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Title: The Devil's picture books
Author: Van Rensselaer, John King, Mrs.
Language: English
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[Illustration: Plate 1. ]
THE
DEVIL’S PICTURE-BOOKS
A History of Playing-Cards
BY
MRS. JOHN KING VAN RENSSELAER
AUTHOR OF CROCHET LACE, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD, AND COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
_Copyright, 1890_
BY DODD, MEAD, AND COMPANY
_All rights reserved_
University Press
JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE
PREFACE.
The “Devil’s Books” was the name bestowed upon Playing-cards by the
Puritans and other pious souls who were probably in hopes that this
name would alarm timid persons and so prevent their use. Whether or
not his Satanic Majesty originated Playing-cards, we have no means
of discovering; but it is more probable that he only inspired their
invention, and placed them in the hands of mankind, who have eagerly
adopted this simple means of amusing themselves, and have used it
according to the good or evil which predominated in their own breasts.
Many learned men have written books or treatises on Playing-cards,
and I am indebted for a large part of the information contained in
this history to “Les Cartes à Jouer,” by M. Paul la Croix; “Facts
and Speculations about Playing-cards,” by Mr. Chatto; “The History
of Playing-cards,” by the Rev. Edward Taylor; and “The History of
Playing-cards,” by Mr. Singer.
These books are now out of print, and somewhat difficult to obtain;
and I hope, by bringing into a small compass the principal features
set forth in them, I shall be able to place before a number of readers
interesting facts that would be otherwise unobtainable.
Hearty thanks are due to the custodians of the National Museum in
Washington, who have aided me in every way in their power, and also
to the many kind friends who have sought far and wide for unique and
uncommon packs of cards, and helped materially by gathering facts
relating to them for me.
That many nations have cards peculiar to their own country and almost
unknown beyond its boundaries may be a matter of surprise to some;
that such ordinary and familiar objects as Playing-cards should
have a history, will astonish others. My hope is that the subject
will interest my readers as it has done me. Any facts concerning
Playing-cards or any communications relating to rare or curious packs
will be gladly received by the author, who would like to add to her
collection.
M. K. VAN RENSSELAER.
NEW YORK, 1890.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
THE TAROTS, OR THE FIRST CARDS 11
CHESS 21
ENGRAVING 33
MATERIALS 41
NAME 49
CLASSIFICATION OF PACKS OF CARDS INTO SUITS 55
CARDS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, VIZ.:—
CHINA 65
EGYPT 69
INDIA 70
CASHMERE 74
PERSIA 77
ITALY 80
GERMANY 83
SPAIN 88
FRANCE 90
ENGLAND 102
AMERICA 112
JAPAN 131
THE KING 139
THE QUEEN 151
THE KNAVE 161
ACES AND OTHER CARDS 171
USE AND ABUSE 179
PIPS, SUITS, AND COLOURS 191
ODDS AND ENDS 201
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PLATE
PERSIAN 1
TAROT 2
TAROT 3
CHINESE 4
CASHMERE. Cards owned by Lockwood de Forest, Esq. 5, 6
ITALIAN CARDS SHOWING THE SUITS OF SWORDS, MACES,
MONEY, AND CUPS. Owned by Mrs. J. K. Van Rensselaer 7
GERMAN CARDS SHOWING THE ACES OF GRÜN, ROTH, SCHELLEN,
AND HERZEN. Owned by Mrs. J. K. Van Rensselaer 8
REMAINS OF THE PACK SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN USED BY
CHARLES VII. OF FRANCE, DATE 1425. In the Cabinet
des Estampes, Paris, France 9
ELIZABETH OF YORK 10
CARDS FOUND BY MR. CHATTO IN A BLACK-LETTER VOLUME
FORMERLY IN THE CATHEDRAL LIBRARY, AT PETERBOROUGH,
ENGLAND. Now in the Print Room of the
British Museum 11
FOUND IN AN OLD EDITION OF CLAUDIAN, EARLY ENGLISH 12
CARDS ON WHICH INVITATIONS WERE WRITTEN. Owned by
Mrs. Ten Eyck and Miss Crowninshield. Date 1763 13
GEOGRAPHICAL CARDS. Owned by Richard H. Derby, Esq.,
M.D. Date 1795 14
NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN CARDS, APACHE TRIBE. Cut out
of Deerskin and painted by themselves. National Museum,
Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 15, 16, 17
NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN GAMBLING-STICKS, HAIDA TRIBE,
QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS. Carved on Cubes of Wood.
National Museum, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 18, 19
NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN GAMBLING-STICKS, ALASKA TRIBE.
Painted on Cubes of Wood. National Museum, Washington,
D.C., U.S.A. 20
JAPANESE CARDS, EACH ONE REPRESENTING A WEEK IN THE
YEAR. Owned by Mrs. J. K. Van Rensselaer 21, 22, 23, 24
THE DEVIL’S PICTURE-BOOKS
“_The Ladies arm-in-arm in clusters,
As great and gracious a’ as sisters;_
* * * * *
_On lee-lang nights, wi’ crabbit leuks,
Pore owre the devil’s pictured beuks._”
BURNS.
THE DEVIL’S PICTURE-BOOKS.
THE TAROTS.
A youth of frolic, an old age of cards.
HONE: _Every-Day Book_, ii. 98.
The origin of Playing-cards and their inventor is still a subject of
speculation, and will probably remain forever undiscovered. Almost
every country in Europe has through her scholars laid claim to having
been the first to use cards; and many documentary and other proofs have
been brought forward to substantiate their assertions, which are based
upon ancient laws, common traditions, or contemporary illustrations.
That cards were brought from the East to Europe about the time of the
Crusades, and probably by the home-returning warriors, who imported
many of the newly acquired customs and habits of the Orient into their
own countries, seems to be a well established fact; and it does not
contradict the statement made by some writers, who declare that the
gypsies—who about that time began to wander over Europe—brought with
them and introduced cards, which they used, as they do at the present
day, for divining the future. Cards may well have become known by both
means, and they spread rapidly over all of what was then considered the
only civilized part of the world; and the proofs that have been brought
forward show that they were known nearly simultaneously in Italy,
Spain, France, Germany, and England, and point to a common origin not
to be found in any one of these countries.
[Illustration: Plate 2.]
The first cards known in Europe, and which were named _Tarots_,
_Tarocchi_, etc., seem to differ in almost every respect from those
of the fifteenth century, although these probably inspired their
invention. The latter resemble much more those of the present day than
they do the original Tarots. The first packs consisted of seventy-eight
cards,—that is, of four suits of numeral cards; and besides these there
were twenty-two emblematical pictured cards, which were called _Atous_,
or _Atouts_,—a word which M. Duchesne, a French writer, declares
signifies “above all.” This word used in French has the same meaning
as our word _Trump_. The marks which distinguish the Tarot suits are
usually _Swords_, _Cups_, _Sticks_, and _Money_; and each one consists
of fourteen cards, ten of which are “pips” and three or four “coat”
cards,—namely, King, Queen, Knight, and Knave. The Queen was not always
admitted. These suits seem to be the origin of the modern packs; and
the emblems used on them have been adopted in many countries where the
_Atout_ part was discarded while the rest of the pack with its original
symbols was retained.
Mr. Singer gives a graphic description of these cards and the games
to be played with them, and says that “among different nations the
suits [as will be hereafter shown] are distinguished by marks peculiar
to themselves, while only the general features of the numbered cards
headed by figures or court cards have been retained.”
The second division of the Tarot pack, called _Atouts_, are numbered
up to twenty-one, each of these having its proper value; and besides
all these there is one, not numbered and not belonging to the division
of the suit cards, which is called a _Fou_, and in playing the game
is designated _Mat_, or _il Matto_. This “Joker,” as we should term
it, has no value of its own, but augments that of any of the Atouts to
which it may be joined, and is sometimes played instead of a Queen,
being then called “her Excuse.”
These Atouts are each represented by a print which is supposed to
resemble some character, and the name is generally placed on the card.
Among them are an Emperor, a Cupid, a Chariot, a Hermit, a Gallows,
Death, The Day of Judgment, a Pope, Fortune, Temperance, Justice, the
Moon, the Sun, etc. The order in which they are placed is not always
the same, and is seemingly unimportant. The game may be played by two
or four persons. “The one who holds the ‘Fool’ regains his stake; ‘La
Force’ (or Strength) takes twice as much from the pool, while ‘La Mort’
(or Death) most appropriately sweeps the board.”
It is said that the distribution of the suit cards has a peculiar
signification. Each one is distinguished by an emblem which represents
the four classes into which communities were once divided. First comes
the Churchman, represented by the Chalice (or Copas); next in rank, the
Warrior, whose emblem is the Sword; third, the Merchant, symbolized
by a Coin; and fourth, the Workman with his Staff. It will be shown
hereafter that almost all writers on the subject allow the possibility
of the divisions of the suits being shown in the cards.
The earliest known specimens of these Tarot cards are now to be found
in the Cabinet des Estampes in Paris, and are supposed to have formed
part of the pack which was painted for King Charles the Seventh of
France in 1393, to cheer and amuse him during an illness which had been
caused by a _coup-de-soleil_ in 1392, and which made him a melancholy
but not a dangerous lunatic. M. Paul la Croix describes these Tarots
as having been most delicately painted and resembling in treatment the
illuminations of manuscripts. They are on a golden background on which
dots forming an ornamental pattern were impressed. A border of silver
surrounded and as it were framed each picture, through which a dotted
line twisted spirally like a ribbon. M. la Croix points out that this
dotted line, in his language technically termed a _tare_ (which also
means a “fault” or “defect”), was a sort of fluting produced by small
holes pricked into the substance of which the cards were made, and
fancies that to these Tares the Tarots owe their name. Other writers,
however, dispute this derivation of the word, and discover new ones for
themselves which are generally quite as fanciful and far-fetched.
These well preserved Tarots are eighteen centimetres by nine, and
are painted in water colours on a thin card. The composition of the
figures is ingenious and artistic. The drawing is correct and full
of character, and the colours are still brilliant. A narrow border
of black and white checks surrounds each one. This border is a piece
of checkered paper pasted on the back of the card and neatly folded
over its edge as if to protect it, showing on the face of the card and
forming a frame for the pictures. This fashion of having a checkered
or diapered back was closely followed in many of the countries where
cards have been used; and these backs are still seen, although this
old pattern (which, as will hereafter be seen, had probably a very
interesting origin) has been generally discarded, and each card-maker
adopts a different device with which to decorate the backs of his cards
according to his own fancy. In France the backs are generally plain,
and coloured red, pink, or blue. In Spain the pattern is dotted on the
surface in lines and circles, while in other countries interlaced and
meaningless designs are employed.
[Illustration: Plate 3.]
Packs of cards closely resembling the original Tarots are still to be
found in some parts of Switzerland, Germany, and Alsace, where they are
used by the peasantry in the districts which are not much frequented
by travellers; but they are unknown to the rest of the world except as
curiosities. They are, however, the sole representatives of the cards
which the Crusaders or the gypsies brought into Europe, and which the
latter use whenever possible to divine the future or recall the past.
Some writers point to the eastern origin of these Tarots, because in
them “Death” is numbered thirteen, and the idea of fatality or bad luck
attached to that number is essentially Oriental; and they declare that
the fact that the emblematical Atouts are numbered from low to high,
just as certain Asiatic alphabets are written from left to right, may
cover a similar interpretation.
CHESS.
Almost all writers on Cards have admitted the strong resemblance they
bear to Chess; and M. Paul la Croix declares that in comparatively
modern times the game of chess and games of cards showed strikingly
similar features, which demonstrated their common origin,—the art of
painting being resorted to to depict the one, and that of sculpture to
represent the other.
A pretty history of the origin of Chess has been related. It states
that the game was invented for the amusement of an Oriental potentate,
and was played with living figures, who were required to move at the
word of command from one square to another of a huge tiled court-yard
which was surrounded by the balconies of the palace and its harem,
from which all the movements of the pieces on the pavement below could
be watched by the sovereign and his court. Living games of Chess have
been played for amusement or “sweet charity’s sake” even in modern
times; but such cumbersome pieces must have been difficult to manage,
and it was only natural that the ingenious mind which contrived living
chessmen should soon have superseded them with figures carved in a
convenient material such as wood or ivory, and then placed the mimic
armies on a miniature battle-field which could be easily commanded by
two or more players.
The Eastern origin of Chess is undisputed, but when and by whom it was
introduced into Europe is unknown. According to Herodius, the Lydians
suffered from a long and severe famine in the reign of Atys, and in
order to forget their misery, invented many games, particularly dice.
Previous writers attribute the invention of games of chance to the
Greeks during the siege of Troy, and Cicero mentions _games_ in the
camp; but it does not follow that these games were either chess, cards,
or dice. They may have been knuckle-bones or jack-stones, as that game
was known in very early days, and pictures representing persons playing
with them have been found among Egyptian antiquities.
It has been asserted positively by the oldest traditions that the cards
of Indian origin are only chessmen transferred to paper on which the
principal pieces of the game are reproduced, the game being improved by
admitting more than two players.
In the game of Chess there are generally only two armies of pawns, each
one being commanded by a King, a Vizir (which in the lapse of years
has become a Queen), a Knight, an Elephant (which became a fool and
after that a Bishop), and a Dromedary (afterward a Castle); and the
game shows a striking similarity to the Indian games of cards, which
have eight companies distinguished by their colours and emblems, and
of which each one has their King, their Vizir, and their Elephant. The
two games differ, of course; but sufficient resemblances between them
remain to show their common origin, which recalls the terrible game of
war, in which each adversary must assault, manœuvre, make combinations,
and exert eternal vigilance.
We learn from a most reliable source (Abel de Rémusat, Journal
asiatique, September, 1822) that playing-cards came to Europe from
India and China, and that, like the game of Chess, they were known
to the Arabians and the Saracens from the beginning of the twelfth
century. At first these games found little popular favour, most
probably because they were introduced at a period when civil and
ecclesiastical authorities most positively forbade all games of chance.
From India Chess spread gradually to other countries. The Persians seem
to have known it about the middle of the sixth century; and Singer, in
his “History of Playing-cards,” states that it reached China at nearly
the same period, and in the reign of the Emperor Wa-si.
There are such striking resemblances between the figures used in Chess
and those on cards as to leave very little doubt where the inspiration
for the latter originated.
Beautiful circular cards made of ivory have been found, on which the
figures are painted as if the artist were unable to carve the forms
that he desired to represent, and therefore was obliged to paint them
on a flat surface. These cards are small disks, which might easily be
placed on the squares of a board and moved from one to the other like
chessmen. The advantage of commanding a concealed army instead of one
spread out on an open field probably soon became apparent, and the
result was that some slight changes in the shape of the pictured figure
and the material used were soon made, which with various modifications
have come down to us as the modern playing-card.
If a study is made of some of the different packs of Chinese cards,
it will be seen that horses, deer, and other animals are represented
on them, together with symbols which seem to mark the suits. In other
packs, instead of the figure of the animal, Chinese characters are
placed above the symbol marking the suit, which characters seem to have
been put there instead of the picture, and which it is affirmed state,
“This is the horse,” or “This one is the deer,” as the case may be,—as
if on one of our court cards the legend “This is the Queen” should
be written on its face, instead of placing there the quaintly garbed
female form which usually represents that august person.
We find the principal figures from the chess-board reproduced in the
Tarots, and also in some of the Spanish and German packs. There is
the King, the Knight, or mounted horseman, and the Knave. The pawns
or common soldiers are represented by numbers; but there is this
difference between Cards and the game of Chess as it is generally
played,—in the former there are four armies, or as we should call them
“suits,” and each one is headed by the King instead of the two sides
generally seen in Chess. Now, Mr. Chatto remarks that there is an
Indian game of Chess which is called _Chaturanga_, or “The Four Kings,”
in which two allied armies play against the same opponents. He also
gives a few rules for this game. “Having marked eight squares on all
sides,” says the Sage, “place the _red_ army to the east, the _green_
to the south, the _yellow_ to the west, and the _black_ to the north.”
It is worthy of notice that these colours form the ground of four of
the suits of one of the divisions of an eight-suit pack of Hindostanee
cards; and this supports the theory that the painted ivory disks might
have originally been used on the chess-board and then held in the
hand. This strange Indian game of Chess would also point to the first
division of the mimic warriors into four armies, each one distinguished
by its uniform of different colours, which when placed in the cards
became known as “suits.” This word was probably derived from the French
_en suite_, which signifies “to follow.”
There is another game known in which two chess-boards are joined.
“It is played by two persons on each side, each of whom is concerned
to defend his own game at the same time that he co-operates with his
ally to distress by every means in his power the two armies opposed
to them.” “Four-handed Chess” is described in Hoyle’s Book of Games,
which illustrates a board with one hundred and sixty squares. The game
is played with four sets of chessmen, coloured, respectively, white,
black, red, and green, like those of the Indian game.
The Queen, both in Chess and Cards, has a European if not an entirely
French origin. She takes the place of the Eastern Vizir, or General;
and it may be particularly remarked that in the game of Chess she
is more of an Amazon or Joan of Arc than the consort of a reigning
monarch. Her height also is excessive for a woman, in proportion to
the other pieces, and her active duties of harassing the enemy and
protecting her slow-moving husband while leading his army to battle
show that although she is called a Queen she is usurping the position
of a general, who could more appropriately fill this important, active,
and warlike place than she can.
