=_ If a player uses any card drawn from the stock in this manner, it is obvious that he has too many cards, and in order to reduce his hand and show-downs to ten cards, he must discard something, unless he can show down everything remaining in his hand, in which case he would have eleven cards down, and win the game. In discarding, the card thrown out is placed at the disposal of the adversary, as if it were the card drawn from the stock, and if the adversary does not want it, he passes it and draws another. It should be observed that the player drawing the card from the stock always has the first refusal of it. This is sometimes very important, as both players often need the same card. In the foregoing example, the player’s best discard would be his ♢ K, which is too far removed from the others in the suit to make a run possible, and there is no mate to it with which to start a triplet. If the adversary could use this King, he would have to discard in his turn, and the card so thrown out would be at the disposal of the other player, just as if it had been drawn from the stock. _=Forcing.=_ A player need not use any card drawn, but if he has upon the table any combination in which it can be used, his adversary may force him with it, even after it has been declined. For instance: A player has eight cards down, two sequences of four small cards each, and in his hand a pair of Kings. Another King will make him game; but if he has to depend on his sequences to put him out, he will have to get three more cards.
Kinahan s note suggests that Fivestones may be an independent game, instead of a derivative from Hucklebones. If this is so, we have interesting evidence of the spread or transmission of one game from at least two centres. Professor Attwell, in _Notes and Queries_, 8th ser., iv. 201, suggests that Hucklebones was introduced into Europe by the Romans, and was spread throughout the countries which formed the empire by means of Roman colonists and soldiers. Mr. Newell (_Games_, pp. 190-93) describes a similar game to Fivestones played in Boston under the name of Otadama, or Japanese Jacks. This game is of Japanese origin, Tedama (that is, Handballs ) being its proper name. He says there can be no doubt that the two forms of this amusement are branches of the same root; and we thus have an example of a game which, having preserved its essential characteristics for thousands of years, has fairly circumnavigated the globe, so that the two currents of tradition, westward and eastward, from Europe and Asia, have met in America.
A piece of paper or small piece of glass or china, called a chipper, is used to play with. This is placed at the bottom of the plan, and if of _paper_, is _blown_ gently towards the top; if of glass or china, it is _nicked_ with the _fingers_. The first player blows the paper, and in whichever space the paper stops makes a small round [o] with a slate pencil, to represent a man s head. The paper or chipper is then put into the starting-place again, and the same player blows, and makes another man s head in the space where the paper stops. This is continued until all the spaces are occupied. If the paper goes a second time into a space already occupied by a head, the player adds a larger round to the head, to represent a body; if a third time, a stroke is drawn for a leg, and if a fourth time, another is added for the second leg; this completes a man. If three complete men in one space can be gained, the player makes arms; that is, two lines are drawn from the figures across the space to the opposite side of the plan. This occupies that space, and prevents the other player from putting any men in it, or adding to any already there. When all the spaces are thus occupied by one player, the game is won. Should the paper be blown on to a line or _outside_ the plan, the player is out; the other player then begins, and makes as many men in her turn, until she goes on a line or outside.
There was a copter squatting at the Sky Hi s ramp. I jumped for it and had him drop me toward the outskirts of the town of Lake Tahoe, and then walked a few blocks, mostly in circles to see if I were being followed, before darting into a fairly seedy motel a couple blocks off the main drag. My room was on the third floor of the flea-bag. Part of the place was only two stories high. The door at the end of my corridor opened out onto the roof. When I had calmed down, I stepped through the door into the cool of the desert night. * * * * * The gravel on the built-up roof crunched in the darkness under my feet as I walked cautiously to the parapet and looked over its edge to the hunk of desert that stretched away toward Reno, out behind the motel. The third story, behind me, cut off the neon glare from the Strip and left the place in inky darkness. There was silence and invisibility out behind the motel. Feeling a little creaky about falling a couple stories to the ground, I lay down on my back on the narrow parapet, with my hands behind my head to soften the concrete a little, and looked straight up into the night sky.
