’Tis a day in November—a day of fog—But the Tringham people are all agog!Fathers, Mothers, and Mothers’ Sons,—With sticks, and staves, and swords, and guns,—As if in pursuit of a rabid dog;But their voices—raised to the highest pitch—Declare that the game is “a Witch!—a Witch!”
Over the Green and along by the George—Past the Stocks and the Church, and the Forge,And round the Pound, and skirting the Pond,Till they come to the whitewashed cottage beyond,And there at the door they muster and cluster,And thump, and kick, and bellow, and bluster—Enough to put Old Nick in a fluster!A noise, indeed, so loud and long,And mixed with expressions so very strong,That supposing, according to popular fame,“Wise Woman” and Witch to be the same,No hag with a broom would unwisely stop,But up and away through the chimney-top;Whereas, the moment they burst the door,Planted fast on her sanded floor,With her trumpet up to her organ of hearing,Lo and behold!—Dame Eleanor Spearing!
Oh! then rises the fearful shout—Bawled and screamed, and bandied about—“Seize her!—Drag the old Jezebel out!”While the Beadle—the foremost of all the band,Snatches the Horn from her trembling hand—And after a pause of doubt and fear,Puts it up to his sharpest ear.“Now silence—silence—one and all!”For the Clerk is quoting from Holy Paul!But before he rehearsesA couple of verses,The Beadle lets the Trumpet fall!For instead of the words so pious and humble,He hears a supernatural grumble.
Enough, enough! and more than enough;—Twenty impatient hands and rough,By arm and leg, and neck and scruff,Apron, ’kerchief, gown of stuff—Cap and pinner, sleeve and cuff—Are clutching the Witch wherever they can,With the spite of woman and fury of man;And then—but first they kill her cat,And murder her dog on the very mat—And crush the infernal Trumpet flat;—And then they hurry her through the doorShe never, never will enter more!
Away! away! down the dusty laneThey pull her and haul her, with might and main;And happy the hawbuck, Tom or Harry,Dandy or Sandy, Jerry or Larry,Who happens to get “a leg to carry!”And happy the foot that can give her a kick,And happy the hand that can find a brick—And happy the fingers that hold a stick—Knife to cut, or pin to prick—And happy the boy who can lend her a lick;—Nay, happy the urchin—Charity-bred,—Who can shy very nigh to her wicked old head!
Alas! to think how people’s creedsAre contradicted by people’s deeds!But though the wishes that Witches utterCan play the most diabolical rigs—Send styes in the eye—and measle the pigs—Grease horses’ heels—and spoil the butter;Smut and mildew the corn on the stalk—And turn new milk to water and chalk,—Blight apples—and give the chickens the pip—And cramp the stomach—and cripple the hip—And waste the body—and addle the eggs—And give a baby bandy legs;Though in common belief a Witch’s curseInvolves all these horrible things and worse—As ignorant bumpkins all profess,No bumpkin makes a poke the lessAt the back or ribs of old Eleanor S.!As if she were only a sack of barley!Or gives her credit for greater mightThan the Powers of Darkness confer at nightOn that other old woman, the parish Charley!
Ay, now’s the time for a Witch to callOn her imps and sucklings one and all—Newes, Pyewacket, or Peck in the Crown,(As Matthew Hopkins has handed them down)Dick, and Willet, and Sugar-and-Sack,Greedy Grizel, Jarmara the Black,Vinegar Tom, and the rest of the pack—Ay, now’s the nick for her friend Old HarryTo come “with his tail,” like the bold Glengarry,And drive her foes from their savage jobAs a mad black bullock would scatter a mob:—But no such matter is down in the bond;And spite of her cries that never cease,But scare the ducks and astonish the geese,The dame is dragged to the fatal pond!
And now they come to the water’s brim—And in they bundle her—sink or swim;Though it’s twenty to one that the wretch must drown,With twenty sticks to hold her down;Including the help to the self-same end,Which a travelling Pedlar stops to lend.A Pedlar!—Yes!—The same!—the same!Who sold the Horn to the drowning Dame!And now is foremost amid the stir,With a token only revealed to her;A token that makes her shudder and shriek,And point with her finger, and strive to speak—But before she can utter the name of the Devil,Her head is under the water level!