In the Card Kingdom the Queen is a much more lifelike and womanly
person, as in it she aids and abets her sovereign lord and master, and
is generally meekly subordinate to him.
While drawing attention to the resemblances between the games of
Chess and of Cards, we must not forget to notice a slight but perhaps
important fact; and that is that all the ancient packs had _checkered_
backs, as if the little army were loath to leave the old battle-field,
but transferred it to their backs, and exposed that to the gaze of
the opponent instead of standing in battle-array upon it. The oldest
existing packs or Tarots retain these checkered backs; and some authors
have decided that _Tarot_ means “checkered,” and that the name is
derived from this circumstance.
The author of “Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum,” Mr.
W. H. Wiltshire, derides the idea that cards derive their origin from
the chessmen, and points out the fact that “in all such games there are
certain approximations, although hardly enough to establish an identity
of origin. Chess,” he says, “is a game of calculation and combinations;
cards are purely chance.” This seems hardly a fair objection, as there
are many games of cards that call for calculations and combinations,
some of them requiring much thought and study, although on the other
hand there are many that may be played mechanically and without
bestowing much thought upon them. Mr. Wiltshire also declares “that in
Chess the pieces are exposed and the positions equalized, while the
cards are hidden, and the cleverest person may be beaten by a novice
without having made one trick.” Some particular game of cards may have
been in the author’s mind when he made this statement; but there are a
great many card games about which it would not be true.
ENGRAVING.
The order obtained in 1441 by the master card-makers of Venice from
their Senate which prohibited the introduction into that city of “large
quantities of cards printed and painted outside of Venice,” should be
particularly noticed, as printed cards are especially mentioned as well
as painted ones; and this points to the fact that there was in use some
process besides the original one of painting or stencilling when the
cards of that period were being manufactured.
The fragments of the French packs which show by many marks but
particularly by their costumes that they were executed about the time
of Charles the Seventh, were possibly some of the first efforts of the
wood-engraver. They were probably produced between the years 1420 and
1440,—that is, before the greater part of the xylographies now known.
The first pictures produced by printing with blocks of wood were
probably used as playing-cards; and this is an invention which is very
much older than that of printing with movable types.
By the middle of the fifteenth century cards had spread all over
Europe, and necessity called for an economical process by which they
might be rapidly as well as cheaply produced.
In 1392 three packs of Tarots were painted for the King of France
by Jacquemin Gringonneur, for which he received fifty-six sols
parisis,—that is to say, about one hundred and seventy francs, or
thirty-four dollars.
A single pack of Tarots, which were charmingly painted about 1415 by
Marziano, Secretary to the Duc de Milan, cost fifteen thousand écus
d’or (about five hundred dollars); and in 1454 a pack of cards intended
for a dauphin of France cost only fourteen or fifteen francs, or three
dollars. In the thirty years which had elapsed it is evident that a
cheap process of manufacturing cards had been discovered.
Cards had also become merchandise, and were sold at the same time as
counters, or _épingles_; and from the latter is derived the French
expression “tirer son épingle de jeu.”
It has generally been conceded that the Chinese understood the art of
wood-engraving long before it was practised in Europe. Marco Polo, who
visited China about the middle of the thirteenth century, describes, in
his interesting book of travels, a mode of printing or stamping with
coloured ink; and it is probable that printing from a block was also
known to the Chinese at that time.
Authorities do not agree about which are the first specimens of
wood-engraving, but it is more than probable that a rude picture of
Saint Christopher carrying the infant Jesus, which is dated 1425, is
one of the earliest specimens of the art. This curious and interesting
print was discovered pasted in the cover of a manuscript in the library
of the Chartreuse at Buxheim in Suabia. Mr. Singer gives a description
of the infancy of the xylographic art, and says that the demand for
playing-cards increased so rapidly after their introduction into the
European countries that it became imperative to manufacture them at a
moderate price; and thus wood-engraving became of consequence, and its
productions soon became a most important article of commerce.
It is probable that at first the wood-engravers produced only small
pictures of saints, influenced no doubt by their priestly surroundings,
as nearly all of the early wood-cuts which have been found are of pious
subjects; and they were probably executed by the inhabitants of the
religious houses, who were at the time the educated men of the day.
These early engravings are printed on paper of the shape, size, and
style of the earliest known playing-cards. The saints’ pictures always
bore a small streamer or ribbon, on which the name of the holy person
represented was written. On the early specimens of playing-cards names
are always placed beside the heads of the court cards; and this may
have been necessary in order to distinguish the saint from the king,
as it is possible that the engraver may have used the same figures to
represent not only the holy personages, but also the members of the
royal card family, and they could be distinguished only by the names
written beside them.
An old chronicler of the city of Ulm, of about the year 1397, states
that playing-cards have been sent in bundles to Italy, Sicily,
and other southern countries in exchange for groceries and other
merchandise; and it may have been this exportation of cards from
Germany, which probably increased most rapidly, that called for the
edict forbidding the importation of cards into Venice in 1441. It also
points to their having been manufactured in quantities even before
1423, the date of the earliest known wood-cut.
Cards were not only produced by hand-painting, stencilling, or
wood-engraving, but really artistic and beautifully executed cards
were engraved on copper, in 1466, by an artist known as Le Maître (the
Master), but by no other name.
Only a few specimens of these unique cards are now to be found in some
museums, and the series is not complete. According to calculation, they
should consist of seventy cards, containing five suits instead of four,
with fourteen cards in each suit and four figures or court cards to
each one. The face cards are the King, Queen, Knight, and Knave; and
the marks show a bizarre collection of savages, wild beasts, birds of
prey, and flowers. They are grouped and numbered and arranged in such a
way as to be easily distinguished and sorted into the correct suits.
In 1463 the card-makers of England endeavoured to protect themselves
from the foreign importation of cards, and they must have been a
somewhat influential guild even at that early date to require and
receive this protection from the Government; but no cards have been
discovered that were undoubtedly of English manufacture of that period.
MATERIALS.
The process of manufacturing Playing-cards now deserves attention. It
seems that the first packs of Tarots which have been preserved were
made of two pieces of cardboard, and were afterward pasted together.
The backs had a checkered pattern designed on them, and were placed so
as to overlap the face; and the diapered edge was carefully pasted down
and formed a protection and a frame to the pictured side.
It may be as well to quote here the graphic account given by Mr. Chatto
in his “Facts and Speculations on Playing-cards.” He says:—
“The following account of the manner of making cards at the manufactory
of Messrs. de la Rue & Co. of London is extracted from Bradshaw’s
Journal, April 16, 1842:—
“‘The first object that engages our attention is the preparation of
the paper intended to be formed into cards. It is found that ordinary
paper when submitted to pressure acquires a certain degree of polish,
but not sufficient for playing-cards of the finest quality. In order,
therefore, that it may admit of the high finish which is afterwards
imparted, the paper is prepared by a white enamel colour consisting
of animal size and other compounds. This substance, which renders the
paper impermeable to the atmosphere, is laid on with a large brush and
left to dry.
“‘The paper being ready for use, we proceed to explain the printing of
the fronts of the cards, which are technically distinguished as _pips_
and _têtes_.
“‘To commence with the simpler, the pip (that is, the Hearts, Diamonds,
Spades, and Clubs), sets of blocks are produced, each containing forty
engravings of one card; and as the ordinary method of letterpress
printing is employed, forty impressions of one card are obtained at the
same moment. As the pips bear but one colour, black or red, they are
worked together at the hand-press or steam-printing machine.
“‘For the têtes, however (or court cards), which with the outline
contain five colours,—dark blue, light blue, black, red, and yellow,—a
somewhat different contrivance is employed. The colours are printed
separately, and are made to fit into each other with great nicety,
in the same manner as in printing silks or paper-hangings. For this
purpose a series of blocks are provided which if united would form the
figure intended to be produced. By printing successively from these
blocks, the different colours fall into their proper places until the
whole process is completed. After the printing is done the sheets are
carried into a drying-room heated to 80° Fahrenheit, and are allowed to
remain there three or four days, in order to fix the colours.’”
In France the card generally consists of two pieces of paper, but
in England a more substantial article is required. It is generally
four sheets thick,—that is, the foreside and the back, and two inside
layers of an inferior description. The pasting of these sheets together
requires care and clever manipulation. After the sheets are pasted
together, they are thoroughly dried, enamelled, and then cut into
cards which are sorted by being laid out on a table about two hundred
at a time, until all the cards that constitute a pack are spread out;
so that by this operation two hundred packs are completed almost
simultaneously. The best cards are called Moguls; the others, Harrys
and Highlanders.
Paper was almost a necessity in card-making; and England could not
have provided it when cards were first made there, as the art of
paper-making was unknown before the reign of Henry the Seventh, who
lived from 1485 to 1509. Even as late as the days of Queen Anne, paper
was imported from Germany for the purpose.
Many other materials have been used in manufacturing cards besides
paper. As has been mentioned, beautiful packs have been painted on
ivory or mother of pearl. Parchment and leather have been often used;
thin tablets of wood and large leaves have been pressed into service,
as well as stout paper which was neither card nor pasteboard. The
Chinese and Hindoos sometimes used a cotton paper so stout and smooth
as to make it most suitable for the purpose; and the curious wooden
sticks carved with distinguishing figures used by the Haida Indians
show perhaps the most peculiar materials used in the manufacture of
games.
Mr. Chatto mentions a pack of Hindostanee cards in the Museum of the
Royal Asiatic Society which are made of canvas, and are said to be a
thousand years old. He says: “On first handling them they seem to be
made of thin veneers of wood. These cards are circular; and the figures
or marks appear to be executed by hand, not printed nor stencilled.”
The Malays use cards made of cocoanut or palm-tree leaves, which are
first well dried, and the symbols or distinctive characters are then
traced on the leaf with an iron style.
A story in the “History of the Conquest of Florida,” by Garcilasso
de la Vega, relates that “the soldiers who were engaged in that
expedition, having burnt all their cards after the battle of Manoila
(about 1542), made themselves new ones of parchment, which they painted
admirably as if they had followed the business all their lives; but as
they either could not or would not make so many as were wanted, players
had the cards in turn for a limited time.”
Such fragile and thin materials have sometimes been used in the
production of cards that dealing was difficult and shuffling
impossible. One very beautiful pack has been produced, and is preserved
in the South Kensington Museum in London, which was embroidered on silk.
Such materials as gold, silver, and tortoise-shell, and even small
tiles have been used in the manufacture of cards; but when made from
these materials they have been difficult to handle, and have been
regarded only as curiosities; and at the present day thick pasteboard,
either highly enamelled or quite without glaze of any kind, is in
general use all over the world.
NAME.
The first positive mention of Playing-cards is in a manuscript by
Nicholas de Covellezzo, which is preserved among the Archives of
Viterbo. “In 1379,” says the Chronicler, “playing-cards were introduced
in Viterbo. These came from the country of the Saracens, and were
called _Naïb_.” The Italians have for centuries called their cards
_Naibi_, and in Spain they are still named _Naypes_.
M. la Croix remarks that in Arabic the word _Naïb_ signifies “captain,”
and declares that this name proves the military origin of Cards, and
points to their connection with Chess.
Mr. Taylor, in his work on Playing-cards, quotes from the
above-mentioned manuscript by Nicholas de Covellezzo, which records
the introduction of cards into Italy, and says: “The use of the term
_Naïb_ in Italy for cards is one of the strongest proofs of their
introduction into Europe by the gypsies. To this day they are called in
Spain _Naypes_, which is clearly a corruption of the Arabic _Nabi_, ‘a
prophet;’ and we have therefore the significant fact that cards have
been and are still called in Spain by a title which fortune-tellers
(gypsies, in fact) might easily be supposed to claim.”
Mr. Singer quotes from various authorities to show the derivation of
the word _Naipes_, and says that “it may mean ‘flat’ or ‘even,’” which
would describe a card; and also that the Hebrew word _Naibes_ denotes
“sorcery, fortune-telling, prediction,” etc.
Mr. Chatto derives the same word from one found in Hindostanee,
_Na-eeb_ or _Naib_, which signifies a viceroy, lieutenant, or deputy,
and says: “As the game of Chess was known in Hindostan by the name of
‘The Four Kings,’ if cards were suggested by Chess and invented in
the same country, the supposition that they might have been called
_Chatier-Nawaub_, ‘The Four Viceroys,’ as the cognate game of Chess
was called ‘The Four Kings,’ and that this name subsequently became
changed into _Chartati-Naib_, is at least as probable as the derivation
of _Naipes_ from _N. P._, the initials of Nicolas Pepin, their supposed
inventor;” which derivation is gravely given by another author.
It is only in Italy that the old name of _Naipes_ or _Naibi_ is
retained. In Portugal the word has become corrupted into _Naipe_;
in Spain, _Naypes_ or _Naipes_. In France cards are called _Cartes
à jouer_; and a pack is named a _Jeu_. In Germany they are termed
_Briefe_ and _Karten_ and _Spielkarten_. In Holland the name is
_Kaarten_ or _Speelkaarten_; in Denmark, _Kort_ or _Spelkort_; and in
Russia, _Kartu_. The term _Alea_, which was frequently employed in
ancient ordinances and laws, seems to cover all games of chance, and is
not used to signify playing-cards alone. The derivation of the English
word _card_ from the French _carte_ is too plain to require further
comment.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF PACKS OF CARDS INTO SUITS.
Ever since the fifteenth century evidences of the existence and
popularity of cards have been found in Italy, Spain, Germany, and
France.
The names, colours, emblems, number, and form change with the countries
or caprices of the card-makers; but what are termed _Cartes Tarots_ or
_Cartes Françaises_ are always the original cards which came from the
East, and which are in a greater or less degree faithful imitations of
the still more ancient game of Chess.
It is related that on the 5th of March, 1423, Saint Bernardin, of
Sienna, addressed a crowd which had assembled before a church in that
place, and inveighed with such energy and eloquence against all games
of chance that his hearers rushed to search for their dice, their
chess, and their cards, and lighting a large bonfire, immolated them on
the spot.
One man stood by who watched mournfully the movements of the frantic
crowd, and then bursting into tears cried out to the preacher:
“Father,” quoth he, “I make cards. I have no other work by which I can
make a livelihood; by stopping my profession, you condemn me to starve.”
“If painting is the only thing you can do for a living,” replied
the preacher, “take this picture [showing him the sacred monogram
surrounded by brilliant rays] and copy it.”
The workman followed this advice, and became wealthy by reproducing it.
This tale shows how well established the use of cards was in the
fifteenth century; and specimens of the cards of that period are still
in existence, and at once strike the observing student with the fact
that the four great divisions or suits exist (although with different
symbols) in almost all the known packs.
It is probable that in France the Tarots were used for many years
exactly as they were when first introduced into that country, until the
rearrangement of the pack by the French courtiers for the convenience
of their demented sovereign. When this ingenious condensation of the
original pack took place, the symbols of the Orient were discarded, and
the adapter chose two colours to represent the different suits, and
placed _les Cœurs_ (Hearts), _les Carreaux_ (Diamonds), _les Piques_
(Spades), _les Trifles_ (Clubs), as the symbols that marked them
instead of those on the Tarots, which were _Denari_ (Money), _Spade_
(Swords), _Coppe_ (Cups), and _Bastoni_ (Maces). These devices were not
distinguished by particular colours; and it is only when the French
cards have been copied and adapted that we find the distinctive colours
_red_ and _black_ marking the divisions of the suits.
Playing-cards without doubt reached Germany through Italy, but during
their journey toward the north they lost their Eastern character and
their Saracenic name almost at once. They never seem to have been
called _Naïb_, or by any name resembling that word. The first mention
of cards in Germany calls them _Briefe_; that is to say, _letters_. The
first card-makers were named _Brief-maler_.
The Germans composed symbols to mark the suits for themselves,
and rejected the Eastern ones, and were probably unconscious that
such devices as Hearts, Diamonds, etc., existed on the cards of the
neighbouring country; for intercourse in those days was not rapid, and
each kingdom was as independent of its fellow as if oceans divided
them. M. la Croix says that the Germans “with their love of symbolism
discovered a vegetable as well as a military signification in the
original game of cards.” While making important changes, they retained
a little of their warlike character in their symbols and figures, and
placed among them some designs inspired by the vegetable world. The
devices with them signified the triumphs and the honours of war, and
they discarded the weapons of the East, the Swords and the Staves, and
disdained the sordid money and the priestly chalice, and adopted sprays
of oak and of ivy as if intended for victors’ wreaths, and chose tiny
bells, or _grelots_, as distinctive marks, as these were among the most
important signs of German nobility, and borne by them among the other
heraldic marks, and considered most honourable emblems. These symbols
gave a more peaceful aspect to the ancient warlike game.
The names of the German suits are _Schellen_ (Bells), _Hertzen_
(Hearts), _Grün_ (Green), and _Eicheln_ (Acorns). It is not now known
at what period these symbols which have become a distinguishing
character of the German cards were adopted, but during part of the
fifteenth century other objects were also represented on their cards;
and the different marks quarrelled with the others and strove to be
generally adopted, but without success, as those named above have
been the only ones in use for many generations, although they are
now being gradually superseded by the French designs, which among
English-speaking nations are known as Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and
Spades.
