Addy). Cotgrave s _Dictionarie_, 1632, says: _Merelles_, le jeu de merelles, the boyish game called merrils, or fiue-pennie morris. Played here most commonly with stones, but in France with pawns or men made of purpose, and termed merelles. Strutt (_Sports_, p. 317) says: This was why the game received this name. It was formerly called Nine Men s Morris and Five-penny Morris, and is a game of some antiquity. It was certainly much used by the shepherds formerly, and continues to be used by them and other rustics to the present hour. An illustration of the form of the merelle table and the lines upon it, as it appeared in the fourteenth century, is given by him, and he observes that the lines have not been varied. The black spots at every angle and intersection of the lines are the places for the men to be laid upon. The men are different in form and colour for distinction s sake, and from the moving these men backwards and forwards, as though they were dancing a morris, I suppose the pastime received the name of Nine Men s Morris, but why it should have been called Five-penny Morris I do not know.
B has straddled, and all but the dealer have made good the ante and drawn cards. There are sixteen white counters in the pool, B’s straddle having made the ante four instead of two. Suppose B bets a red counter, and C then throws down his hand. D _=sees=_ B, by putting up a red counter; and he then _=raises=_ him, by putting up two blues, increasing his bet as much as the limit will allow him. The age must now abandon his hand or put up one red and two blues to call D, without knowing what B proposes to do. Let us suppose he sees D, and raises another two blues. B must now retire, or put up four blues to call A, without knowing what D will do. He can raise the bet another two blues, or one blue, or a red, or a white even, if he is so minded. If he declines to raise, he cannot prevent D from so doing, because D still has the privilege of replying to A’s raise, and as long as a player has any _=say=_ about anything, whether it is to abdicate, better, or call, he can do any one of the three. It is only when there is no bet made, or when his own bet is either not called or not raised, that a player has nothing to say.
Écarté and Euchre, by Berkeley, 1890. Cavendish on Écarté, 1886. Jeux de Cartes, (Fr.), by Jean Boussac. Règles de Tous les Jeux, (Fr.), M. Dreyfous, Edit. Académie des Jeux, (Fr.), by Van Tenac. Académie des Jeux, (Fr.
The combinations which may be declared and scored are the same as in Bézique, but owing to the use of four packs of cards double combinations are much more frequent, and triple combinations are not uncommon. The chief concern of the player must be, first of all, to save himself from a rubicon; that is, either to reach 1000 points, or to score as few points as possible. If he does not reach 1000, his adversary will take whatever he has scored, and add them to his own, besides 1300 in addition for rubicon and brisques. For instance: At the end of the hand A has scored 1200, and B has only 700. B is rubiconed, and his 700 points are added to A’s 1200, together with 1300 more for a rubicon game and brisques; giving A a grand total of 3200 points to nothing. Had B reached 1000, he would have saved his rubicon, and A would have scored the difference only, or 200 points, plus 500 for the game; 700 altogether. _=Brisques.=_ The aces and Tens of each suit are of no value unless it is necessary to count them to decide a tie, or to save a rubicon. They are never scored during the play of the hand. _=Declarations.
The players aim at these from a distant stroke with balsers, winning such of the castles as they may in turn knock down (Lowsley s _Glossary of Berkshire Words_). In London, the marble alluded to as balser was called bonsor or bouncer (J. P. Emslie). See Cockly Jock, Cogs. Cat and Dog An ancient game played in Angus and Lothian. Three play, and they are provided with clubs. These clubs are called dogs. The players cut out two holes, each about a foot in diameter, and seven inches in depth. The distance between them is about twenty-six feet.
--London (G. L. Gomme). In Cornwall the leader, when at fault, says-- Uppa, uppa, holye! If you don t speak My dogs shan t folly. --Courtney (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 73). Other versions of this holloa are-- Whoop, whoop, and hollow! Good dogs won t follow Without the hare cries, Peewit. --Halliwell s _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 66. Sound your holler, Or my little dog shan t foller.
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. It takes an expert mechanic to true up a lignum-vitæ ball. Don’t lay a lignum-vitæ ball away DRY, if you don’t want it to crack.
For instance: The first player to say, having only 21 in his hand, should ante; but if two other players had already anted, 31, or even 40 would be a doubtful hand. If a bet had been made and met by another player, such a point should generally be laid down. With good cards it is always better for the eldest hand to pass, especially with a brelan, for he will then have an opportunity to judge of the value of the hands against him, and he can raise the bet to his advantage. Good players will not bet on an ace alone, unless the suit is turned up; nor on a point of 21 with a weak card of the turn-up suit. If three play in a pool the point should be very strong to follow beyond the first raise; and if four players are engaged, it is almost a certainty that brelans will be shown. When a player with a brelan has frightened off his opponents with a big bet, it is usual to _=stifle=_ the brelan, as it is considered more to the player’s advantage to leave his adversaries under the impression that he may have been bluffing than to show the hand for the sake of the one white counter to which it entitles him. With three cards of one suit to the King, it is usual to bet high, in order to drive out anything but a brelan. Any player holding ace and another of the suit will of course abandon his hand, as his point is worth only 21 at the most, and the player with three to the King will get the benefit of his cards when the point is counted. AMBIGU. _=Cards.
SPOT-BLUE ” SPOT-BROWN, and WHITE ” SPOT-BLUE. _=1.=_ When coloured balls are used, the players must play progressively, as the colours are placed on the pool marking-board, the top colour being No. 1. _=2.=_ Each player has _three_ lives at starting. No. 1 places his ball on the “winning and losing” spot, No. 2 plays at No. 1, No.
THE BÉZIQUE FAMILY. This family includes three of our most popular games; Bézique itself, Binocle, and Sixty-Six. These are all comparatively modern games, but are descended from very old stock, the best known of the ancestors being Marriage, Matrimony, and Cinq-Cents. The etymology of the word Bézique is very much disputed. Some claim that it is from the Spanish basa, afterwards basico, a little kiss; referring to the union of the spade Queen and the diamond Jack, and the various marriages in the game. 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.