Moral.
There are folks about town—to name no names—Who much resemble the deafest of Dames!And over their tea, and muffins, and crumpets,Circulate many a scandalous word,And whisper tales they could only have heardThrough some such Diabolical Trumpets!
was invented by the Spaniards, and called by themEl Hombre, orThe Man,El Hombrebeing he (or she) who undertakes the game against the other players.
There were variations in the way of playing, and there were sometimes four or even five players; but usually there were three players, as described by Pope in the third canto ofThe Rape of the Lock, where Belinda played as Ombre against the Baron and another, and the course of the game is faithfully described. It is the purpose of this note to enable any reader ofThe Rape of the Lockto learn the game of Ombre, play it, and be able to follow Pope’s description of a game.
The game of Ombre is played with a pack of cards from which the eights, nines, and tens of each of the four suits have been thrown out. The Ombre pack consists, therefore, of forty cards.
The values of cards when they are not trumps are not arranged in the same order for each colour.
For the two black suits, Spades and Clubs, the values, from highest to lowest, follow the natural order—King, Queen, Knave, seven, six, five, four, three, two. But the two black aces always rank as trumps, and are not reckoned as parts of the black suit. The Ace of Spades is namedSpadille, the Ace of Clubs isBasto.
For the two red suits, Hearts and Diamonds, only the King, Queen, and Knave keep their values in natural order; the other cards have their order of values reversed. The value from highest to lowest for each red suit is, therefore, King, Queen, Knave, ace, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
The values of trump cards are thus arranged:—
The first and best trump is the Ace of Spades,Spadille.
The second best trump is the lowest card of the trump suit, the two of trumps in a black suit, or the seven of trumps if the trump suit be red. This second trump is calledManille.
The third trump is the Ace of Clubs,Basto.
When the trump suit is red, its Ace becomes the fourth trump. Thus if Diamonds be trumps the Ace of Diamonds can take the King of Diamonds; the Ace of Hearts can take the King of Hearts if Hearts be trumps, not otherwise. There is no addition to the value of the Ace of Diamonds when Hearts are trumps. The Ace of a red suit of trumps, having become in this way the fourth trump in order of value, is calledPunto.
In order of their value, counted from the highest to the lowest, I now place in parallel columns the trumps in black suits and the trumps in red:—
Black.
Red.
Spadille, Ace of Spades.
Spadille, Ace of Spades.
Manille, the Two of the Trump suit.
Manille, the Seven of the trump suit.
Basto, Ace of Clubs.
Basto, Ace of Clubs.
King.
Punto, Ace of the trump suit.
Queen.
King.
Knave.
Queen.
Seven.
Knave.
Six.
Two.
Five.
Three.
Four.
Four.
Three.
Five.
Six.
The three chief trumps,Spadille,Manille, andBasto, are calledMatadores, and have powers which, together with their name, are passed to the trumps following them, so far as they are found in sequence in the Ombre’s hand. Thus, althoughSpadille,Manille, andBastoare strictly speaking the onlyMatadores, if the Ombre can show also in his hand, say, in the red suit, Punto, King, Queen, Knave, he takes for sevenMatadores; and if there should be joined to these the two and three, his trumps would be all in sequence, every card would be aMatadore, and he would be paid for nine, which is the whole number of cards in a hand.
Counters having been distributed, among which a fish is worth ten round counters, each player lays down a fish before the deal. The cards having been shuffled by the dealer, and cut by the player who sits on the left hand of the dealer, are dealt three at a time, and first to the player who sits on the dealer’s right hand, which is contrary to the usual course. The cards are dealt three times round. Each of the three players then has nine, and the remaining thirteen cards are laid down at the right hand of the dealer. No card is turned up to determine trumps.