Some ancient German packs which have been preserved are not only
very remarkable for the beautiful workmanship lavished on their
production and as handsome specimens of the engraver’s art, but are
also curious because they contain five suits instead of the ordinary
four. These were divided into _Hares_, _Parrots_, _Pinks_, _Roses_, and
_Columbines_, with the usual King, Queen, Knight, and Knave in each
suit. These cards were executed in the fifteenth century in the city
of Cologne. Other packs of engraved cards made about the latter end of
the fifteenth century in Germany had their suits marked by animals,
flowers, and birds, and were not coloured, the symbols marking the
suits without other aid. The mark of the _Grün_, or Leaf, in the German
card resembles in shape the Hearts and Spades of the French. The shape
of all these pips is closely analogous; and the Heart provided with a
short handle and called a Spade or given a long stem and named a Leaf
must originally have had a common origin, all knowledge of which is
lost in the mists of the Middle Ages.
The Pique may have received its name of Spade in its English home,
not, as some authors fancy, because the word was a corruption of
the Spanish _Espadas_, but because it resembled in shape the spade
or shovel which was in use in England when cards first made their
appearance there. M. la Croix fancies the shape of the _Heart_
resembles a shield, and points to this as supporting his claim that the
designs on the cards had a military origin. Among the miners in some
parts of England _Diamonds_ are frequently called _Picks_, owing to
their resemblance to the head of that tool. M. la Croix also declares
that _les Cœurs_ were the symbols placed on the cards by the French
adapter, in order to do honour to his friend Jacques Cœur, a merchant
of the day whose trade with the East might have been the means of
introducing the cards into France, and fancies that _les Trifles_
denoted “the heraldic plant of Agnes Sorel,”—the King’s mistress, who
had adopted the humble clover-leaf as her badge as a sort of pun upon
her own name; the French word _sorel_ signifying the plant the leaves
of which bear some resemblance to the _Trifle_ on the cards.
The _Grelots_ on the German cards may have been copied from the
“Hawk-bell,”—a favourite mark of nobility, and one which it was
considered an honour to be able to display among the symbols on the
coat of arms. Bells were also an insignia of rank in India; and some
writers have pointed out that the Germans might have copied the devices
on their cards from Hindoo packs, as well as from the better known
Tarots or Saracen cards. Bells have always been favourite decorations;
and their use dates back to the hangings of the Temple, where the
fringes which adorned the curtains and the garments of the high-priest
were ornamented with bells.
In a beautiful pack of Hindoo cards mentioned by Mr. Singer seven
suits were found, consisting of _Suns_ represented by golden disks,
_Moons_ or silver circles, _Crowns_, _Cushions_, _Harps_, _Letters_,
and _Swords_. These cards closely resemble the Tarots, and may have
originated in a common source. In some of the Hindoo packs the suits
are distinguished by a colour as well as by the form of the symbol.
Although parts of packs which from the devices they bear may have been
imported from Germany or Spain, and which seem to have been well used,
are preserved in the British Museum, having been found in England, only
cards of French origin have been universally used there, and they have
held undisputed sway from the middle of the fifteenth century, when
the distinctive colours of red and black, and the emblems of Hearts,
Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs were generally adopted, and have remained
nearly unchanged from that time to the present. There was no attempt to
shade the pips or the figures and faces of the court cards at any time
in England, and the outlines were simply coloured and laid on in solid
blocks. The French have changed their figures, and shaded their faces,
and made their pips slightly more symmetrical in shape; but they are
very nearly the same as when originally designed by the clever-fingered
French courtier.
[Illustration: Plate 4.]
CARDS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.
CHINA.
As has been already mentioned, the invention of Playing-cards has been
claimed at many places; each writer setting forth the pretensions of
his own country to this honour to the best of his ability, and each one
with seemingly good authority for his statements.
It is certain that the Chinese point in triumph to the longest pedigree
for their game, and they quote extensively from their own authors
as proof of this fact; and until some European well versed in their
language can dispute this claim, it may be as well to allow it.
Mr. Chatto says that cards appear to have been known from an
early period in China. There is a Chinese dictionary, entitled
“Ching-tsze-tung,” compiled by Eul-Kowng, and first published A. D.
1678; which says that the cards now known in China as _Teen-tsze-pae_,
or “dotted cards,” were invented in the reign of Leun-ho, 1120, and
that they began to be common in the reign of Kaow-tsung, who ascended
the throne in 1131. According to tradition, they were devised for the
amusement of Leun-ho’s wives.
The general name for cards in China is _Che-pae_, or “paper-tickets.”
At first they were called _Ya-pae_, or “bone-tickets,” from the
material of which they were made. Several varieties of cards seem to
be in use in China. One pack that is described by Mr. Chatto is said
to be composed of thirty-two cards covered with small circular dots of
red and black, with court cards of one man and one woman. The cards
most commonly used are called _Tseen-wan-che-pae_ (a thousand times
ten thousand cards). There are thirty in a pack, divided into three
suits of nine cards each, and three single cards, which are superior
to all others. The name of one of the suits is _Kew-ko-wan_; that is,
“The nine ten thousands” (or “myriads of Kwan,” which are strings of
beads, shells, or money). The name of the other suit is _Kew-ko-ping_
(nine units of cakes); and that of the third, _Kew-ko-so_ (nine units
of chains). The names of the three single cards are _Tseen-wan_ (a
thousand times ten thousand), _Heeng-hwa_ (the red flower), and
_Pi-hwa_ (the white flower). One of their games of cards bears the
same name as the Chinese game of Chess, _Kew-ma-paon_; and it contains
pictures of chariots, horses, and guns.
The Chinese name for a card considered singly or as one of the parts of
a pack is _Shen_, or “Fan,”—a most evident reference to the manner of
holding cards spread open like a fan, which is common to all nations.
The shape and size of the Chinese card are peculiar. They are printed
in black on a thin cardboard. The backs are sometimes bright crimson
and sometimes black or yellow, and they are the shape and size of a
finger. Some of them are little more than half an inch broad by three
inches long, and others are an inch wide by three and a half long. The
pips and court cards are always printed in black on a white background,
and on the face of some of them are stamped Chinese characters printed
in red. In some packs the cards have animals, such as horses and deer,
represented upon them; while in others characters which may mean the
names only of the animals are written above the pips. The cards are
rounded at the top and bottom, and at the upper end a small portion is
left blank, as if to hold them conveniently and allow of their being
spread or “fanned” out, showing the whole of the pictured surface, the
blank space being held under the thumb and fingers. Strangely enough,
this blank space being at the top instead of at the bottom of the card,
it would seem that they should be held by the top and spread out in
exactly the reverse way customary among Europeans. The tiny cards are
so narrow and so small that they might well be held concealed by the
palm of the hand, which could effectually cover them and prevent the
shape of the pips being seen through the thin cardboard or the number
of the cards being counted by the opponent.
The Chinese have another name for their cards, and this is _Wat-pi_;
but it seems to be the name given to different games, as they also call
queer-looking tablets on which round dots are placed in regular order
and which resemble our dominos, by the same name.
Mr. Singer gives an account of some Chinese cards an inch and a half
long and a little more than two inches broad. Each suit consists of
nine cards with black backs. They are printed with Chinese characters,
and not with emblems like those in other packs.
Some authors state that cards are played by the lower orders only, and
that people of distinction play at Chess; and that among the Chinese it
is considered undignified to play cards, and many of them pretend they
have no idea of their use or the meaning or value of the characters on
them.
It is also asserted that a game analogous to the old one of Tarots has
been found in China, which contains seventy-seven tablets.
There is a tradition that a Venetian carried cards from China to his
native city, which was the first place in Europe where they were known.
This traveller was probably Niccolo Polo, who with his brother Matteo
returned from China about 1269; or it may have been the celebrated
Marco Polo, son of the above Niccolo, who accompanied his father and
uncle on their second voyage to that great empire.
EGYPT.
An attempt has been made to prove that a kind of card was in use among
the Egyptians in the seventh century before our present era; but this
has been hotly disputed if not disproved. That there were games which
were known to the early Egyptians has been shown by the inscriptions on
their monuments, and the representations of figures playing jack-stones
or knuckle-bones and dice. Some kind of game resembling Chess may also
have been played, but upon this subject authorities do not agree.
INDIA.
If India was not the birthplace of Cards, as it probably was of Chess,
it is certain that they were known in that country at a very early
date; and beautiful specimens of ancient as well as modern packs are
prized in many European collections.
A pack of Hindoo cards is fully described in Mr. Singer’s book, and
many of them are handsomely reproduced. They are painted on ivory,
the backs are gilded, and they number the same as the Tarot cards.
This pack contains seven suits, which are _Suns_, _Moons_, _Crowns_,
_Cushions_, _Harps_, _Letters_, and _Swords_. Of each of these suits
there are ten numeral and two court cards, which appear to represent
a Sovereign and a General. Besides these there are twelve cards
apparently of no suit, on which are groups of figures, some male and
some female.
Mr. Chatto describes several packs of Hindostanee cards, among others
some owned by the Royal Asiatic Society and preserved in their Museum.
One of these packs consists of ten and others of eight suits. “In each
suit, when complete, the number of cards is twelve; that is, two coat
cards, or honours, and ten others whose numerical value is expressed by
the number of marks upon them. The cards of all the packs are circular;
the diameter of the largest is two and three quarter inches, and of the
smallest about two and an eighth inches.” The material of which they
are formed is supposed to be canvas, and indeed it is expressly stated
in a memorandum that accompanies them that such is the case, but they
appear to be made of thin veneers of wood. One of these packs formerly
belonged to Capt. D. Cromline Smith, to whom they were presented about
1815 by a high-caste Brahmin, who considered them a great curiosity,
and supposed that they were a thousand years old. These cards resemble
a pack now owned by Mr. de Forest that he bought in Cashmere within a
few years, and that have been reproduced for this work. The Brahmin’s
pack, says Mr. Chatto, “consists of eight suits, each suit containing
two honours and ten common cards,—in all ninety-six cards. In all the
suits the King is mounted on an elephant, and in six the Vizir, or
second honour, is on horseback; but in the blue suit, the emblem or
mark of which is a red spot with a yellow centre, he rides a tiger;
and in the white suit, the mark of which appears like a grotesque or
fiendish head, he is mounted on a bull. The backs of all the cards
are green. The following are the colours of the _ground_ on which the
figures are painted in the several suits, together with the different
marks by which the suits and the respective value of the common cards
were also distinguished:—
COLOURS. MARKS.
1. FAWN. Something like a pineapple in a shallow cup.
2. BLACK. A red spot with a white centre.
3. BROWN. A “tulwar,” or sword.
4. WHITE. A grotesque kind of head.
5. GREEN. Something like a parasol without a handle, and
with two broken ribs sticking through the top.
6. BLUE. A red spot with a yellow centre.
7. RED. A parallelogram with dots on it as if to represent
writing.
8. YELLOW. An oval.”
[Illustration: Plate 5.]
Mr. Chatto mentions other packs with red backs, one of them containing
ten suits, and all seemingly distinguished more by the coloured
background than the emblem of the suit, which is sometimes entirely
omitted, particularly in the court cards. The games to be played are
complicated and difficult to understand, although one of them is
said to resemble l’Ombre, the favourite game in Spain. The tradition
regarding the origin of Hindostanee cards, as given by Mr. Chatto, is
“that they were invented by a favourite Sultana or Queen to wean her
husband from a bad habit he had acquired of pulling or eradicating
his beard.” The game of cards is not mentioned in the Arabian Nights,
remarks Mr. Chatto, “and from this silence it may be concluded that at
the time when those tales were compiled card-playing was not a popular
pastime in Arabia. The compilation of these tales, it is believed, is
not earlier than about the end of the fifteenth century, although some
of them are of a much higher antiquity.”
CASHMERE.
The cards from Cashmere, which belong to Mr. de Forest and are
reproduced for this work, differ but slightly from those described
by Mr. Chatto. The Cashmere cards are circular in shape, as well as
the Hindostanee, and are of about the same size, being two inches in
diameter. The emblems on the Cashmere cards differ considerably from
those described by Mr. Chatto, and only the court or figure cards bear
a general resemblance to those that formerly belonged to Capt. D.
Cromline Smith.
The Cashmere cards seem to be made of thin slices of wood, overlaid
with a composition of some sort, and so thickly covered with paint
and varnish that the original material is entirely concealed. This
pack contains thirty-six cards of three suits; namely, ten pip and two
court cards in each suit. A large purple flower on a red ground, placed
within circles of yellow, ornaments the backs, which are probably
intended to be precisely the same; but to an experienced gamester there
would be no difficulty in distinguishing one card from another, even
with the face of it concealed, as the design, though uniform, differs
slightly on each card.
The three suits are not only marked by the emblems of pips, but, like
the Hindostanee cards, the backgrounds are vividly painted in some
uniform colour upon which the design is displayed, and this colour
marks the suits distinctly even when the emblem is omitted, which in
some cases is done either by design or accident. The white suit is
headed by a King mounted on an elephant, and a Vizir on a bull. There
are no emblems on these two cards by which to distinguish the suit.
The ten pip cards show tiny figures of men clothed in loosely fitting
red garments and wearing red turbans on their heads. These figures
are represented kneeling, with their hands clasped in the attitude of
prayer. They are dotted over the surface of the cards and grouped as
the corresponding pips are in the other suits, and generally face each
other, except in number eight, in which all the figures look the same
way and to the left side. Another suit is distinguished by a dark-blue
ground, on which small yellow disks, surrounded by circles of red, are
painted. This suit may correspond with a “moon” suit mentioned by Mr.
Chatto among the Hindostanee cards, and it is also noticeable as it
closely resembles the “money” used as an emblem on Italian and Spanish
cards. The court cards of this suit show a man mounted on a tiger and
bearing the distinctive emblem uplifted in his right hand. The position
of this man is closely copied on the Spanish cards, although in them he
is represented on horseback. The second honour shows two tigers seated
on a cross-legged bench gazing over their shoulders at two attendants,
who wave what appear to be staves or fans. Between these tigers is a
large “moon-face,” which seems to mark the suit. If this be the case,
it would point to the origin of the money emblem. The pips on the rest
of the suit are carelessly executed circles, and the features, which
would show it to be intended for the moon, are omitted. The outline
of this mark may have been followed on the cards that were first
introduced into Europe, and may readily have become changed during the
lapse of years. The “moon” mark on the Hindostanee cards has gradually
extended both East and West, one that closely resembles it being found
on the Chinese cards, and partly followed on the wooden cubes of the
Alaska Indians.
[Illustration: Plate 6.]
The green suit bears emblems which recall the _carreaux_ of the French
cards, and are even more like one of the marks used by the Apache
tribe of North American Indians by which to distinguish one of their
suits. The diamond-shaped pip on the Cashmere cards is painted red
and ornamented with stripes and dots of pink. The court cards show a
Vizir on a white horse, bearing the pip in his right hand, and a Sultan
attended by two slaves, who also carries the emblem of the suit.
These cards show little marks of use, and their surface is slightly
sticky, so that they could not be conveniently either shuffled or
dealt. It is probable that the pack is not complete, and that there
should be more than the three suits that now compose it.
PERSIA.
Six tablets brought from Persia by a recent traveller form an
interesting addition to the cards used by different nations. These tiny
cards appear to be the three honours of two different packs. They are
made of layers of pasteboard, some of them as thick as two ordinary
playing-cards. The others are nearly double that thickness; and
although they are all of the same size (namely, an inch and an eighth
wide by two inches long), there are many marks on them to show that
they never all belonged to the same pack. Although made of pasteboard,
they are covered so thickly with paint and varnish that they might
easily be supposed to have been cut out of wood. The backs of these
cards are all alike, and are painted black. They are remarkable for
the female figure that they bear as a court card, as in this respect
they are not only unlike all other Eastern cards, but in it differ from
those of every Western nation, with the exception of the French and
those other countries where the French cards have been adopted. This
female figure is by some called a Courtesan, but it could as well be
named a Queen. She is seated on a chair of state, that is ornamented
with a design which closely resembles one of the emblems used on a
Hindostanee pack of cards, and which is called a crown by Mr. Chatto.
This may, however, be a purely accidental resemblance. A young child
is placed in the lap of this Queen, but she bears no particularly
distinctive emblems either on her dress or on any part of the card
which might serve to mark the suit. The background of one of these
Queens is yellow, and that of the other one is red, and there are two
Queens in this pack of six cards. There are two cards which appear to
belong to the “Yellow Queen.” One of them shows a Hunter on a golden
background drawing his knife across the throat of some animal; and
the other card bears a Cavalier mounted on a white horse, on the back
of which is perched a tiger. This card has a black background. A sun
placed at the top may be intended for the distinguishing emblem. These
three cards undoubtedly belong to the same pack, and are considerably
thicker than the others, which are much more highly ornamented and
better finished than those already described. The Queen is handsomely
dressed; her hair is covered, and she wears large ear-rings, from
which depend a necklace. The child is dressed in a loosely fitting
garment, and its head is covered with a jewelled cap. The background
of this card is a beautiful red, and the corners are ornamented with
fine arabesques of flowers and fruit. The King which belongs to
this set is accompanied by a female figure, and they are placed on
a yellow background, but they bear no emblem by which they might be
distinguished. The third card has a very richly ornamented golden
background, and shows two figures, one of them carrying what appears to
be a drum. All these cards have beautifully ornamented corners, and are
painted like a miniature.