Where s the ox? The butcher has killed it. Where s the butcher? The rope has hanged him. Where s the rope? The rat has gnawed it. Where s the rat? The cat has killed it. Where s the cat? Behind the door, cracking pebble-stones and marrow-bones for yours and my supper, and the one who speaks first shall have a box on the ear. --Halliwell s _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 222. The children are seated, and the questions are put by one of the party who holds a twisted handkerchief or something of the sort in the hand. The handkerchief was called hewley puley, and the questions are asked by the child who holds it. If one answers wrongly, a box on the ear with the handkerchief was the consequence; but if they all replied correctly, the one who broke silence first had that punishment.
_ TRADITIONAL GAMES _BY THE SAME EDITOR._ Small 4to. In Specially Designed Cover. =ENGLISH SINGING GAMES.= A Collection of the best Traditional Children s Singing Games, with their Traditional Music harmonised, and Directions for Playing. Each Game, Text and Music, is written out and set within a Decorative Border by WINIFRED SMITH, who has also designed Full-page Illustrations to each Game, and Initials and Decorative Border to the playing directions. [_All rights reserved._] THE TRADITIONAL GAMES Of England, Scotland, and Ireland WITH TUNES, SINGING-RHYMES, AND METHODS OF PLAYING ACCORDING TO THE VARIANTS EXTANT AND RECORDED IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE KINGDOM COLLECTED AND ANNOTATED BY ALICE BERTHA GOMME VOL. I. ACCROSHAY-NUTS IN MAY LONDON DAVID NUTT, 270-71 STRAND 1894 TO _MY HUSBAND_ PREFACE Soon after the formation of the Folk-lore Society in 1878 my husband planned, and has ever since been collecting for, the compilation of a dictionary of British Folk-lore.
Both are then turned up, and whichever gets the lighter domino has the first set. _=3.=_ Each player draws a domino, face down, and the one getting the lower double sets first. If neither draws a double the lighter domino sets. The dominoes are then shuffled again by both players, and each draws the number of pieces required by the game they are about to play. The dominoes remaining on the table are left face down, and form the _=stock=_ or _=bone-yard=_. Each player should sort his dominoes into suits, and either leave them standing on their edges on the table with their faces toward him, or hold them in his hand. Few persons can hold more than six dominoes in this way, so the seventh is left upon the table, or is the first one set. [Illustration] _=Matching.=_ All games of dominoes are based upon the principle of matching, or following suit; which requires that each domino played shall belong to the same suit as one of the exposed ends of the line of dominoes already played, and exposed upon the table.
The other versions are played as follows:--The children form a line, the one in the middle being the mother, or widow; they advance and retire, the mother alone singing the first verse. One child, who is standing alone on the opposite side, who has been addressed by the widow, then asks [not sings] the question. The mother, or widow, sings the reply, and points to one child when singing the last line, who thereupon crosses over to the other side, joining the one who is standing alone. This is continued till all have been selected. The Ballynascaw version (Miss Patterson) is played in a similar way. One child sits on a bank, and the others come up to her in a long line. The old woman says the first five lines. No question is asked by the lady, she simply takes one child. The old woman shakes hands with this child, and says good-bye to her. When all the children have been taken in by the one who personates the lady, the old woman says the other three lines, and so one by one gets all the children back again.
[Illustration] Gearing space into minds by means of the pin-set, adding the Partners to those minds, keying up the mind for the tension of a fight on which all depended--this was more than human synapses could stand for long. Underhill needed his two months rest after half an hour of fighting. Woodley needed his retirement after ten years of service. They were young. They were good. But they had limitations. So much depended on the choice of Partners, so much on the sheer luck of who drew whom. THE SHUFFLE Father Moontree and the little girl named West entered the room. They were the other two pinlighters. The human complement of the Fighting Room was now complete.
