sizes and weights, but all capable of being put in the muzzle of the 4 7 guns without slipping down the barrel.
_=Scoring.=_ There must be four winners; the ladies with the best scores for the N & E hands respectively, and the gentlemen with the best S & W scores. If a choice is necessary, the lady and the gentleman taking the greatest number of tricks above the average should be selected as the winners. _=MARRIED COUPLES.=_ Safford has an ingenious schedule for eight married couples, so arranged in two sets that no husband and wife are ever in the same set at the same time. When seven sets have been played, every lady will have overplayed four hands against every other lady and gentleman, including four held by her husband. The same will be true of every man. Indicators are placed on the tables to show players their successive positions. The numbers represent the husbands, and the letters the wives, the couples being a-1, b-2, etc. The couple a-1 always sit still; the ladies go to the next higher letter of the alphabet, and the men to the next higher number; _=h=_ going to _=b=_, as _=a=_ sits still; and 8 to 2.
Look on the shelf. Can t reach it. Take the stool. The leg s broke. Take the chair. Chair s gone to be mended. I suppose I must come myself? The Mother here wrings her hands out of the water in the washing-tub and comes in. She looks about and misses Monday. Where s Monday? Oh, please, Mother, please, I couldn t help it; but some one came to beg a light for her pipe, and when I went for it she took Monday off. Why, that s the witch! The Mother pretends to beat the eldest daughter, tells her to be more careful another time, and to be sure and not let the pot boil over.
In the second example A proposes, or calls Solo, and Y over-calls him with Misère. The great point in playing against Misère is to continue leading suits in which he is known to be long, so as to give your partners discards. This B does with the two long spades, the caller being marked with the ace and others on the second trick. Then Z allows B to discard his high diamonds on the clubs. SCOTCH WHIST, OR CATCH THE TEN. _=CARDS.=_ Scotch Whist is played with a pack of 36 cards, which rank in plain suits, A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6; the Ace being highest both in play and in cutting. In the trump suit the Jack is the best card, the order being, J A K Q 10 9 8 7 6. _=MARKERS.=_ There are no suitable counters for Scotch Whist, and the score is usually kept on a sheet of paper.
The underlined card wins the trick and the card under it is the next one led. +------+-----+-----+----+ +------+-----+-----+-----+ | A | Y | B | Z | | A | Y | B | Z | +------+-----+-----+----+ +------+-----+-----+-----+ | _Q♠_| 2♠ | 9♠ |♣2 | 1 | _A♢_| Q♢ | J♢ | 9♢ | | _A♠_| 6♠ | 8♠ |♡3 | 2 | _K♢_| 6♢ | 8♢ | 5♢ | | _K♠_| 10♠ | 4♠ |♡7 | 3 | _10♢_| 4♢ | ♡A | 3♢ | | 5♠ | _J♠_| 3♠ |♡J | 4 | J♠ | 3♠ | 9♠ | _A♠_| | 2♢ | _Q♢_| 4♢ | 5♢ | 5 | 5♠ | Q♠ | _K♠_| 6♠ | | 10♢ | 9♢ | 7♢ |_J♢_| 6 | ♣Q | ♣6 | ♣J |_♣K_ | | ♡ 4 | 3♢ | 8♢ |_A♢_| 7 | 7♢ |_♡J_ | ♡5 |♡10 | | 7♠ | ♡5 |♡ 9 |_K♢_| 8 | 10♠ | ♡7 |_♡Q_ |♡ 9 | | ♡ 8 | ♣3 |♡ 2 |_6♢_| 9 |_♣ 5_ | ♣4 | ♣2 |♣ 3 | | ♣ 4 |_♣Q_ |♣10 |♣9 | 10 | _7♠_| 2♠ | 4♠ |♡ K | | ♣ 5 |_♣A_ |♡ 6 |♣7 | 11 | ♣10 | ♡4 |_♣A_ |♡ 8 | | ♣ 8 |_♣K_ |♡10 |♡Q | 12 | ♣ 8 | ♡3 |_♣9_ |♡ 6 | |_♣ J_ | ♣6 |♡ A |♡K | 13 | ♣ 7 | 2♢ | 8♠ |♡ 2 | +------+-----+-----+----+ +------+-----+-----+-----+ In the first example the dealer, Z, bids a heart. A says one royal and Y two clubs. This bid of Y’s denies any support for his partner’s hearts, but shows a supporting minor suit, in case Z is strong enough to go on with the hearts. B bids two royals as he can stop the hearts twice and ruff the clubs. Z cannot pursue the hearts, but shows his supporting minor suit, bidding three diamonds. This says to Y, “Go no trumps if you can stop the spades.” When A passes, having bid his hand on the first round, Y goes two no trumps and makes game. B leads the top of his partner’s declared suit, and A leads a fourth round, hoping to get in with the club jack. At tricks 8 and 9, B signals control in hearts.
A misdeal does not lose the deal if, during the dealing, either of the adversaries touch the cards prior to the dealer’s partner having done so; but should the latter have first interfered with the cards, notwithstanding either or both of the adversaries have subsequently done the same, the deal is lost. 46. Should three players have their right number of cards--the fourth have less than thirteen, and not discover such deficiency until he has played any of his cards, the deal stands good; should he have played, he is as answerable for any revoke he may have made as if the missing card, or cards, had been in his hand; he may search the other pack for it, or them. 47. If a pack, during or after a rubber, be proved incorrect or imperfect, such proof does not alter any past score, game, or rubber; that hand in which the imperfection was detected is null and void; the dealer deals again. 48. Any one dealing out of turn, or with the adversary’s cards, may be stopped before the trump card is turned up, after which the game must proceed as if no mistake had been made. 49. A player can neither shuffle, cut, nor deal for his partner, without the permission of his opponents. 50.
See also Spurden s _East Anglian Words_, and _County Folk-lore, Suffolk_, pp. 57-59. There are Upper Campfield and Lower Campfield at Norton Woodseats. They are also called Camping fields. This field was probably the place where football and other village games were played. These fields adjoin the Bocking fields. In Gosling s Map of Sheffield, 1736, Campo Lane is called _Camper Lane_. The same map shows the position of the old Latin school, or grammar school, and the writing school. These schools were at a very short distance from Campo Lane, and it seems probable that here the game of football was played (Addy s _Sheffield Glossary_). The camping-land appropriated to this game occurs in several instances in authorities of the fifteenth century (Way s Note in _Prompt.