ITALY.
The first European document known that mentions cards is the
manuscript already referred to, written by Nicolas de Covellezzo, about
the end of the thirteenth century, is preserved among the archives of
Viterbo, and contains the earliest written account yet discovered of
cards, not only among the Italians but also in Europe, if we except the
much disputed passage in the Wardrobe Rolls of Edward the First, King
of England, which will hereafter be mentioned. This document refers to
cards by the name of _Carte_, as well as by that of _Naïbi_.
[Illustration: Plate 7.]
Mr. Singer says that “the first game played in Italy was without
question Trappola. This had been introduced from Arabia, and is
mentioned by many early Italian authors, one of whom writing in 1393
calls cards _Naïbi_, and speaks contemptuously of them as a childish
game. Another writer, Tenanza, declares that in 1441 the Venetian
Maître-cartiers, who formed a large guild, remonstrated with the Senate
of that city on the injury done to their trade by the importation of
large quantities of playing-cards with printed as well as painted
figures within their gates, which had been manufactured elsewhere; and
this remonstrance shows that the card-makers of the day were already
numerous, and seems to point to the fact that the use of cards was
well established, and that considerable numbers were called for and
manufactured.”
Lorenzo de’ Medici mentions the games of La Bassetta and Il Frusso
in some of his “Canzoni,” printed before 1492; and there are Italian
writers who point to him as the inventor of some games of cards.
In Italy the suits were called _Coppe_ (Cups), _Spadi_ (Swords),
_Denari_ (Money), _Bastoni_ (Maces). These continued to be the commonly
used marks on the Italian cards from the sixteenth century to a much
later period; and the same suits and pips have been used in Spain
from the time of their first history to the present day. An Italian
writer claims that a native of Bologna invented Tarots or Tarocchino
before the year 1419, and says that “there is preserved in the Fibbia
family, which was one of the most illustrious and ancient of that
city, a portrait of Francis Fibbia, Prince of Pisa, who sought refuge
at Bologna about the commencement of the fifteenth century, in which
he is represented holding in his right hand a parcel of cards, while
others appear lying at his feet. Among the latter are seen the Queen
of _Batons_ and the Queen of _Denari_; the one bearing the arms of
the Bentivoglio family, and the other the arms of the Fibbia. An
inscription at the bottom of the picture states that Francis Fibbia,
who died in 1419, had obtained as the inventor of Tarocchino, from the
_Reformers_ of the city, the privilege of placing his own arms on the
Queen of _Batons_, and that of his wife, who was one of the Bentivoglio
family, on the Queen of _Denari_.” Writers disagree as to whether
Fibbia invented the emblems of the cards or joined two packs of cards
which already had their appropriate emblems into one, or whether he
invented a new game to be played with the already well known Tarocchino
cards.
Notice should be taken of the fact that printed as well as painted
cards are mentioned in the petition of the card-makers of Venice, as
it was from this date that each village in Italy manufactured its own
cards. After the invention of wood-engraving, Germany and Holland
exported cards in large quantities, and this may have called for the
protective decree. There was also a difference, which was mentioned in
the documents of the period, between the primitive _Naïbi_ and cards
proper. As these documents do not define the difference between the
packs, we can form no idea of what it was.
GERMANY.
In a German book printed at Augsburg in 1472, called “Gülden Spiel,”
or “The Golden Game,” written by a Dominican friar of the name of
Ingold, it is stated that cards had been known in Germany since 1300.
As this is by no means contemporaneous testimony, it is probable
that the German vanity which claims the honor of inventing the art
of printing wishes, with no more reason on its side, to appropriate
to itself the invention of playing-cards, which in plain words is
laying claim to the invention of wood-engraving, as many of the
early German packs are engraved and not stencilled or painted. This
rather suspicious assertion may therefore well be ignored, and we may
only credit the one made by the Italian author of Viterbo, which is
apparently more authentic. Unfortunately, the latter gives no details
about the kind of cards which he mentions. He only states that cards
made their appearance in 1379 in Europe, and came from Arabia under
their original name.
In the “Livre d’Or” of Ulm, which is a manuscript preserved in that
city, there is an ordinance, dated 1397, forbidding all card-playing.
These are the only authentic witnesses that can be brought forward by
which the approximate time of the introduction of playing-cards into
Europe may be fixed.
[Illustration: Plate 8.]
A German author by the name of Heniken claims for his country the
birthplace of cards, and brings forward many ingenious but hardly
satisfactory deductions in support of his pretensions. He says that
_Briefe_, which is the name that cards bear in his country, means
“letters,” and that the common people do not say, “Give me a pack of
cards,” but “Give me a _Spiel-briefe_” (a pack of letters), and they do
not say, “I want a _card_,” but “I want a _Brief_” (letter). “We should
at least have preserved the name _carte_,” he says, “if they had come
to us from France; for the common people always preserve the names of
all games that come to them from other countries.”
Unfortunately for this argument, it has been discovered that cards
were called _Karten_ in Germany before they were called _Briefe_. It
may be claimed that cards were carried into Germany by the Crusaders,
who had learned their use during the wars with the Saracens. They might
also have made an ingenious use of the cards during their long absences
in the East, and diverted them from their original purposes, writing
letters to mothers, wives, or sweethearts on them, or chosen them to
send to the young folk at home to serve for their amusement, as the
pictures of the Kings, Knights, etc., rude though they probably were,
would have undoubtedly proved both novel and entertaining; and from
this fact the name of _Briefe_ may have been given to the _Naïbi_ of
the Orient. The Eastern origin of the cards is plainly pointed to, as
there are no Queens in ancient packs of German cards.
In many parts of Germany the court and pip cards which are usually
used resemble most closely those which are represented in the packs of
the early part of the fifteenth century. The cards which are at the
present time (1890) manufactured at Frankfort in Germany are copies
of the French packs of the fifteenth century, with the modifications
which have crept in during the lapse of over three hundred years; and
they display the modern Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades, and these
cards are generally used in the German Empire. But the same factory
turns out cards which are suited to the more conservative portions of
the country, where the ancient _Schellen_ (Bells), _Hertzen_ (Hearts),
_Grün_ (Green), and _Eicheln_ (Acorns) are still preferred.
In the modern German cards each Ace bears the attributes of the
wine-cellar or the _biergarten_. In the ancient cards the Ace was
always draped with a flag. The modern _Hearts_ are surrounded with
champagne bottles. _Acorns_ carry a loving-cup; _Bells_, a steaming
punch-bowl; and _Leaves_, beer-glasses and goblets. There are no
Queens in this pack, their place being taken by Knights on horseback
dressed in beautiful uniforms; and beside their heads is the word
_Ober_, signifying the position they hold over the Knaves, which are
represented as working-men. There are only five pip cards in this
pack, numbered from five to ten; and the emblems are arranged in
a symmetrical and fanciful way, quite unlike the cards which were
adapted by the French from the original Tarots and adopted by all
English-speaking nations. The backs of these cards bear a plaid or
checkered pattern, recalling to mind those of the original Tarots.
To a German is due the adaptation of cards to the instruction of
children; and this idea, which was promulgated soon after the first
introduction of these packs into Germany, has been developed steadily
through successive years, until now it is possible to study history,
geography, and other sciences by these means, and babies still in the
nursery learn to spell and to read after a fashion by playing the
various games which are strewn before their unappreciative eyes. The
name of this ingenious inventor was Thomas Murer, a Franciscan friar,
who in 1507 arranged a game in which various branches of education
were taught. Each card was covered with so many symbols that M. la
Croix declares that “their description alone resembles the most gloomy
rebus;” but the German universities, undaunted by difficulties, enjoyed
the study of logic and other sciences under the guise of amusement, and
Murer’s game was imitated and continues to be so to the present time.
SPAIN.
The Spaniards base their claim of having been the first to use, if
they were not the inventors of, playing-cards to the fact that _Naïbi_,
the name by which cards were known among the Italians about the year
1393, is very nearly similar to the name by which they are known in
Spain to-day. As it was about that time that Italy was invaded by the
Spaniards, they declare that they, as the conquerors, imposed cards
upon that country and taught their use, under the name they bore in
their own homes.
The Spanish word _Naïpes_, as we have already mentioned, seems to be
derived from one which means “flat” or “even;” but an ancient Spanish
dictionary states that it comes from the initial letters of the name
of the Spanish inventor of cards, N. P., Nicolas Pepin. This etymology
seems fanciful and as unsatisfactory as the claim to the invention of
the cards; but the Spaniards can point to a statute made by John the
First, King of Castile, in 1387, which prohibits “games of dice, of
Naypes, and of Chess;” and this proves beyond dispute that at that date
they were at least well known in that place.
A Flemish traveller named Eckeloo, who lived about 1540, describes the
Spaniards of his time as “most passionately fond of gambling,” and says
that he “travelled many leagues in Spain without being able to procure
the necessaries of life, not even bread or wine, but that in every
miserable village cards were to be bought.” Travellers of the present
day describe the tradespeople, fishermen, and beggars of every wretched
town playing even at the street-corners, and using blocks of stone or
the steps of the churches on which to throw their cards.
It was the Spaniards without doubt who carried cards into Mexico,
when they conquered that country in 1519; and history mentions that
Montezuma took great pleasure in watching the Spanish soldiers at their
games.
Mr. Singer says that the Spanish pack consists, like the German, of
only forty-eight cards, as they contain no _tens_. Their four suits are
named _Espadas_ (Spades), _Copas_ (Cups), _Oros_ (Money), and _Bastos_
(Maces). _Oros_ means literally “golden money;” and this suit is also
called _Dineros_,—that is, “money in general.” Like the Italian and
German packs, they have no Queen, her place being taken by the usual
Knight, or Mounted horseman. The court cards are called _Il Rey_
(King), _Caballo_ (Knight), and _Sota_ (Knave). There are some packs
in which a Queen is permitted, the suits then having four court cards
instead of three.
FRANCE.
Among the archives preserved in the Chambre des Comptes in Paris
there was at one time an account, dated 1392, which said, “Paid to
Jacquemin Gringonneur, Painter, for three packs of cards of gold and
different colours, ornamented with different devices for the King
[Charles the Sixth], for his amusement, 50 sols parisis.”
[Illustration: Plate 9.]
The game, which was invented merely as an amusement for the deranged
King, spread with such rapidity among the people that the Prevôt de
Paris, in an ordinance dated Jan. 22, 1397, was obliged to “forbid
working people from playing tennis, ball, _cards_, or ninepins,
excepting only on holidays.” Especial notice should be taken of
the fact that in a celebrated and oft-quoted ordinance made only
twenty-eight years previously by Charles the Fifth, in which all games
of hazard were enumerated, no allusion whatever was made to _cards_,
while in the fifteenth century they are always carefully mentioned when
games of chance are enumerated. By this we can place approximately the
date of their invention or introduction into France.
Although packs of Tarots have survived since the fifteenth century,
and one in particular will be described, there are no existing
specimens of the original Tarots (Tarocchi, Tarocchini); but there is a
pack which was engraved by a burin (or graving-tool), that probably was
executed about the year 1460, which is known to be an exact copy of the
first Tarots.
Rafael Maffie, who lived at the end of the fifteenth century, left
in his “Commentaries” a description of Tarots, which were then, said
he, “a new invention;” but he probably was speaking relatively of the
origin of cards. From his description and the documents of others it
is clear that the pack of Tarots was composed of four or five suits,
each one of the ten cards being numbered in sequence, and displaying as
their symbols the Denari, the Bastoni, the Coppe, and the Spade; and
these suits were headed by the court cards of King, Knight, and Knave,
to which was sometimes added a Queen. Besides these cards, which were
_en suite_, there were others which bore fanciful figures, and which
were named Atouts. The Tarots have been so fully described in another
place that it is not necessary to repeat the description here.
A very slight knowledge of the history of playing-cards reveals the
fact that Tarots were known in France long before the invention of the
game of Piquet, which is undoubtedly of French origin; and besides
this, the cards which are said to have belonged to Charles the Sixth
are Tarots, and must be classed as such. They are preserved in the
Cabinet des Estampes de la Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris, and they
may be looked upon with respect as being the oldest in any collection,
public or private. Although nearly five hundred years of age, they are
well preserved.
Besides the Tarot pack, which is supposed to have been one of the three
packs that were painted by Gringonneur, there are preserved in the
same museum parts of another old pack which show distinctly that they
are of a later date. These cards are essentially French, and are not
to be classed among the Tarots. There are a King, Queen, and Knave in
each suit. Their Saracenic origin may still be traced, as they bear
the crescent of the Mussulman instead of the carreau (diamond) of the
Frenchman; and the Club is shaped after the Arabic or Moorish fashion,
which had four equal branches, like a four-leaved clover, instead of
the three leaves that were afterward adopted as the distinctive symbol
of the suit.
Another noticeable peculiarity is that the King of Hearts is
represented as a monkey covered with hair or skins, and he leans on
a knobby staff. The Queen of his suit is dressed in skins like her
consort, and in one hand she carries a torch. It would seem natural
that the Knave of Hearts should be dressed to correspond with the royal
personages belonging to his suit; but instead it is the Knave of Clubs
who is represented as covered with hair or dressed in skins, and he
carries a knotty stick over one shoulder. A part of another card has
been found among those that the book-binder’s knife has separated from
the proper body (for these cards, like so many of their kind, once
formed part of the binding of a book); and this one shows the legs only
of a fourth hairy person. The upper part has unfortunately never been
found.
With the exception of these savages, all the other figures of the pack
are dressed after the fashion of the court of Charles the Seventh of
France. The costume of the Queen of Diamonds resembles that of Marie
d’Anjou, his consort. The figures of the Kings, with the exception of
the hairy one, are dressed precisely like the pictures of Charles the
Seventh or the lords of his court. They wear a velvet hat surmounted
by a crown formed of fleurs-de-lis, with a coat opened in front and
bordered with ermine. The doublet is tight-fitting, and the boots
extremely high. The dresses of the Knaves are copies of those worn by
the pages and the sergent-d’armes of the period. One of them wears a
plumed cap and a long coat with flowing sleeves. The other Knave is in
court dress, and is the complete opposite of his fellow, as he wears
a closely fitting doublet. The latter carries a banner on which is
displayed the name of the manufacturer, F. Clerc. It seems therefore
safe to conclude that these cards are of French origin. And now occurs
an interesting question, which is, how it is possible to explain the
presence of the savage King, Queen, and Knave among the other court
cards, which are all dressed in the height of the fashion of the period
of Charles the Seventh; but if the history of the preceding reign is
referred to, the probable solution of this enigma will be found.
On the 29th of February, 1392, a grand fête was held in the palace
of Queen Blanche, given in honour of the marriage of the Chevalier
Vermandois to one of her Majesty’s maids of honour. The King, Charles
the Sixth, who had been for some time in a melancholy state of mind
which sometimes amounted to madness, was for the time being enjoying
a lucid interval, and was induced to enter into a frolic which was
proposed by one of his favourite courtiers by the name of Hugonin de
Janzay. It was arranged that in this masquerade the King and five of
his lords should take part. “It was,” says Juvenal des Ursins, “a
_momerie_ of savage men, heavily chained and dressed in _justes au
corps_ made of linen which had been greased and covered with hairs,
and which was made to fit close to the body.” Froissart, who was an
eyewitness of this fête, says that “the six actors in the dance rushed
into the ball-room howling and shaking their clattering chains.” As
no one was able to recognize the hairy monsters, so well were they
disguised, the Duc d’Orleans, the King’s brother, seized a lighted
torch from the hands of an attendant, and pressed it so closely against
one of these strange people that the light set fire to the linen coat,
which blazed up immediately. By great good fortune the King had become
separated from his companions, all of whom with only one exception were
roasted alive. This lucky chevalier rushed from the room, and flung
himself head first into a vat full of water and thus saved his life.
Charles indeed escaped; but the horrors of the situation, combined with
the terror, fatigue, and grief to which it gave rise, so impressed his
already enfeebled mind that he became hopelessly insane.
The Ballet des Ardents left such a vivid impression on the public
mind that sixty years later a German engraver made it the subject of
a print, so that it is not hazarding an inadmissible guess to fancy
that a card-maker of the day should seize upon it for a subject,
particularly as the cards of the period were sometimes decorated like
the horrible Dance of Death, as if they were intended to awaken in
the mind of the roystering player some thoughts which might lead him
to dwell on more serious subjects, and by means of the cards to reach
persons who might otherwise never be drawn to think of them.
There is another and very important fact which must not be overlooked
when we are endeavoring to trace a resemblance between the savages
depicted on the cards and the personages of the day. The Queen of
Hearts is represented as a wild woman holding a torch; and it may be
remembered that Isabella of Bavaria, the wife of Charles the Sixth, had
agreed to this fatal masquerade, and had encouraged it by her presence,
and that this frolic came very near relieving her of her insane
consort. Her accomplice in this scheme was the Duc d’Orleans, her
brother-in-law, who may have intentionally set fire to the inflammable
clothes of these savages, among whom was the King. The gossip of the
day certainly accused these two persons with having designed the
masquerade with the hope of ridding themselves of the King, whose life
interfered greatly with their infamous projects.