The following are the interpretations of the various cards, the initial _=R=_ meaning that the card is reversed, or standing on its head. _=HEARTS.=_ Ace. The house, or home. King. A benefactor. _=R.=_ He will not be able to do you much good, although he means well. Queen. Everything that is lovely in woman.
By following these tactics it is quite possible for you to take almost every trick in the plain suits, and yet to win the pool by rapidly exhausting the hearts. If you lead the ♡ 4, the only chance for it to win is that one player has no hearts, and that the 2 and 3 are divided. The odds against this combination of circumstances will vary with the number of hearts you hold with the 4, but may be generally stated on the average as about 50 to 1. It is usually considered a safer lead than a high card of a plain suit, even if you have only three of the suit. If your only heart is the 5, and you propose to lead it, the chances that the 2, 3, and 4 are not each in separate hands are about 19 in 25, or 19 to 6 against it, which is about 3 to 1. If you lead the 5, the odds against your winning the trick decrease as the number of hearts you hold with the 5 increases. If you have four hearts, the 5 being the lowest, the odds against its winning the trick, if you lead it, are about 29 to 11. If you have eight hearts, the 5 being the lowest, it is about an even chance. If your only heart is the 6, it is about an even chance that it will win the trick; but the odds against you increase rapidly with the number of additional hearts that you hold. If you propose to lead the 7, the chances that it will win the trick are 2 to 1 under the most favourable circumstances, which are when it is your only heart.
With K 10 x, Dummy having Jack, the suit should not be led. With such combinations as K x x x, Dummy having Q x, the suit should not be led. When you have a suit which is both long and strong, such as A K x x x, and Dummy has no honour in the suit, it is a common artifice to underplay, by beginning with the smallest, if playing against no-trumps and you have a card of re-entry. This should not be done unless you have the general strength to justify such a finesse. If you open a long suit, Dummy having only small cards, and your partner wins with Q, J, or 10, and does not return it, he has evidently a finesse in the suit and wants it led again. _=End Games.=_ In the end game there are several variations which are made possible by the fact that the cards on your right are exposed. With A J x, Dummy having Q x x, the small card should be led. With Q x, and an odd card, Dummy having K x x of the first suit; it is better to play the odd card; but if for any reason this should not be done, lead the Q, hoping to find A 10 with your partner. The state of the score must be a constant guide in all end games.
If the starter is a Jack, the dealer immediately pegs two points _=for his heels=_. If he does not peg these two holes before he plays a card the score is lost. If the Jack of the same suit as the starter is found in the hand or crib of any player, it is called _=his nobs=_, and when the hand is reckoned up after the play is over, one point may be scored for it. If the dealer exposes more than one card after the pack has been properly cut, his adversary may choose which of the exposed cards shall be the starter. In order to understand the motives which govern the players in discarding, and the influences which the starter has upon the value of the hands and crib, it will be necessary to describe the objects of the game, before giving the method of play. _=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ The chief object in Cribbage is to form and to preserve various counting combinations. As these combinations occur in the course of play, or are shown in the hand or crib after the play is over, their value in points is pegged on the cribbage board, and the player who first pegs a sufficient number of these combinations to reach a total of 61 points, wins the game. There are five principal varieties of these counting combinations: Pairs, Triplets, Fours, Sequences, and Fifteens; besides some minor counts which will be spoken of in their proper place. The various counting combinations in Cribbage may arise in two ways.