Each player then looks at his hand. The eldest hand is that to the dealer’s right. He speaks first. If his cards are bad, and he will not venture to be Ombre, he says “Pass,” and lays a counter down at his left. If all three players say “Pass,” each laying a counter down, the cards are dealt again. When a player thinks his cards may win, and is willing to be Ombre, unless he be the third to speak, and the two other hands have passed, he says “Do you give me leave?” or “Do you play without taking in?” If the other players say “Pass,” each depositing his counter at his own left hand, the Ombre begins by discarding from his hand two, three, or more cards that he thinks unserviceable. He lays them down at his left hand. Then before he deals to himself from the pack of thirteen left undistributed the same number of cards that he has thrown out, he must name the trump suit. In doing this he chooses for himself, according to his hand, spades, clubs, hearts, diamonds, whichever suit he thinks will best help him to win. If he has a two of a black suit, or a seven of a red, he can secure to himselfManilleby making that suit trumps, or there may be reason why another suit should be preferred.
If the player who proposes to be Ombre has a safe game in his hand—fiveMatadores, for example—he names the trump and elects to playSans-prendre, that is to say, without discarding. Whoever playsSans-prendre, if he win, receives three counters from each of the other players, and pays three counters to each if he should lose the game.
When the Ombre playsSans-Prendre, his opponents have more cards from which to draw, and the first who discards is even free to change all his nine cards; but he usually limits his discard to six or seven, and avoids encroachment on the share of the next player. The two who play against the Ombre are only half in the position of partners at whist, because one of them, when his hand is strong enough, can be the only winner.
The hands having been thus settled, the game begins, from the hand on the right of the dealer. After a trick has been taken, the lead, as at other games, is with the winner of the trick, the order of play being still from left to right.
As at whist, a suit led must be followed, and a player who cannot follow suit is not obliged to play a trump unless he please.
If the first player who follows the Ombre’s lead with a better card, and has in his hand so good a game that he desires, by winning the trick, to obtain the lead, he declares that aloud by sayingGano, that is, “I win.” His partner then lets him win, if he can. Thus, Ombre has played a spade, which the next player wins with the Queen, sayingGanowhen he does so. If the third player has the King in his hand he refrains from playing it, unless he have no spade in his hand of smaller value, in which case he is obliged to follow suit and win the trick against his partner. Where the lead is urgently desired, not for a personal gain of more tricks than the Ombre, which is calledCodille, but to defend the stake, and the third player is seen to hesitate,Ganomay be pressed for, three times, “Gano, if possible.” When Ombre was played by gambling courtiers under Queen Anne and George I., all such words spoken in the game had to be given strictly in the Spanish form, which was, in this case,Yo Gano,si se puede.
Ombre, to win the stake, must make five tricks; but he can win with four if the other five are so divided between his antagonists that one has only three of them, the other only two. If one of the two defenders of the stakes, playing against Ombre, does not feel almost sure that he can win at least three tricks, with a chance of the fourth, he should win one, and try to avoid winning more, but help whatever chance his partner seems to have of winning four, because Ombre wins with four when each of the other players has won less than four.
If Ombre lose he is said to be Beasted. Whoever loses is said to be Beasted. Whoever is Beasted has to pay to the board counters of the value of what the Ombre takes up if he wins. When players were beasted for revokes and other oversights in play, the fines were heavy upon carelessness.
At the end of the game tricks are counted. When Ombre wins he takes the stakes; when he loses the two opponents will divide the stakes between them, unless one of them should have taken more tricks than the Ombre, in which case that one is said to have wonCodille. Whoever winsCodilletakes all the stake the Ombre played for. For this reason it was not thought creditable for any one to callGanowho had four tricks in his hand, as by so doing he would only be inducing the other player against Ombre to give up to him his half of the winnings. Each player against the Ombre aims atCodillewhen he thinks it within reach, but in that case it used to be held very bad manners to win by callingGano. When one of the players against the Ombre must either giveCodilleto the other or let the Ombre win, he gives theCodille. For if the Ombre be beasted he has to replace the stakes. But if the Ombre wins, both of the players against him have to stake again. If any one wins all the nine tricks he is said to have won theVole, and clears all stakes upon the table.
Belinda, in theRape of the Lock, having looked at her hand, named trumps—
“‘Let spades be trumps,’ she said, and trumps they were.”
“‘Let spades be trumps,’ she said, and trumps they were.”