Having described what is perhaps the oldest pack of cards which
have been preserved, attention must be drawn to another—or rather a
fragment of a pack—which is very little, if any, younger than the set
already studied. These cards can be traced back to the same period as
the first, and are identified by the costumes of the court. They bear
great similarities to the modern cards, and are supposed to have been
the Adams and Eves of the card world. These are absolutely the first
specimens of the French suit cards; the marks of the pips, Clubs,
Hearts, Spades, and Diamonds are here displayed for the first time; and
if not the pack rearranged by the French courtier, they must have been
manufactured at the same time. In these the Kings, Queens, and Knaves
bear attributes as well as symbols. The first-named carry spears,
and the Queens flowers, and everything in the pictures reflects the
fashions of the period; and in them can be discovered no violation of
the laws of heraldry or the customs of chivalry.
Tradition points to this pack as that first used in Piquet. It
dethroned the Italian Tarots and the cards of Charles the Sixth, and
was the ancestor of the present cards. It is believed that they were
the invention of Étienne Vignoles, or La Hire, one of the bravest
and most active warriors of the day. M. la Croix declares that this
tradition should receive respectful attention, because even a cursory
examination of the game of Piquet shows that it could only have been
the work of an accomplished knight, or have at least originated in a
mind intimately acquainted with chivalrous manners and customs. But
this charming French author points to another courtier, a contemporary
and friend of Vignoles, who might have made the ingenious discovery
or invention which resulted in the overthrow of the ancient Tarots;
and this was Étienne Chevalier, secretary and treasurer to the King,
and famous for his talent for designing, who was one of the cleverest
draughtsmen of his day, and who was perfectly capable of rearranging
the pack, introducing a Queen in place of the Vizir or Knight, and
adopting symbolic colours and distinguishing devices to mark the suits.
The original cards may perhaps have been imported into France and
introduced at court by one Jacques Cœur, whose commercial relations
with the East were so extensive that he was even accused of supplying
the Saracens with arms. In India the cards represented the game of
the Vizir and of War, but under the hands of the royal secretary it
became the game of the Knight and of Chivalry. He placed on the cards
the unicorn which is often found in old packs; nor did he forget to do
honour to Jacques Cœur in substituting _les cœurs_ for _les coupes_. He
changed the _deniers_ (money) to diamonds (or arrow-heads), and spears
to spades. He may have adapted his designs from those on the German
cards, as they bear hearts like the French packs; and a few strokes of
the pencil would convert the acorn of the former into the club of the
latter. The affinity between the cards of the two countries is quite
apparent, but to whom we owe the invention is undecided.
It was in December, 1581, or in the reign of Henry the Third, that
the first laws which fix the standing of the _fesseurs de cartes_ are
found. These statutes, which were confirmed by letters-patent in 1584
and 1613, remained in force until the Revolution. When the privileges
of the Corporation were confirmed in 1613, a rule was made that the
master card-makers should henceforth and forever put their names,
surnames, seals, and devices on the _Valet de Trifle_ (Knave of Clubs)
in each pack of cards,—a rule which only followed and confirmed an
ancient custom, and one which is adopted to the present day.
The modern French cards differ slightly from those used in England and
America, as they are smaller, and the edges are rounded and generally
gilded. The cards, instead of being perfectly flat, are slightly
curved; and this is in order to facilitate shuffling, which is not done
in France in the way usually adopted among English-speaking nations,
where the pack is divided and laid on a flat surface, and the edges of
the cards are lifted and allowed to pass quickly one over the other,
in this way distributing or shuffling them very rapidly. The French
cards are divided, but held up, and the sides of the two parts pressed
together, which shuffles them effectually, but which it is impossible
to do if the cards are not curved.
ENGLAND.
Some of the most interesting collections of old playing-cards
can be seen in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, the South Kensington
Museum, and the British Museum in London. The latter collection has a
historian of its own; and the variety, number, and beauty of the packs
in this place are minutely recorded, and form an interesting study by
themselves. By their aid it is possible to note the various changes and
modifications which have crept in among the costumes of the court, and
the pips of the suit cards. The early packs seem to have been imported
from Spain, as they bear the old symbols of _coin_, _maces_, _swords_,
and _cups_. Other packs have been found which were stencilled with the
_grelots_ (bells) commonly found on the early German cards; but finally
the French card came into common use, and these were adopted and have
been universally accepted in England, and by her introduced into her
colonies, so that these marks of Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades
are found all over the globe.
[Illustration: Plate 10.]
The English and American card of the present day differs slightly from
those in use in France. The latter have discarded obsolete costumes and
fanciful devices when designing the figures of the court cards, and
the dresses are modernized, the faces are shaded, and the whole figure
looks more like a pretty picture than the cherished card dear to the
heart of the Englishman, whose Kings are dressed somewhat after the
fashion of Henry the Eighth, the Queens like his mother, Elizabeth of
York, and the Knaves in the costume adopted by the lower classes in the
days of Chaucer.
It is perhaps to the overthrow of the court-card family during the
French Revolution that this radical change in their costumes is due.
When the monarchs of the suits were beheaded and their places taken
by the sages, philosophers, etc., of the day, it was natural that
the obsolete costumes should disappear with them, and that when the
royalties of card-land returned to their thrones, the card-maker should
adopt the costumes then in fashion in which to clothe the royal family.
There having been no such disaster in England, the Kings of the cards
have peacefully ruled for several hundred years, clad in the garments
of their ancestors, which have only become quainter and more peculiar
with the lapse of years, so that now they are often merely lines and
dots, and are hardly to be recognized as ermine-trimmed garments which
were originally covered with correct heraldic devices.
[Illustration: Plate 11.]
The first introduction of cards into England (for it has never been
claimed that they were invented there) is a matter of dispute; but it
is probable that they were known in that country soon after the Second
Crusade, at the latter end of the thirteenth century. A passage has
been found in the Wardrobe Rolls of Edward the First (1278) which is
pointed to by some writers who wish to prove that cards were adopted in
England before they were known in other countries; and they claim that
this is the earliest mention of a game of cards in any authenticated
register. In this account is recorded the following passage: “Waltero
Sturton ad opus regis ad ludendum ad _Quatuor Reges_ viii. s. vd.”
But it by no means follows that “Four Kings” meant cards; it might
have been any game, and may have been intended for Chess played with
four armies, each one headed by a king,—a game which is by no means
obsolete, and which has already been described. Edward the First had
served in Syria for five years before his accession to the throne
of England, and some writers assert that he brought cards home with
him; but Chaucer, who died in 1400, never mentions cards, although in
enumerating the amusements of the day he says,—
“They dancen and they play at chess and tables.”
The year 1465 is the earliest date at which any positive mention is
made of cards in England, and this was in a law which forbade their use
except at certain specified times and seasons.
It is probable that cards first made their way into the country from
Spain, as the oldest packs which have been found in England bear the
symbols of _cups_, _money_, _maces_, _swords_; and the word _spade_
(the Spanish name for one of their suits) seems to have become attached
to the French _pique_ after the cards of the latter nation became
domiciled in the British Isles.
Mr. Singer, quoting from another author, says that “there is little
doubt but that the cards used during the reign of Philip and Mary and
probably the more early part of Elizabeth’s were Spanish, though they
were afterwards changed for the French, being of a more simple figure
and more easily imported.” The wars between England and France, during
which the army of the former nation were in their sister country, may
have led to the adoption of the French card; but it is strange that the
costumes on the English cards should date from an earlier period than
the reign of Mary or Elizabeth.
“Queen Elizabeth as well as her sister Mary,” says Mr. Chatto, “was a
card-player,” and lost her temper over the game, in which she did not
resemble Queen Anne of Austria, of whom one of her ladies-in-waiting,
Madame de Motteville, says: “She played like a queen, without passion
of greed or gain.” During Elizabeth’s reign, in 1582, the Master of
the Revels was commanded “to show on St. Stephen’s day at night before
her Majesty at Wyndesore a Comodie or Morral devised on a game of the
cardes,” to be performed by the children of her Majesty’s Chapel.
In the comedy “Alexander and Campaspe,” which was shown by the same
children at Windsor before the Queen, was the following pretty little
song, quoted by Mr. Chatto:—
“Cupid and my Campaspe played
At cards for kisses. Cupid paid.
He stakes his quiver, bow, and arrows,
His mother’s doves, and team of sparrows;
Loses them too; then down he throws
The coral of his lip, the rose
Growing on ’s cheek (but none knows how);
With these the chrystal on his brow
And then the dimple of his chin;—
All these did my Campaspe win.
At last he set her both his eyes.
She won, and Cupid blind doth rise.
Oh, Love, has she done this to thee?
What shall, alas! become of me?”
“It is probable that Primero was one of the earliest games of cards
played in England,” says Mr. Singer; “and it continued to be the most
fashionable one throughout the reigns of Henry the Eighth, Edward the
Sixth, Mary, Elizabeth, and James.” Shakspeare makes Falstaff say,—
“I never prospered since I forswore myself at Primero;”
showing that it was a well known game at that period. “An alteration or
improvement of this game became,” says the same author, “known as El
Hombre (The man), or Ombre, which is the national game of Spain.” It
was played generally by three persons, at small three-cornered tables;
and these little card-tables are frequently found among collections of
old furniture.
That Ombre, or its successor, Quadrille, was a fashionable game at no
very ancient period, is proved by the inimitable description given
in Cranford of the card-parties held in that mildewed little place.
It says: “The drawing-rooms contained small tables, on which were
displayed a kaleidoscope, conversation cards, puzzle cards (tied
together to an interminable length with faded pink satin ribbon). The
card-table was an animated scene to watch,—four old ladies’ heads, with
niddle-noddling caps all nearly meeting over the middle of the table in
their eagerness to whisper quick enough and loud enough, ‘Basto, madam,
you have Spadille, I believe.’”
[Illustration: Plate 12.]
A game much in favour among the common folks at the latter end of the
sixteenth century was, says Singer, “an old one called Trump, which was
probably the Triumfo of the Spaniards and Italians.” In that amusing
performance “Gammer Gurton’s Needle,” first acted in 1561, Dame Chat
says to Diccon,—
“We sat at _trump_ man by the fire;”
and afterward to her maid she says,—
“There are five _trumps_ besides the Queen.”
Trump bore some resemblance to Whist or Ruff (another name for that
game); and it is noticeable that these two words should still be used
in playing Whist, and that both of them signify the same thing. We
are told by Mr. Singer that Whist and Honours (alias Slam) were games
commonly known in all parts of England, and that “every child of eight
years old has competent knowledge in that recreation.”
In a book published in 1787, called “The Complete Gamester,” by
Richard Seymour, Esq., we find the following sentence: “Whist, vulgarly
called _Whisk_, is said to be a very ancient game among us, and the
foundation of all English games upon the cards.” It was probably
invented about the period of Charles the Second. Its original name was
Whist, or the Silent game. It is believed that “it was not played upon
principles until about 1736; before that time it was chiefly confined
to servants’ halls. The rules laid down by the gentlemen who frequented
the Crown Coffee House in Bedford Row were: ‘To play from a straight
suit; to study your partner’s hand as much as your own; never to force
your partner unnecessarily, and to attend to the score.’” At one time
it was usual to deal four cards together. Horace Walpole, writing in
1767 from Paris, says: “The French have adopted the two dullest things
the English have,—Whist and Richardson’s novels.”
The Whist-players of the last century would be astonished to see the
developments a hundred years have made in this game. At the present
time the books which have been written on it alone would fill a small
book-case,—the one by “Cavendish,” who is the acknowledged authority on
the game, having reached its seventeenth edition; and it has become so
complicated that its rules require profound study, and so fashionable
that teachers of its mysteries have sprung up in all directions.
Several ladies have adopted the profession of Whist-teachers, and have
found it a most profitable one. One person has reduced the system of
teaching it to a science, and has also invented an arrangement by
which “a singleton” can play a four-handed game of Whist. This is done
by placing an ingenious combination of letters and figures on the
backs of the ordinary playing-cards, which can be sorted according to
these instead of being dealt in the usual way. The cards having been
sorted are placed face downward on the table, and then turned up in
regular order exactly as if played by four persons. As they have been
arranged so as to illustrate certain styles of play or exemplify well
known rules, the games they play are not only most amusing, but also
instructive. The credit of this novel invention is due to Mr. Frederic
Foster, a well known teacher of the noble game of Whist; and his pack
is known as the “Self-playing Cards.”
The national games of the different countries are said to be: Italy,
_Minchiate_; Germany, _Landsknechtspiel_, or Lansquenet; France,
_Piquet_; Spain, _El Hombre_; America, _Poker_.
AMERICA.
The history of Playing-cards would be incomplete without some
reference to their introduction into America, and a slight sketch
of the games most in favour in that country. History tells us that
Columbus carried cards with him in his ship on the voyage of discovery
in 1492, and that his sailors employed every spare moment playing
with them, until their superstitious fancies persuaded them that this
impious practice was the cause of the long voyage and contrary winds
which alarmed them so greatly. During the frenzy caused by this panic,
they flung overboard their Jonahs (the cards). Their safe arrival
at what they believed to be the Promised Land caused them to forget
their fears, and they soon regretted the rashness with which they had
sacrificed their beloved amusement; so with considerable ingenuity
they made for themselves new packs from the leaves of the copas-tree.
Tradition states that the sacrificed cards had been made of leather.
The introduction of cards into America, their first makers, and the
materials used, are therefore matters of history, and call for no
research or speculation.
[Illustration: Plate 13.]
A few years after the discovery of America, another history relates
that on the conquest of Mexico, and during the captivity of her
unfortunate king, Montezuma, he was deeply interested in watching the
games of cards played by the conquerors in his presence.
The Spanish marks of suits are now to be found on the cards used in
Mexico; but the inhabitants of that country are gradually adopting the
French marks used in their sister republic, the United States, and the
old cards will soon be as obsolete as their forefathers, the Tarots.
In those parts of the United States that were first settled by
religious fanatics it would be useless to search for any record of
cards, as they were looked upon with horror by both the Puritans and
the Quakers, and together with all games, such as Chess, Draughts,
etc., were considered inventions of the Evil One, and their use was
sternly forbidden; and it is more than probable that the famous
“Mayflower,” which seems to have contained enough furniture (judging
from the alleged specimens preserved) to have filled an ordinary-sized
town, did not contain one card-table or pack of playing-cards. It was
natural, however, that some amusement should be craved by the younger
members of society, and that games which were considered more harmless
than the “Devil’s books” (as cards were named by the Puritans) should
have been sought for and discovered. Among these were the various kinds
of instructive cards which had been invented so many years previously
by the Franciscan friar, and which had met with so much favour in
parts of Europe. These cards taught various branches of science to the
player, and were very numerous; and packs of them by degrees forced
their way into different places where the wicked French cards, with
their royal dames and kings and their scampish knaves,—whose names
alone were synonymous with wrongdoing, gambling, and thieving,—and the
innocent-looking but bad little pips, were strictly forbidden.
[Illustration: Plate 14.]
One quaint pack of Educational Cards, which seems to have been made
in America and probably in New York, has been carefully preserved for
nearly one hundred years, and is most valuable as giving specimens of
the cards used at that time. This pack is now owned by Dr. Richard
Derby, a descendant of the Lloyd who was granted the manor of Lloyd’s
Neck, which was one of the original manors (or grants of land) held
under the English in the colony of New York; and these cards are
preserved in the family mansion on Lloyd’s Neck, Long Island. Tied
in a pack by a crumpled green ribbon,—which tradition declares was a
garter,—on the back of the Knave of Diamonds is written in faded ink
this inscription,—
To Angelina Lloyd, from her affectionate Uncle,
HENRY LLOYD.
February 13th, 1795.
The cards (which are wonderfully fresh) are printed on coarse, thick
pasteboard, guiltless of enamelled surface or diapered back. The
descriptive matter is printed with fine type on each card, which has
either a distinguishing pip containing a number on each left-hand upper
corner, or in a lozenge is a letter, K, Q, or J, which takes the place
of the figure usually placed on the court cards of each suit.
The suits represent the four quarters of the globe. Clubs contain
a history of Africa (the name being printed across the surface of the
cornered Ace),—its area, inhabitants, products, commerce, customs,
etc.; all this valuable but obsolete information being crowded on
the surface of the ten pip cards of the suit. The “J” (Jack) shows
the principal islands which surround the continent; the “Q” (Queen)
tells the quarter of the globe to which Africa belongs, with various
statistics; and the “K” (King), the kingdoms or governments into which
it is divided. The same formula is adopted on the other cards,—the
Spades being devoted to Asia, the Hearts to Europe, and the Diamonds
to America. Among the statements on the cards we find, on the Four of
Diamonds: “The Dutch first planted colonies in New York, but these
usurpers were obliged to own the right of the English to the land.”
On the “J” (Jack), among other islands mentioned, it states that
“Long Island is 140 miles by 10. The middle is sandy.... The place
called Lloyd’s Neck, from its situation and fertility, is or might be
made a paradise” (and this sentence probably led to the purchase and
preservation of these precious cards). The chief towns of America and
their population were given as follows: Mexico, 150,000; Lima, 60,000;
Quito, 60,000; Cusco, 42,000; Panama and Philadelphia, 42,000; New
York, 23,000; Boston, 19,000; Newport, 6,000.