The caster must announce his throw as soon as made. _=The Moves.=_ As the men on each side are moved round the board in opposite directions to reach their respective homes, they are of course obliged to meet and pass a number of the adversary’s men, and they must pick their way among them by going to points which are unoccupied by the enemy; for if there are two or more of the enemy in possession of any point, that point is said to be _=covered=_, and must be jumped over. If only one adverse man occupies a point, it is called a _=blot=_, and the man may be captured, as will presently be explained. The numbers that appear on the upper faces of the two dice, when they are thrown, are the number of points that each of any two men, or that any one man may be moved at a time. If a player throws four-deuce, for instance, he may either move one man four points and another two; or he may move a single man four points and two points, or two points and four points. He cannot lump the throw and call it six points, because if the fourth point from where the man stood was covered by two or more of the enemy, the four could not be played with that man. If the second point from where the man stood was also covered, he could not be moved at all, although the sixth point from where he stood might be unoccupied. If Black’s first throw is five-deuce, for instance, he cannot move one of the two men on his adversary’s ace point for the five, because the fifth point thence is covered. Neither could he move one of them two and then five, because the seventh point is covered also.
A player can knock without drawing at all if he wishes to prevent the others from beating his original hand. PROGRESSIVE POKER. There are several ways to play Progressive Poker, but the description of one will suffice. The simplest method of arranging the players is to take two packs of cards, one red and one blue, and to select two aces from each for the four positions at the head table; three deuces, treys, etc., for the six positions at each of the other tables until the last or booby table is reached, at which there must be only four players at starting. If there are not enough players to make exactly six at each of the intermediate tables, the numbers may be varied from four to seven, cards being selected to agree with the number required; but the head and booby tables must start with four only. The cards thus selected are then thoroughly shuffled, and presented face downward to the ladies to draw from. Each lady takes a red-backed card, the gentlemen drawing the blue cards only. The number of pips on the card drawn will indicate to each person the table at which they are to sit. Should the number of men and women not be equal, some of the men must represent women or _vice versa_.
_=Cards.=_ Bouillotte is played with a piquet pack, reduced to twenty cards, only the A K Q 9 8 of each suit being retained. The ace is the highest card in play and in cutting. If five persons play, the Jack of each suit is added; if only three play, the Queens are discarded, reducing the pack to sixteen cards. Two packs are generally used alternately. _=Counters=_ or chips are used, as in Poker, instead of money. Any player may be the banker. _=Players.=_ Three, four, or five persons may play; but four is the proper number, and all descriptions of the game suppose it to be four-handed. _=Cutting.
In Six-Handed, all four deuces are discarded. In Joker Hearts the heart deuce is replaced by the Joker. 4. When two packs are used, the player next but one on the dealer’s left must collect and shuffle the cards for the next deal, placing them on his right. The dealer has the privilege of shuffling last. 5. The dealer must present the pack to his right-hand adversary to be cut. Not less than four cards shall constitute a cut. 6. In case of any confusion or exposure of the cards in cutting, or in reuniting them after cutting, the pack must be shuffled and cut again.
Tournée, F., see Round. Trailing, playing a card which accomplishes nothing. Trash, to discard. Tric, F., the odd trick at Whist or Mort. Tricon, F., three cards of the same denomination. Tric-Trac, the European name for Backgammon. Trump-showing Leads, a system of private conventionalities in leading plain suits at Whist, to show the number of trumps held by the leader.
The lead is a great advantage, because trumps can be exhausted immediately, and the suits protected. If the caller has not the lead he must calculate in advance for trumping in, and if his plain suits are not quite established, he will require more trumps than would otherwise be necessary. The greatest danger to an abundance player who has not the original lead, is that his best suit will be led through him, and trumped, either on the first or second round. The caller is often trapped into unnecessarily high trumping when suits are led through him a second or third time. _=The Adversaries=_ have little chance to defeat an abundance unless they can over-trump the caller, or ruff his good cards before he can exhaust the trumps. It is best for the Right to lead his longest suit, and for the Left to lead his shortest. A guarded King suit should not be led under any circumstances; nor a short suit Ace high. If an adversary has a single trump of medium size, such as a J or 10, it is often good play to trump a partner’s winning cards, so as to be sure of preventing the caller from making a small trump. If an adversary has trumped or over-trumped, it is very important to lead that suit to him again as soon as possible. The rules for discarding that are given in connection with Whist should be carefully observed; especially in the matter of showing command of suits.
Addy). 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.