She chose that suit because she had not only the King but also the two of Spades, and two of trumps, calledManille, is the second best trump afterSpadille. Her hand contained also the Ace of Spades, “unconquerable lord”Spadille, and the third trump,Basto, Ace of Clubs. By making spades trumps she secured the addition ofManille. The three best trumps secured her the three best tricks.SpadilleandManillefetched small trumps out of the hands of her antagonists.Bastobrought a trump out of the Baron’s suit, that also held the Knave and Queen of trumps, and a small card from the other hand, which showed that it was out of trumps. Then came Belinda’s King of trumps, to win her fourth sure trick, and the Baron, who still had his best trumps in his hand, the Knave and Queen, lost the Knave to it.
After this the Baron’s Queen of trumps was the best card, and Belinda, with no more trumps in her hand, or possibly the other player, sacrificed the King of Clubs to it.
Trumps being exhausted, and the Baron having won a trick and the lead, it is his turn now to win three tricks in succession with the King, Queen, and Knave of Diamonds. At the third round of the Diamonds Belinda has left in her hand only the King and Queen of Hearts. She gives up the Queen.
Each has now four tricks. It is the Baron’s lead. If his card be best he has more tricks than the Ombre, and will winCodille. If his card be a club or a diamond—spades are played out—Belinda’s King of Hearts will be unable to follow suit. He will be taken. Thus is she “between the jaws of ruin and codille.” But should his last card be a heart—she has the best heart—
“An Ace of Hearts steps forth: the King unseenLurked in her hand, and mourned his captive Queen.He springs to vengeance with an eager pace,And falls like thunder on the prostrate Ace.The nymph exulting, fills with shouts the sky,The walls, the woods, the long canals reply.”
In addition to the stakes she won, Belinda was entitled also to the value of four counters from each of her antagonists for her sequence of fourMatadores,Spadille,Manille,Basto, and the King of Spades. Furthermore, if she had been playingSans-prendre, each of her opponents would have three counters to pay her.
[114]And, in old English could be placed like “also” in different parts of a sentence. Thus, inNymphidia,
“She hies her then to Lethe spring,A bottle and thereof doth bring.”
“She hies her then to Lethe spring,A bottle and thereof doth bring.”
[129]Atalantis, “As long as Atalantis shall be read.” Atalantis was a book of Court scandal by Mrs. De la Rivière Manley, in four volumes, entitled “Secret Memoirs and Manners of several Persons of Quality of both Sexes from the New Atalantis, an Island in the Mediterranean.” Mrs. Manley died in 1724.
[94h]Bauzon, badger. French,bausin.
[147a]Billies, fellows, used rather contemptuously.
[147f]Blellum, idle talker.
[150a]Boddle, a Scottish copper coin worth the third part of an English halfpenny; said to be named after the Mint-master who first coined it, Bothwell.
[150h]Bore, hole in the wall.
[91e]But, “without,” “but merriness,” without mirth.
[152d]Byke, hive.
[150f]Cantrip, charm, spell. Icelandic,gandr, enchantment;gand-reithrwas the witches’ ride.
[83]Can’wick Street, Candlewick, where now there is Cannon Street.
[86a]Champarty, Champartage, was a feudal levy of a share of profit from the ground (campi pars), based originally upon aid given to enable profit to be earned. Thus it became a law term for right of a stranger to fixed share in any profits that on such condition he helped a litigant to win.
[85b]Chiche vache, lean cow. Frenchchiche, Latinciccus, wretched, worthless; from Greek kíkkos, the core of a pomegranate. Worth no more than a pomegranate seed.
[94i]Cockers, rustic half-boots.
[151g]Coft, bought. German,kaufte.
[82b]Copen, buy. Dutch,koopen.
[94j]Cordiwin, or cordewane, Cordovan leather.
[89]Coueyn,coveyneconvening or conspiring of two or more to defraud.
[94f]Crank, lively. A boat was “crank” when frail, lightly and easily tossed on the waves, and liable to upset. Prof. Skeat thinks that the image of the tossed boat suggested lively movement.
[151c]Creeshie flannen, greasy flannel.
[151e]Cummock, a short staff with a crooked head.
[151f]Cutty, short; so cutty pipe, short pipe.
[85a]Darrain, decide. To “arraign” was to summonad rationesto the pleadings. To darraign wasderationare, to bring them to a decision.