[Illustration: Plate 15.]
What manner of game was played with these instructive cards is not
now known. They were probably valued only as a book would have been
which contained interesting information in a condensed form; and it is
more than probable, from the excellent state of preservation in which
they were found, that they were looked upon with awe by Miss Angelina,
preserved with care, but never played with.
A letter from a sprightly young lady quoted in the “Republican
Court,” written during a visit to the Van Hornes of New York, which
was probably about 1783, says: “All is a dead calm until the _cards_
are introduced, when you see pleasure dancing in the eyes of all the
matrons, and they seem to gain new life.” But what were the favourite
games of the dames of that city? She does not mention.
What has been called the national game of the United States, and the
one at present in fashion among many classes of society, although
perhaps not among the most refined and cultivated, is Poker. This game
has its advocates, and a historiette of its own which is too widely
known to require further comment here.
Among the terms used in playing it, and peculiar to it, are _blind_,
which is supposed to have been derived from “bind;” _straddle_, which
means to cover both the _blind_ and the _ante_. The latter word may
have been derived from the French _entrer_, to enter; as to _ante_ is
to enter the game by paying the stakes required.
Euchre, Commerce, Piquet, Bezique, and Whist are general favourites;
and they have superseded the old-fashioned games of Brag (the father of
Poker), Pope Joan, and others dear to the hearts of our grandmothers.
[Illustration: Plate 16.]
Among other ingenious means of evading the religious scruples
that forbade playing-cards, some publisher hit upon the scheme of
introducing to the public what he called “Yankee Notions.” These were
cards covered with distinctive symbols and marks of suits, and were
accompanied by a small book of rules which has been embodied in an
American edition of Hoyle for playing with them, and which contained
the following preface:—
“Believing that a settled prejudice exists with a large class of the
community against the old-fashioned cards, the publisher has issued
an entirely new style, to the introduction of which into every family
circle there cannot possibly be the least objection. These cards and
the games adapted to them are calculated to discipline and exercise the
mind.”
There are fifty cards in the pack, composed of five different suits;
namely, Faces, Flags, Eagles, Stars, and Shields, “the honour cards
being called the upper ten.”
The directions for dealing, cutting, etc. are given, and are exactly
the same as those in common use among all card-players, be they bent on
gambling or only on innocent amusement.
The publisher goes on to state that “many things will serve for
counters, as kernels of corn, or coffee, or old cards cut up. _For
those who prefer something better the publisher of these cards has
provided an ample supply at a small expense._”
The difference between this pack and the ordinary cards generally
played with seems to be only in the symbols which have been placed on
them. The Flags, Eagles, etc., take the place of the Hearts, Diamonds,
Spades, and Clubs. To an unprejudiced mind the substitution of one
symbol for another would not be sufficient to excuse the use of the
“Yankee Notions” in places where ordinary playing-cards were regarded
with disfavour. Sums of money might be as well staked and lost on Flags
and Eagles as on Hearts and Diamonds, if the players were inclined to
gamble on a game; and the term “to throw” or “to pass,” which in the
rules is employed instead of “to deal,” might soothe the scruples of
some minds, although the action in both cases were the same. That these
games might be gambling, is proved by the suggestion about the counters.
[Illustration: Plate 17.]
The publisher of the “Yankee Notions” gives in his book of rules many
games which could be played with his cards, one of which bears the
ominous name of “Bunkum.” Another game called “John Smith” is played
under some droll rules. Among others is one which states that “the
holder of Mrs. Smith, who is always anxious to recall her truant
husband John to her side,” must recite certain verses when she calls
for him, “thinking him perhaps in doubtful company; and the position
of John is one of _dread_, thinking he will be caught and possibly
_Caudled_. The holder of Mrs. Smith will anxiously watch for the first
opportunity to get the lead and call for her man John; for when she
calls, John must go. She may say,—
‘Come forth, great John,
Thou paragon!
My voice I’m sure you know.’
He may reply,—
‘I know that voice,
I’ve got no choice;
’Tis hard, but I must go.’”
The game resembles in many respects the kindred one of “Dr. Busby,”
in which the four suits contain only face and no pip cards. The suits
being divided into four families, and the object of the game being to
collect all the families in one hand by asking for each card by name
from the right-hand neighbour, any mistake in naming over or “calling”
for the cards causes the “call” to pass to the neighbour on the left,
who then endeavours to ask for all the cards from the person who had
been previously playing. This innocent game requires no counters,
cannot possibly be used for gambling, and is an excellent exercise for
the memory.
That cards were fashionable in some localities of the United States
during the past century is proved not only by the invitations issued on
the backs of playing-cards (of which specimens exist), and which have
been already described, but also by the existence of numerous beautiful
Japanese or Chinese lacquer counter-boxes which may be found any day
carefully treasured in many families.
These boxes, which were originally imported especially for the person
who ordered them, are usually of black and gold lacquer, oval in shape
and covered with graceful arabesques of leaves and tendrils, which
surround the initial letter of the owner’s name, which was not only
painted on the cover of the large box, but was also on each one of
the tiny “fish boxes” contained inside of it. These strangely shaped
little receptacles fitted compactly into the large boxes, and could
be removed and replaced at pleasure. The centre of the box contained
a number of small trays, especially designed for the favourite and at
one time fashionable game of “Pope Joan.” Each tray bore on its bottom
a quaint figure painted in lacquer, which represented the Chinese idea
of an ordinary court card; and this tray, according to the rules of
the game, was to contain the counters when the players went through
the customary formula and paid one to the Knave, two to the Queen,
three to the King, four to the Ace, and five to “Pope Joan,” which was
represented by the _nine of Diamonds_. These convenient little trays
were almost a necessity when playing this game; but substitutes were
often ingeniously contrived by taking from an extra pack the necessary
cards and bending their sides up until they would hold the counters
without spilling them all over the table.
The counters, or “fish” (as our grandmothers called them), which were
imported in these foreign boxes were made of small bits of mother of
pearl which were of different sizes. Some of them were round, some
oval, and some long, slender, and shaped somewhat like their namesakes
the fish. They were usually engraved with quaint devices, a circular
space being left in the centre of the counter intended to contain the
initial letter of the owner’s name, which was designed so as to match
that placed on the boxes.
One set of counters in particular were imported by a naval officer for
his family, and were small circular disks of pearl on which strange
figures were painted in bright colours. These figures have become
obliterated in the course of years. They came from their foreign home
in a small round ivory box which contained only a limited number. They
were always used for counters, but they may have been intended by the
manufacturer for a game by themselves; and they somewhat resemble
those described by Mr. Chatto, which he classed among the cards.
Unfortunately nothing remains of the original pictures, and only a few
dabs of colour now stain the tiny pearl disks, the outlines of the
devices having been entirely obliterated.
Another most beautiful set of Chinese counters is contained in an ivory
box. They are curiously carved with minute figures in low relief, and
when first taken from their box were in regular order, and it seemed as
if their pictured sides could relate a history. Unfortunately, the one
hundred and sixty odd pieces soon became hopelessly mixed; and the tale
they could have told was never related, and is now lost forever.
[Illustration: Plate 18.]
Besides the cards introduced into North America by Columbus and his
sailors or by the emigrants to various parts of the country, strange
gambling instruments or sticks which may be called cards have been
found among the Indians of southeastern Alaska and Queen Charlotte’s
Islands. These original and peculiar implements are made by the natives
for their own use, and are of two kinds,—one set being beautifully
carved with strange devices of birds, animals, men, etc.; the other set
simply marked by lines of red or black paint rudely smeared on their
rounded surface, but which are quite distinct enough to distinguish
at a glance one from the other. The same game seems to be played
with either the carved or painted set, although one seems to be only
numbered, and the other to have no numbers and to rely on the carvings
to represent the value of the stick.
From what source these Indians derived their “cards” will probably
never be known. Taking into account the difference between cardboard
and cubes of wood, there is more than a fancied resemblance between
these rude toys and the cards of Asia, and this may point to the
original source. It is certain that they were not derived from the
Spaniards or other emigrants who settled on the eastern coast of
America and moved toward the west, as the emblems have nothing in
common with European cards, whereas the cards used by the Apache
Indians of Arizona show their derivation from the Spanish cards at
once. These Indians make for themselves cards from deerskin, on which
they paint in two colours—namely, red and blue—the _Oros_, _Denari_,
_Espadas_, and _Copas_ of the Spanish emblems. These deerskin cards
are practically imperishable, as even the very rough usage which they
undoubtedly have cannot destroy them; and they are greatly prized by
their owners, who can seldom be induced to part with them. There are
several packs of these cards in the National Museum at Washington, and
one in the Museum at Boston.
[Illustration: Plate 19.]
A complete set of Haida gambling-sticks is also to be found in the
National Museum; and casts of the carvings have been carefully taken
on plaster, which displays the shape of the figures more plainly than
the curved surfaces of the sticks can do. Thirty-two of these cubes
compose “a pack,” and these are contained in a leather pouch. The game
is usually played by a number of persons, who squat on the ground in a
circle around the dealer, who places the sticks in front of him under a
pile of shavings or shredded cedar bark, and draws them out with great
ceremony and hands them to the players, who receive them with grunts,
cries, and other uncouth noises. Each stick has its value; and they are
passed with great rapidity from one to the other, the players staking
considerable amounts on the game.
These cubes are made of spruce, about six inches long and half an
inch thick; on them patterns of birds, animals, fish, men, and other
devices are cut. The designs necessarily adapt themselves to the
curved surfaces, and on some are repeated, so that when the stick is
held upright the same pattern is seen back to back. This arrangement
is almost always followed, although there are exceptions to the rule.
What the designs mean and what their value is no one seems to know,
but it is quite evident that they are Totemic devices; and these
gambling-sticks are probably the most peculiar contrivances that have
ever been invented to take the place of the pictured cards or the
graven chessmen, and though not to be considered as a link between the
two, certainly contain characteristics peculiar to both.
They may be classed into suits, which can be divided as follows:
_Figures_, _Devices_, _Animals_, _Fish_, _Birds_, and _Reptiles_ or
_Insects_.
The suit of Figures has eight sticks. The first one is a man
crowned, and holding in his right hand a fan, which seems to be a
strange attribute when the climate of Queen Charlotte’s Islands is
considered. The carving on the second cube resembles that of a man
seated, and leaning his chin on his hands, his elbows resting on his
knees. Two semicircles over the head may represent a hat; fifteen
notches placed on each side of this figure may show its value. Number
three displays a seated figure, with what seems to be the soles of its
feet turned outward; four circles cut beside the figure may denote its
worth. The fourth cube represents a seated figure in profile, with one
hand spread out to show the thumb and four fingers. This stick has
no marks to denote its value, unless four notches deeply cut in its
back may take their place. The fifth stick is an interesting one, as
it seems intended to show both the face and back of the figure. Over
the head are two semicircles resembling those on number two. The hands
hang on each side, each one having but three fingers and a thumb. The
carvings on number six contain devices which resemble the lotus-flower.
In a circle is a human face, the head surmounted by the semicircular
cap. Number seven shows two grinning faces without bodies, but with
arms and large hands displayed with the palms out. Two large chevrons
divide these devices, which are cut across the stick, and not, as the
others are, up and down its length. The eighth carving represents a
hand with four well-shaped fingers and a thumb. Certain notches and
cuts which surround the hand are undecipherable.
[Illustration: Plate 20.]
The eight succeeding cubes contain strange devices, which seem to
represent fingers, eyes, teeth, etc., but which are confused and
meaningless to the uninitiated. Number seventeen, on the contrary,
shows a spirited and lifelike carving of a beaver; and the next one
a strange-looking monster, with a large mouth and huge teeth. The
nineteenth cube has on it the head of some unrecognizable beast with a
very long snout; and the twentieth, a ferocious-looking, large-mouthed
animal. In cubes twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, and twenty-four
the carvings resemble fish; twenty-two, in particular, shows a
clever representation of a huge fish, and also a duck. Twenty-five,
twenty-six, twenty-seven, and twenty-eight call to mind birds; the
twenty-sixth cube, in particular, showing most plainly the head, wings,
and claws of what may be intended for an eagle. The stick which is
numbered twenty-eight has on it a carving of a bird perched beside a
nest which contains four fledglings.
The last four sticks are as well carved and deeply cut as any of the
others in the pack, number twenty-nine bearing a spirited cut of a
beetle; but the others cannot be as easily deciphered. The carvings of
the beaver, the eagle, and the beetle represent these creatures in an
erect or upright attitude, instead of the one natural to the animal.
Whether this has some peculiar significance or not remains to be proved.
[Illustration: Plate 21.]
The “gambling-sticks” used by the Alaska Indians closely resemble
those already described; and they also have two kinds of “sticks,”
some of them carved and some painted. There are fifty-four cubes in
the painted pack, some of them perfectly plain or unpainted; two more
plain sticks have notched ends, which probably increases their value.
Fourteen of the sticks have stripes painted on them, but these are so
faint and blurred as to be almost unnoticeable. None of this set are
notched. Three sticks are striped with black bars, one, two, and three
in number; five sticks have red bands. Another set of six sticks have
red and black stripes, numbering from one to eight. All these sticks
are notched at one end, and, besides the bars, have on them smears of
red or black paint. The game played with the painted sticks appears to
be the same as that played with the carved ones; and the former are
also kept in a leather pouch, which is bound or tied with a leather
thong.
JAPAN.
It is to Japan that we must turn when we wish to find the most dainty
and original of Playing-cards. This interesting nation have devised
for themselves the symbols that they use, which are so unique that
they bear no features in common with those of any other country, if
we except one device which may be an accidental one, and which will
hereafter be mentioned; otherwise the Japanese playing-cards differ
completely from those of other places, except that they are painted on
pasteboard and highly glazed or varnished.
Those writers who trace in European and other cards a resemblance to
the classes of society into which the world is divided, and promulgate
the opinion that the four suits commonly seen represent them,—namely,
the Cup or Priest, the Sword or Soldier, Money the Merchant, and Maces
the Artisan,—would find it impossible to divide the Japanese cards in
this way, as they belong distinctly to a new set of ideas, and seem to
have been originated in the Islands, where alone they are used, and
do not show, as those of other nations do, some mark or device which
betrays to the student an inherited symbol which may be traced to the
original Oriental card.
Japanese cards are of the same shape as those used by the French and
other European nations, but are very much smaller than ordinary cards,
being a little more than two inches long by one broad. They are made of
pasteboard, on the back of which black paper has been carefully pasted
over the edges of the cards so as to leave a narrow rim to form a frame
on the face of the card. The symbols are stencilled, and the whole card
varnished or enamelled, so that they are extremely slippery.
[Illustration: Plate 22.]
Forty-nine in number, they are divided into twelve suits of four each,
with one card which is a trifle smaller than the others, and which
has a plain white face and is used as a “Joker.” On the other cards
are painted flowers or emblems appropriate to the twelve months of
the year; each card is distinct and different from its fellows, even
when bearing the same emblem, and they can be easily distinguished and
classified not only by the design they bear, but also by a character
or letter which marks nearly every card, and which seems to denote the
vegetable that represents the month.
January is marked by pine-trees, two of the cards showing them
against a lurid sky. On the third the pine stands out on a grayish
background; and the fourth has a setting sun flecked with light clouds,
the pines barely indicated in front of it, and the larger part of the
card being covered with the figure of a white-bodied, red-eyed stork.
February displays as her emblem a plum-blossom; the four cards devoted
to the month bearing the flower in various positions. March has a
red cherry-blossom, and April the hanging tendrils of the wisteria
vine; and on one of the cards belonging to this month there is a wee
yellow-bird which is flying across its surface under a red cloud. For
May there are four beautiful blue irises, with long spiky leaves; one
card showing in its corner part of a dock and the water, from which the
flower is lifting its lovely head. June is represented by blood-red
peonies, one of the cards having two yellow butterflies hovering over
the flowers. On July’s cards star-shaped leaves, some yellow, some
red, and some black, are scattered over their surfaces. These leaves
resemble those of the maple-trees. On one of the cards belonging to
this July suit a deer stands under the branches of this tree; and it is
this deer that is the one device which may be found on cards belonging
to other nations. Some packs of Chinese cards have deer on one of
their cards, and in ancient Spanish packs animals resembling deer can
be seen, although they are usually represented with one straight horn
something like a unicorn, which fabulous animal has been retained in
Spanish cards to this day.
[Illustration: Plate 23.]
August has four pictures of grass-covered mountains. In three of them
there is a cloudy blue sky, and the fourth shows the sun looking hot
and sultry, beaming down on the treeless elevation. Three birds fly
across the sky on one of these cards. September bears the Mikado’s
flower,—a party-coloured yellow and red chrysanthemum; October a “Hägi”
with red or green leaves, and on one card is a yellow boar trotting
along under the spreading branches of the tree.
November shows on one card willow-trees sharply defined against a
leaden sky. The willows on the fellow cards look wind-tossed, and a
long-tailed bird skims across the sky. A third card is covered with
inky clouds and torrents of rain, with strange zigzags shooting over
its surface looking like forked lightning. The fourth card of this suit
bears the quaint figure of a man rushing under the willow-trees through
the storm and dropping his sandals in his haste, his head covered by a
huge yellow umbrella and surrounded by streaks of lightning, with the
rain streaming down on his unprotected body.
December carries the Imperial Japanese plant, Kĭrĭ; and over one of
the flowers hovers a beautiful red-crested pheasant with silver wings.
The chrysanthemum is the Mikado’s plant, and the Kĭrĭ the national
flower of Japan. The favourite game at present seems to be like Casino,
in which any card of a set can take up any other card, but each one has
a particular value in the final count. An infinite variety of games may
be played with these cards, as there is a shade of difference in each
one, and to the accustomed eye they are as easy to sort as the European
ones. There is a great difference in the style and finish of Japanese
cards. Some of them are carefully executed and highly varnished; but
other packs are roughly stencilled and show but little glaze. The
“Joker” is not necessarily part of the pack, and does not accompany
each one.
[Illustration: Plate 24.]
THE KING.
“Behold four Kings in majesty rever’d
With hoary whiskers and a forky beard.
* * * * *
The hoary Majesty of Spades appears,
Puts forth one manly leg to sight revealed,
The rest in many-coloured robe concealed.”
Even Pope in his description of the game of Ombre has thought it not
beneath his notice to describe the appearance of the monarchs of the
cards; indeed theirs is no uninteresting history, and although but
slightly alluded to by the chroniclers of their day, they have many
a time played quite as important a part and had as much influence in
their way as the monarch who was seated on a more stable throne than a
paper one, and who sometimes himself yielded to the fascinations of his
rival of cards.
That the dress worn by the Kings in the English court cards is a rude
copy of that of the notorious Henry the Eighth of England is not only
a matter of tradition, but is also supported by a reference to the
existing portraits of that monarch.
Notwithstanding the fact that the crowns of the card Kings are
“_fleurdelisés_,” which seems to point at first to a French origin, the
dress in other respects bears a close resemblance to that of bluff King
Harry.
In French and German packs the Kings generally bear sceptres, globes,
and other insignia of their exalted rank; but those of the English
cards are warriors to the core, and throwing aside the emblems, which
only show their rank, they arm themselves and stand ready for the fray.
Their Majesties of Spades, Clubs, and Hearts hold up their trusty
double-edged swords like the brave men that they are; the King of
Hearts being in a most warlike attitude, with his uplifted sword held
ready for a blow. The King of Spades alone carries a battle-axe; but
why he in particular adopted this weapon in preference to any other,
history does not declare.
Among the French packs the royal family are always distinguished by
names which are plainly written on some part of the card; and these
names vary according to the date of the pack, and seemingly through
the caprice of the card-maker. French authors have traced the origin
of these names to various celebrated personages, and find that they
were assumed to do honour to the reigning monarchs of the period, their
queens or mistresses, or some favourite hero of the hour, either real
or fictitious; and the only limit to the variety of these names was the
imagination of the designer.
A glance over any old collection of French cards will verify this
assertion; but the fashion does not seem to have been followed in
other countries, even in England, where the symbols of the French
were adopted in preference to those used in Spain, Germany, and other
places. Their Majesties of Cards were not dubbed with names, and if
originally intended to represent some particular person (as some of
them, notably the Kings and Queens, undoubtedly were), the names were
not placed on the cards, and we have only tradition on which to rest
the presumption that they were intended for any celebrated character
either in history or fiction.
To return to the French cards, those for example which are supposed to
have been made for Charles the Seventh bear no inscriptions but that
of the maker’s name; but in a nearly contemporaneous pack the King of
Diamonds is named _Corsube_, the King of Clubs _Sans Souci_, and he of
Spades _Apollin_. This collection of names, says one writer, shows a
triple influence,—the Eastern origin of the cards, in the first place,
as they bear strange cognomens which are not French; in the second,
the impression that the old romances of chivalry had made on the mind
of the designer; and third, the reflection in them of contemporaneous
events.
Many persons point to this pack as being the very one that was
designed by Étienne Vignoles, or, as he was usually called, La Hire, or
Chevalier, and declare that they are the oldest examples that bear the
symbols of Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades. Going back to the names
borne by the card Kings, we fancy that we see that the one assumed
by his Majesty of Spades (Apollin) was derived from that borne by an
idol adored by the Saracens, which is mentioned in an epic poem of the
period; and Corsube was a knight of Cordue (Corsuba), who was glorified
by the romancers of that day. The names of the Queens and Knaves of
this pack are those of celebrated historical characters.
Another old pack which belongs without doubt to the reign of Louis the
Twelfth contains a King of Hearts named Charles, a King of Diamonds
Cæsar, one of Clubs Artus, and of Spades David; and in a later one
belonging to the commencement of the reign of Francis the First the
King of Clubs has become Alexander.
About the time of the battle of Pavia and the captivity of the French
King (Francis) in Spain and his marriage with the dowager Eleanor, the
influence of Spanish and also of Italian fashions shows itself in many
ways in the cards, and the names of the Kings are changed to Julius
Cæsar, Charles, Hector, and David.
Under the reign of Henry the Second the names bestowed upon the
cardboard sovereigns begin to resemble those borne by them in the
French pack of the present day. The King of Diamonds is Cæsar; of
Spades, David; and of Clubs, Alexander.
During the period when Henry the Third governed France the cards
became the reflectors of the extravagant fashions of that effeminate
reign. The Kings in card-land wore pointed beards, like the reigning
monarch; their collars, like his, were stiffly starched; they had hats
bearing long plumes, and their breeches were puffed out at the hips
in a most extraordinary way; while, as if to make the figure look as
slender and as womanly as possible, the doublet was pinched in at the
waist; and they had peculiar boots, which were then the mode.
Henry the Fourth mounted the throne of France, and the card Kings
immediately altered their costumes and their names, and reflected the
aspect of his court, and the names of the heroes of the day were given
to the gentlemen of the card circle.
The paper sovereigns generally mirrored the characteristics of the day;
and when the successors of Henry the Fourth mounted the throne the
change is at once shown in the cards, either by the names, the dresses,
the weapons, or by all these. At one time Italian fashions and customs,
imported by Marie de’ Medici, influenced them, and the names became
Carel, Capet, Melun, etc.; and they change with amusing rapidity after
her death.
A most interesting and almost boundless field of research opens
before the student who wishes to trace in these seemingly meaningless
variations the prominent events and fashions of the period, which are
stamped on the cards, and can be easily traced. This has induced many
persons to make elaborate studies from them; and one in particular,
Père Daniel, declares that he can detect the fact that _David_, one
of the original names of the King of Spades, is intended to represent
Charles the Seventh of France; and he draws an elaborate parallel
between the character of the real king and the characteristics of the
mimic one as represented on the cardboard. Other authors demur at this,
but it is at least worthy of note.
During the time of the French Revolution it was not only the royal
family who were deposed and beheaded; but the same fate also followed
their Majesties of Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, and Hearts.
“The King was slyly fingered from the deck;”
the sovereigns were banished, and their places supplied by pictured
representations of sages and philosophers. The Reign of Reason did not
last long; and the royal family were recalled in 1813, and established
more firmly than ever on their ancient thrones, from whence even the
republican _cartiers_ of the present day in France have not desired
to depose them, to replace their serene highnesses with presidents,
senators, and other rulers of the revised republic.
Some attempts have been made in the United States of America to
supplant the kings in their government of the card world, by placing
the pictures of prominent generals in their place; and after the
triumphant termination of the war with Mexico in 1848 a pack was issued
on which Generals Scott, Bragg, Wool, and Twiggs took the place of
the sovereigns of the packs as rulers of the card suits. But these
peculiar cards, handsome as they were in their details, did not meet
with popular favour, and are only found in some collections, while the
“Great Republic” meekly bows its head, and submits to the dominion of
the Kings of Diamonds, of Hearts, of Clubs, and of Spades, who rule
triumphantly over it as well as the greater part of the civilized
world, dressed, as they have been for hundreds of years, like their
brother Henry the Eighth of England; and every deviation from this
quaint garb is frowned down at once by their loyal subjects, who detest
all changes in card-land, and cling to the obsolete costumes and quaint
figures with unswerving loyalty.
It is worth while to note the interesting fact that the first
sovereigns of the French cards are still in existence, and are now
preserved in Paris in the Cabinet des Estampes. These are the cards
which have already been mentioned as having been the identical ones
invented for the amusement of Charles the Seventh by one of his
courtiers. That they are the same is not doubted by any authorities.
The names of the Kings of this pack—Corsube, Apollon, etc.—have already
been dwelt upon, and their probable origin traced. They are minutely
described by Mr. Taylor in his “History of Cards,” who says: “The
figures are engraved on wood, printed with a pale ink of a brownish
tint, and afterwards coloured with stencil in the usual manner. The
crowns of the kings are formed of fleurs-de-lis, and the costumes are
those of the period of Charles the Seventh.”
These cards were discovered in Lyons by a M. Henin, who found them
pasted in the cover of a book of the fifteenth century, of which they
formed part of the binding. Their fortunate discoverer well understood
the value of this prize, and they were carefully removed, and are now
treasured as the first specimens of cards which were divided into
suits with the symbols which they now bear. The book-binder’s knife
has shaved off the title of the King of Hearts, or rather his name;
otherwise the principal court cards are almost uninjured, and are
preserved with the respect they deserve to have as the oldest surviving
monarchs of the world,—their age being nearly five hundred years, the
date of their invention being about 1425.
THE QUEEN.
As we turn to study “the Little Madames of the Would-be family,” as the
Queens of the cards have been called, mention must first be made of
their creation.
It seems impolite to note and dwell upon a lady’s age, however great it
may be; but the birth of the first Queen of cards marks an epoch and
is worth recording, notwithstanding the fact that it took place as far
back in the history of the world as 1425. At this date, as has been
mentioned, the cards were first separated from the original Tarots and
divided into suits, which were distinguished by the symbols that they
now bear in France; and the old devices which resembled money, swords,
and other strange designs were discarded. The figures on the cards were
also changed, and the Vizir was discarded and disappeared with the old
marks which distinguished the suits.
Their Majesties the first Queens of cards are, with their royal
consorts, preserved in the French Museum. The history of their
invention has already been related. The Adams of the pack were, by the
politeness of the French courtier, provided with Eves, and they have
become the ancestors of countless millions of successors.
Previous to the arrangement of the Tarot cards into the more
convenient pack which is now generally used, the female figure was
placed in that part of the pack which was divided into suits, although
among the twenty-two emblematical cards named Atouts were found an
Empress, and Pope Joan, and other female figures representing justice,
temperance, etc. In some packs of Tarots the Queens joined the male
figures; but their presence is not common, and these packs were
comparatively modern. In the place now occupied by the Queen there was
a Cavalier, Knight, General, Vizir, or whatever might have been the
name of the male figure which was second in rank in card-land, and he
had the Queen’s place and value. This was the descendant of the same
warrior who in the ancient games of Chess was placed beside the King;
and the position which that piece occupied was much more in accordance
with the energy, the strategy, and the manœuvring to be looked for
in a marshal in command of an army, than from the wife of a reigning
sovereign.
Mr. Chatto states that at an early period the Italians occasionally
substituted a Queen for the Cavello, and declares that the French have
claimed an honour which does not belong to them when they assert that
they were the first nation that had the gallantry to place a lady in
the pack.
This example, set by the French or perhaps by the Italians, of placing
a queen among the court cards has not been followed by other nations,
nor indeed to any very great extent by the Italians themselves, who,
although they sometimes included her, only do so, as a general rule,
when they adopt the French cards and their symbols entirely, and
discard those derived from the East, which have been clung to since
their first introduction.
England was one of the few nations gallant enough to retain the lady in
the national pack when it had emigrated from France and taken root in
its adopted country; and England also selected a particular Queen of
her own, and placed her figure among the court cards.
In one of the pictures of Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry the
Seventh of England, we find the original of the quaint dress now worn
by our cardboard queens. There were various reasons for the selection
of this lady and her elevation to the paper throne, where she has
remained, with her costume and even the colour of her hair almost
unchanged, to the present day, and which a cursory examination of her
history will reveal. During the lifetime of her father Edward the
Fourth of England, Elizabeth was betrothed to the dauphin Charles,
eldest son of Louis the Eleventh of France. At that time there was
constant intercourse with the sister country, and cards may then
have been first imported into England. The English princess after
her contract with the heir of France was always addressed as Madame
la Dauphine, and her picture may have been placed on the cards
to show that she took rank as a French princess. This match was,
however, suddenly terminated by the French monarch, and his rage and
disappointment it is said caused her father’s death. Her marriage with
his successor, which joined the two houses of York and Lancaster, who
had been rival claimants for the throne of England, terminated forever
the Wars of the Roses; and it may have been during the period of great
rejoicing which followed this auspicious event that the royal dame who
had been elevated to the position of Queen Consort was also selected
to reign over card-land, where her figure, dress, and attributes are
cherished to this day.
If we turn to the picture of Elizabeth of York, we shall see at a
glance where the card-maker derived his inspiration for the costume
of the card Queens. Over the heads of the royal dames are odd-looking
head-dresses, which in the lapse of years have become rigidly
conventionalized; but in them can easily be traced the resemblance to
the straight lappets made of a scarf or veil richly embroidered with
jewels, forming a cap and hanging on either side of the face, which
forms part of the dress in the picture of Elizabeth. In it her hair,
which was of a pale golden hue, is banded plainly on her forehead, and
she wears a square-cut dress, which opens at her throat and has long
flowing ermine-edged sleeves. One of the most important parts of the
picture must be carefully noted. The Queen holds the rose of York in
her hand, and this emblem has been always copied and retained.
Elizabeth of York was a most beautiful woman, and it might have been
due to this fact that her picture was so eagerly copied. She died very
young, having only attained her thirty-eighth year, in 1503, leaving an
heir to the throne, who was afterward Henry the Eighth.
Among the names bestowed upon the Queens of the French court cards are
those of Hélène, Judic, Rachael. These are found in the pack which is
believed to be of the time of Louis the Twelfth. When the war with
Spain took place, which was followed by the capture and imprisonment of
Francis the First and his marriage with the Queen Eleanor, the ladies
of the pack change their names to Lucresse, Pentaxlie, Beciabia. Again,
under the reign of Henry the Second they become Argine, Pallas, etc.
The effeminate reign of Henry the Third affected the dresses as well
as the names on the cards. The Queens wore their hair turned back and
crepé, “la robe juste à corps et a vertu garde,” and bear such names as
Dido, Elizabeth, and Clotilde.
Singer relates that Pallas, as the Queen of Spades was at one time
named, was intended to represent Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, as
Pallas was goddess of war and of chastity, and the Maid was her worthy
representative; and that Charles the Seventh, out of gratitude for the
services received at her hands, caused her to be placed under the cover
of the heathen goddess’s name in card-land.
Père Daniel, in his dissertation on the “Game of Piquet,” says that
the Queen of Clubs is called _Argine_, from which the anagram Regina
may be made, and that it is intended to represent Marie d’Anjou, wife
of Charles the Seventh. Rachael was chosen to represent Agnes Sorel,
whose token—the clover-leaf (_sorrel_)—was placed among the symbols
of the suits. The same author fancies that Judith may be intended to
represent Isabel of Bavaria, mother of Charles the Seventh and wife of
Charles the Sixth.
THE KNAVE.
The Knave has always been given an original and sometimes a prominent
place in the pack of cards. Although this position does not seem to
have been derived directly from _Il Matto_, or the _Fool_ of the
Tarots, he seems to have inherited some of the peculiarities of the
latter; and in many games he is given the same position, and either
takes precedence of all the other court cards or else adds to their
value according to the rules of the particular game which is being
played.
The word “knave” in the English language was originally used to signify
a “boy.” Chaucer employs it in this sense where he says of the King of
Northumberland,—
“On hire he gat a knave child;”
and this name was given by the English to the card which was called
by the French _le Valet_, as they regarded the male figure which
accompanied the court cards on their invasion of their country as the
son of the King and Queen of the suit to which he belonged, and did
not recognize his position as the court-jester or servant of the royal
family. But the words “man-child” or “knave” used in the sense of “boy”
soon became obsolete, and the latter is never seen in the present day
except to denote a cheat, dishonest person, or the second male figure
of the court cards.
To the same card is frequently given the name _Jack_. It is supposed
that this name was derived from the party-coloured or buffoon’s dress
worn by the Knave; the cant name for a jester being “Jack,” which
was also the term used to designate a serving-man of low degree. The
expression “Jack-a-napes” was probably derived from “Jack-a-Naïpes,”
or Jack of the cards, _Naïpes_ being the Spanish name for the pack;
and as cards were at one time imported into England quite as much
from Spain as from France, it was usual to call them by the Spanish
as well as the French name. Mr. Chatto declares that “Jack-a-napes”
means “Jack the Knave,” and says that “this card has more affinity in
character with the Spanish _Sota_ or the Italian _Faute_ than with
the French _Valet_;” and he also says: “We believe that it has never
been explained why the coarse and vulgar appellation of Knave was
originally given to the card next in degree to the Queen. Perhaps the
following account may be found a plausible one. It was usual with kings
in ancient times to choose some ludicrous person with whose ridiculous
and comical tricks they might be diverted in their hours of ease. This
person was generally selected from the lower ranks; but choice always
fell on one endowed with low cunning and humour calculated to excite
mirth and laughter; and the tricks of knavery in which he was allowed
free indulgence in the presence of the King gave him the appellation of
King’s Fool, or Knave.”