[86b]Defy, digest. As in the Vision of Piers Plowman
“wyn of OssyeOf Ruyn and of Rochel, the rost to defye.”
“wyn of OssyeOf Ruyn and of Rochel, the rost to defye.”
Latin,defio=deficio, to make one’s self to be removed from something, or something to be removed from one’s self. To defy in the sense of challenging is a word of different origin,diffidere, to separate fromfides, faith, trust, allegiance to another.
[91d]Degest, orderly. To “digest” is to separate and arrange in an orderly manner.
[150e]Dirl, vibrate, echo.
[147b]Drouthy, droughty, thirsty.
[151a]Duddies, clothes.
[152e]Eldritch, also elrische, alrische, alry, having relation to elves or evil spirits, supernatural, hideous, frightful.
[152f]Ettle, endeavour, aim. Icelandic,ætla, to mean anything, design, have aim, is the Scottishettle.
[108d]Fire-drake, dragon breathing out fire.
[91b]Flicht and wary, fluctuate and change.
[92b]Frawfull fary, froward tumult.
[152c]Fyke, fuss.
[30]Fytte, a song, canto. First English,fit, a song.
When Wisdom “thas fitte asungen hæfde” had sung this song. King Alfred’s Boëthius.
[150g]Gab, mouth.
[148b]Gars, makes; “gars me greet,” makes me weep.
[147h]Gate, road. Icelandic,gata.
[35]Habergeon, small hauberk, armour for the neck. Old High German,hals, the neck;bergan, to protect.
[94d]Harlock, This plant-name occurs only here and in Shakespeare’sLear, Act iv. sc. 4, where Lear is said to be crowned “with harlocks, hemlocks, nettles, cuckoo-flowers.” Probably it is charlock,Sinapis arvensis, the mustard-plant.
[98]Hays, The hay was a French dance, with many turnings and windings.
[100]Hient Hill, Ben Hiand, in Ardnamurchan, Argyleshire.
[152a]Hotched, hitched.
[147g]Ilka, each one, every.
[85c]Infere, together.
[148c]Ingle, fire. Gaelic,aingeal, allied to Latinignis.
[95b]Keep, “take thou no keep”—heed, “never mind.”
[148f]Kirkton, familiar term for the village in which the country people had their church.
[94k]Ladysmock,Cardamine pratensis.
[93b]Leir, lore, doctrine.
[94g]Learned his sheep, taught his sheep.
[94a]Lemster, Leominster.
[95a]Lingell, a shoemaker’s thong. Latinlingula.
[151h]Linkit, tripped, moved briskly.
[108c]Lubrican, the Irish leprechaun, a fairy in shape of an old man, discovered by the moan he makes. He brings wealth, and is fixed only as long as the finder keeps his eye upon him.
[108b]Mandrake, the root of mandragora, rudely shaped like the forked animal man, and said to groan or shriek when pulled out of the earth.
[93c]Marchpine, sweet biscuit of sugar and almonds. Marchpane paste was used by comfit-makers for shaping into letters, true-love knots, birds, beasts, etc.
[130]Megrim, pain on one side of the head, headache. Frenchmigraine, from Gr.eemikranía.
[147i]Melder, milling. The quantity of meal ground at once.
[148a]Mirk, dark.
[108a]Molewarp, mole. First English,moldwearp.
[148e]Nappy, nap, strong beer.
[126]Pam, Knave of Clubs, the highest card in the game of Loo, derived from “palm,” as “trump” from “triumph.”
[137]Partridge, a maker of prophetic almanacs, who was ridiculed by Swift as type of his bad craft.
[94b]Peakish hull, hill by the Peak of Derbyshire.
[19]Pose, catarrh. First English,gepósu.
“By the pose in thy nose,And the gout in thy toes.”—Beaumont and Fletcher.
“By the pose in thy nose,And the gout in thy toes.”
—Beaumont and Fletcher.
[88b]Prow, profit. Old French,prou,preu—“Oïl voir,sire,pour vostre preu i viens.”—Garin le Loharain.
[91a]Qu, Scottish = W.Quhair, where;quhois, whose;quheill, wheel;quha,quho, who;quhat, what.
[82a]Ray, striped cloth.
[151d]Rigwoodie, tough. Rigwiddie is the rope crossing the back of a horse yoked in a cart;rig, back, andwithy, a twig. Applied to anything strong-backed.
[82c]Rise, “cherries in the rise,” cherries on the twig. First English,hris, a twig, or thin branch. The old practice of selling cherries upon shoots cut from the tree ended in their sale by pennyworths with their stalks tied to a little stick of wood. So they were sold in London when I was a boy.
[151b]Sark, shirt or shift. First English,syrc.
[94c]Setiwall, garden valerian.
[147e]Skellum, a worthless fellow. German,schelm.
[149a]Skelpit, beat the ground with strong pulsation; rode quickly; pounded along.
[150d]Skirl, sound shrill.
[147d]Slaps, breaks in walls or hedges; also narrow passes.
[149b]Smoored, smothered.
[151j]Spean, wean.
[32]Spear-hawk, sparrow-hawk. From the rootspar, to quiver or flutter, comes the name of “sparrow” and a part of the name “sparrow-hawk.”
[94e]Summerhall, Stubbs, in the “Anatomy of Abuses,” speaking of the maypole, tells how villagers, when they have reared it up, “with handkerchiefs and flags streaming on the top, they strew the ground about, bind green boughs about it, set upsummerhalls, bowers, and arbours hard by it, and then fall they to banquet and feast, and leap and dance about it.”
[148d]Swats, new ale, wort. First English,swate.
[88c]Teen, vexation, grief.
[152b]Tint, lost.
[150c]Towsie tyke, a large rough cur.
[92a]Tynsall, loss.
[147c]Unco’, uncouth, more than was known usually.
[151i]Wally,waliethriving. First English,wælig.
[91c]Warsill, wrestle.
[150b]Winnock-bunker, the window seat.
[93d]Woned, dwelt.
[17]Wottest, knowest.
[88a]Woxen, grown.
[93a]Yconned, taught.
[81]Yode, went. First English,eóde, past ofgán, to go.
[21]This old French and Anglo-Norman word, answering to the Italiangentilezza, and signifying the possession of every species of refinement, has been retained as supplying a want which there is no modern word to fill up.—Leigh Hunt.
[26]The sententious sermon which here follows might have had a purely serious intention in Chaucer’s time, when books were rare, and moralities not such commonplaces as they are now; yet it is difficult to believe that the poet did not intend something of a covert satire upon at least the sermoniser’s own pretensions, especially as the latter had declared himself against text-spinning. The Host, it is to be observed, had already charged him with forgetting his own faults, while preaching against those of others. Therefashionerof the original lines has accordingly endeavoured to retain the kind of tabernacle, or old woman’s tone, into which he conceives the Manciple to have fallen, compared with that of his narrative style.—Leigh Hunt.
[42]“We possess,” says Satan inParadise Lost, “the quarters of the north.” The old legend that Milton followed placed Satan in the north parts of heaven, following the passage in Isaiah concerning Babylon on which that legend was constructed (Isa. xiv. 12–15), “Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregationin the sides of the north.”
[49]Alluding to the “Millers Tale,” which has rather offended the Reve, by reason that it ridiculed a worthy carpenter.—R. H. H.
[50]Or thus:—
For when our climbing’s done our speech aspires;E’en in our ashes live their wonted fires.
The original lines are:—
“For whanne we may not don than wol we speken,Yet in our ashen olde is fyre yreken.”
The coincidence of the last line with the one quoted from Gray’s Elegy will be remarked. Mr. Tyrwhit says he should certainly have considered the latter as an “imitation” (of Chaucer), “if Mr. Gray himself had not referred us to the 169 Sonnet of Petrarch as his original:—
Ch’ i’ veggio nel pensier, dolce mio foco,Fredda una lingua, e duo begli occhi chiusiRimaner dopo noi pien’ di faville.
The sentiment is different in all three; but the form of expression here adopted by Gray closely resembles that of the Father of English Poetry, although in Gray’s time it was no doubt far more elegant to quote Petrarch than Chaucer.—R. H. Horne.