In the German pack the Knave has been called _Landsknechte_ (Free
Lancer), and from this has been derived the name of a well-known game
which the French call “Lansquenet.” In early French packs the same card
was sometimes termed _Trichem_, which was also the name of a formidable
band of robbers who at one time committed such horrible ravages in
France that the Popes were obliged to preach a crusade against them.
The grotesque dress of the Knaves of the English packs has remained
almost unchanged for several hundred years. It has evidently been
copied from the ordinary costumes of the fifteenth or sixteenth
centuries, but no exact date can be assigned to it. It seems to consist
of a short jacket with full flowing sleeves, the body being crossed by
a sash, or what may have originally been intended for a strap to hold
a quiver. This coat, or jacket, resembles the _gaberdine_ described by
Chaucer as being the dress of the Squires in the “Canterbury Tales.”
The cap, with its squarely cut or battlemented edges, turned back over
an under-cap of black, which fitted closely to the head, was in common
use about the end of the fifteenth century. The Knaves of to-day are
cut in halves, and show two heads, which are legless; and these replace
the old standing figures and the odd-looking, misshapen, party-coloured
legs, which followed an ancient fashion, and showed one clothed in one
colour, its fellow being dressed in a different one, with gayly striped
garters and peculiarly shaped shoes.
Mr. Taylor tells a droll story, which shows how conservative people
have for many years been on the subject of cards, and how they resent
the smallest change in the costume, etc., of the court cards, when
every other dress changes almost as soon as it is generally adopted.
He says: “One of the large card-makers in London many years ago
introduced a scarcely perceptible modification in the colour of the
Knave’s garter. Cards were supplied, as usual, to the customers; but
very soon the steward of one of the considerable clubs came rushing
down in a great hurry to the shop. ‘The committee can’t think what you
have been doing to the cards! All the members are complaining that they
keep losing. What have you done?’ At first the card-maker said, ‘Done?
Why, nothing!’ not thinking the trifling change of any importance;
but on further inquiry it was found that the indescribable something
the clubbists had detected confused them, and he was obliged to take
back all his cards and supply those of the former sort. Such is the
influence of a trifle. Since that time, however, many alterations have
been introduced, and not a few improvements.”
The weapons which are placed in the hands of the Knaves have become
strangely distorted with the lapse of time and through the carelessness
of the card-maker. Our Knave of Hearts bears a clumsy-looking
battle-axe, which looks too dull and too heavy to be of much service in
case of necessity; and in the other hand he holds a laurel leaf. The
Knave of Diamonds has what Falstaff calls a “Welsh hook,” which has
been defined as meaning “a pike with a hook placed at some distance
below its point.” The peculiar attribute of the present Knave of
Spades is a twisted ribbon, and its origin has not been traced. It
may originally have been a Marotte, or Fool’s Staff, around which
gayly coloured ribbons were twisted, the whole surmounted with a
fool’s cap. This Knave formerly bore a strange-looking instrument;
but its use having become obsolete, even its form has been discarded,
and the figure bears no weapon of defence, like his confrères. The
strange-looking staff carried by the Knave of Clubs is supposed to have
been originally intended for an arrow.
Why it is that the Knaves of Hearts and Spades should be in profile,
while the others show their full face, will probably always remain a
mystery; but it may be observed that the Knave of Hearts is in the
same position in some very old packs, now preserved in the British
Museum, to which has been attributed the date of 1440; and the same
thing occurs in a picture which is prefixed to a book called “The Four
Knaves,” which was published in 1613.
As has been before mentioned, the court cards of the French packs
have always had names placed somewhere on the face of the card; and
these names, after changing with some rapidity with the fashions of the
day, have now become permanent, and for some years have been retained
without the slightest variation. “Hector,” as one of the Knights is
dubbed, is supposed to recall Hector de Galard, Captain of the Guard,
to Louis the Eleventh of France. Some authors think that Hector, the
son of Priam, is intended by this name, as on some old cards the
inscription is “Hector de Troye.” Another Knave bears the name of
“Roland,” which was that of a nephew of Charlemagne. “Hogier,” or
Ogier, was a renowned King of Denmark. Lancelot may have at first been
intended as a compliment for a Paladin of the court of Charlemagne,
who was a celebrated character of his day; or perhaps Lancelot du Lac,
as it was sometimes written, may have been intended for one of the
Knights of King Arthur’s Round Table. La Hire, another name placed
beside the Knaves, was that of the celebrated Étienne de Vignolles, who
contributed so much by his valour to re-establish the tottering throne
of Charles the Seventh of France. Mr. Singer says that he was surnamed
La Hire. Some authors attribute the arrangement of the French pack,
with the symbols of the Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades, and the
black and red colours, to the same La Hire.
ACES AND OTHER CARDS.
It would seem that the name _ace_, _as_, _asso_, or at any rate some
combination of letters which convey about the same sound, is given
to the first card in the pack in nearly all countries where they are
used. Mr. Chatto says, according to Père Daniel, the Ace is the Latin
_as_, meaning “a piece of money, coin, riches;” while Bullet derives
it from the Celtic, and says that it means “origin, source, beginning,
or first.” A French writer of the sixteenth century, supposed to be
Charles Stephens, in a work entitled “Paradoxes,” printed at Paris,
1553, says that the “Ace or Az ought to be called _Nars_, a word which
in German signifies a ‘fool.’” The German word which he alludes to,
continues Mr. Chatto, “is just as likely to have been the origin of
Deuce as of Ace. It has also been supposed that the term ‘ace’ was
derived from a Greek word signifying ‘one.’ But as this also signified
an ‘ass,’ it has been conjectured that the Ace of Cards and of Dice
were so called not as a designation of unity, but as signifying an ass
or a fool. Those who entertain the latter opinion are said by Hyde to
be asses themselves.”
Aces have had soubriquets or nicknames like many other cards; but these
have gained favour only in certain localities. In one part of England
they are called _Tib_; but the origin and meaning of this name is
unknown. The Ace of Diamonds is commonly called the _Earl of Cork_ in
Ireland, “because it is the worst Ace and the poorest card in the pack,
and he is the poorest nobleman in the country.” In Spain the Ace of
Oros is called _La Borgne_, or the “one-eyed.”
“There is luck under a black Deuce,” is a common saying among
card-players. “But not if you touch it with your elbow,” is the reply;
and when it is turned up as a trump, superstitious people place
their elbow upon it, and quite a struggle goes on between the dealer
and the opponent as to which one shall do so first. It is more than
probable that the words _Deuce_ and _Tray_ may have been derived from
the Spanish _Dos_ and _Tres_, which signify “two” and “three” in that
language. In some German games the _Daus_ is the master card, and
takes all the others. Mr. Chatto says: “The Deuce of cards, it may
be observed, has no connection with the term _deuce_, as used in the
familiar expression ‘To play the deuce,’ in which it is synonymous with
_devil_, and is of northern origin. In some parts of the country the
Deuce, although lower in value, is considered to be a more fortunate
card than the Tray; and ‘There’s luck in the Deuce, but none in the
Tray,’ is a frequent expression among old card-players who like to
enliven the game with an occasional remark as they lay down the cards.”
In Northumberland, England, the four of Hearts at Whist is sometimes
called _Hob Collingwood_, and is considered by old ladies an unlucky
card. The four of Clubs is called by sailors _the Devil’s Bedposts_,
and the four of Spades is named by others _Ned Stokes_. The Tray of
Oros, in Spain, is called _Le Seigneur_. The Tray of Cups is _La Dame_;
the Deuce is _La Vache_. The nines of Cups and of Money are the _Great
and Little Nines_, and the Ace of Clubs is _Le Serpent_. In Ireland the
six of Hearts is known as _Grace’s Card_, and is said to have acquired
that name from the following circumstance: “A gentleman of the name
of Grace being solicited with promises of royal favour to espouse the
cause of William the Third, gave the following answer written on the
back of the six of Hearts, to an emissary of Marshal Schomberg, who had
been commissioned to make the offer to him: ‘Tell your master I despise
his offer, and that honour and conscience are dearer to a gentleman
than all the wealth and titles a prince can bestow.’”
“The nine of Diamonds,” continues Mr. Chatto, “is frequently called
the _Curse of Scotland_, and some suppose on account of the tradition
that the Duke of Cumberland wrote his sanguinary order on it after the
battle of Culloden. It was, however, known by this name many years
before this battle, as it is stated that about 1715 Lord Justice Clerk
Ormistone, who had been zealous in suppressing the rebellion became
universally hated in Scotland, where they called him ‘the curse of
Scotland;’ and when ladies played the nine of Diamonds (commonly
called the Curse of Scotland), they called it Justice Clark.” Other
explanations are offered to account for this name, some of them being
found in heraldic devices, as nine diamonds or lozenges are displayed
in the arms of various distinguished men notorious for their hatred
and persecution of that country. The riddle on the subject says:
“_Question._ Pray why is the nine of Diamonds called the Curse of
Scotland? _Answer._ Because the crown of Scotland had but nine diamonds
in it, and they were never able to get a tenth.” The nine of Diamonds
is the card designated to represent Pope Joan in the game known by her
name. The fours have been called _Tidely_, and the fives and sixes
_Towser_ and _Tumbler_.
The court cards have not escaped these soubriquets. In France the
Knaves or Valets were sometimes called _les Fous_, and in Germany the
horsemen or chevaliers who took the place of the Queens were designated
_Ober_. In certain games the Knave of Clubs is called _Pam_; and in
Euchre Knaves are called _Right_ and _Left Bower_, as they happen to
fall with trumps. The Queen of Clubs has been called _Queen Bess_.
It is mentioned in “Court Life below Stairs,” by Molloy, as a curious
feature of the time, and showing how far presumptuous gamblers forgot
their manners and their loyalty, that during one of the attacks of
lunacy suffered by the King, George the Third, great abuse of the King
and Queen, and of Pitt was indulged in without reserve at Brook’s Club;
and a cant phrase used at the whist-table was, “I play the lunatic,”
meaning the King.
USE AND ABUSE.
Strange tales have been related of the various uses to which cards have
been put, and Mr. Singer tells one of a Friar “who, thinking to pull
out his Breviary, displays a pack of cards which some mischievous wit
had substituted for it. Not at all disconcerted by the circumstance, he
explains to the people that he makes use of them as a Breviary, and in
a most ingenious manner applies the different cards to this purpose.”
There is another history of a parson who loved gaming better than
his eyes, quoted by Mr. Chatto. This preacher thrust his cards up his
sleeves when the clerk called him to the pulpit. “‘Tis true that in the
height of his reproving his parish for their neglect of holy duties,
upon the throwing out of his zealous arm, the cards dropped out of
his sleeve and flew about the church. What then? He bid one boy take
up a card, and asked him what it was. The boy answers, ‘The King of
Clubs.’ Then he bid another boy take up another card. What was that?
‘The Knave of Spades.’ ‘Well,’ quoth he, ‘now tell me who made ye?’ The
boy could not well tell. Quoth he to the next, ‘Who redeemed ye?’ That
was a harder question. ‘Look ye,’ quoth the parson, ‘you think this
was an accident, and laugh at it; but I did it on purpose to show you
that had you taught your children their catechism as well as to know
their cards, they would have been better provided to answer material
questions when they come to church.’”
The story does not go on to state that this precious preacher met the
fate of Ananias, as he well deserved to do.
Not many years ago in England, the following story printed on a sheet
or pamphlet, was circulated among the poorer classes and was received
with great favour. It was called: “Cards Spiritualized; or the
Soldier’s Almanac, Bible, and Prayer-Book.”
Richard Middleton, a soldier attending divine service with the rest
of a regiment at a church in Glasgow, instead of pulling out a Bible
like the rest of his fellow soldiers to find the parson’s text, spread
a pack of cards before him. This singular behaviour did not long pass
unnoticed both by the clergyman and the sergeant of the company to
which he belonged. The latter, in particular, requested him to put up
the cards, and on his refusing, conducted him after church before the
mayor, to whom he preferred a formal complaint of Richard’s indecent
behaviour during divine service.
“Well, soldier,” said the mayor, “what excuse have you for this
strange, scandalous behaviour? If you can make any apology or assign
any reason for it; it is well; if you cannot, assure yourself that I
will cause you without delay to be severely punished for it.”
“Since your Honour is so good,” replied Richard, “I will inform you. I
have been eight days on march, with a bare allowance of sixpence a day,
which your Honour will surely allow is hardly sufficient to maintain a
man in meat, drink, washing, and other necessaries that consequently
he may want, without a Bible, Prayer-Book, or any other good book.” On
saying this, Richard drew out his pack of cards, and presenting one
of the Aces to the mayor continued his address to the magistrate as
follows:—
“When I see an Ace, may it please your Honour, it reminds me that
there is only one God; and when I look upon a two or a three, the
former puts me in mind of the Father and Son, and the latter of the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. A four calls for remembrance the four
evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. A five, the five wise
Virgins who were ordered to trim their lamps. There were ten indeed;
but five, your Worship may remember, were wise and five were foolish.
A six, that in six days God created heaven and earth. A seven, that
on the seventh day he rested from all he had made. An eight, of the
eight righteous persons preserved from the deluge; namely, Noah and his
wife, with his three sons and their wives. A nine, of the nine lepers
cleansed by our Saviour. There were ten, but only one returned to offer
his tribute of thanks. And a ten, of the ten commandments that God gave
Moses on Mount Sinai, on the two tables of stone.” He took the Knave
and put it aside. “When I see the Queen it reminds me of the Queen of
Sheba, who came forth from the farthermost parts of the world to hear
the wisdom of Solomon, for she was as wise a woman as he was a man, for
she brought fifty boys and fifty girls, all clothed in girls’ apparel,
to stand before King Solomon, for him to test which were boys and
which were girls; but he could not until he called for water to wash
themselves. The girls washed up to their elbows, and the boys only up
to the wrists of their hands; so King Solomon told by that. And when I
see the King it puts me in mind of the great King of heaven and earth,
which is God Almighty; and likewise his Majesty King George the Fourth,
to pray for him.”
“Well,” said the mayor, “you have given a good description of all the
cards save one, which is lacking.”
“Which is that?” said the soldier.
“The Knave,” said the mayor.
“If your Honour will not be angry with me,” returned Richard, “I can
give you the same satisfaction on that as on any in the pack.”
“No,” said the mayor.
“Well,” returned the soldier, “the greatest Knave I know is the
serjeant who brought me before you.”
“I don’t know,” said the mayor, “whether he be the greatest Knave or
no, but I am sure he is the greatest fool.”
The soldier then continued: “When I count the number of dots in a pack
of cards, there are three-hundred and sixty-five,—as many days as there
are in the year. When I count how many cards there are in a pack, I
find there are fifty-two,—so many weeks are there in a year. When I
reckon how many tricks are won by a pack, I find there are thirteen,—so
many months are there in a year. So that this pack of cards is both
Bible, Almanack, and Prayer-Book to me.”
The mayor called his servants, ordered them to entertain the soldier
well, gave him a piece of money, and said he was the cleverest fellow
he ever heard in his life.
There are several variations of this story, one being written in the
French language and in rhyme; but as their theme is nearly identical
with the one quoted, it is unnecessary to repeat them.
It is supposed that the visiting-card now in common use derived its
origin from a custom, quoted by Mr. Taylor, of writing messages on the
backs of playing-cards,—a practice which is mentioned in the “Spiritual
Quixote,” a novel of George the Third’s time. This practice is also
mentioned in “Henry Esmond,” where an invitation is sent on a ten of
Diamonds; and it was not confined to the novelist’s world, as it was
evidently the custom in America before the Revolution, for some of
these invitations still exist and are treasured among family relics.
There is one belonging to an American family which bears an invitation
from Sir Jeffrey Amherst, printed on the back of the King of Clubs, to
one of the fair damsels of his day; and this was dated 1769. Another
card which apparently belonged to the same pack bore on its back an
invitation to dinner from the same General to Mr. Ten Eyck for this
same anniversary of Saint George’s Day. It seems a strange coincidence
that both these cards should have been sent to the author,—one of them
coming from Boston; the other from Cazenovia, New York, where it was
found in an old iron chest belonging to the Ten Eyck family. Another
invitation card which is treasured in New York, carried an invitation
from Miss Kitty and Miss Anna Livingston to Miss Laurence. These
ladies are the ancestors of many well known townspeople, and the date
of the invitation must have been about the same as that one issued
by Sir Jeffrey Amherst, showing that it was a common practice during
the middle of the last century to use playing-cards on which to write
invitations.
Playing-cards have also been used to carry on their surface important
messages; as before mentioned, the message written by the Duke of
Cumberland was on a playing-card (the nine of Diamonds).
The fascination that games have for some people led to their being
carried into queer places and strange company. The preacher’s
catastrophe and the soldier’s apology have already been related; but
cards have been played on the battle-field as well as by the home
fireside, they have been used when travelling and even at the play, as
one writer mentions that during a visit in Florence he was invited to
join a game in an opera-box, where he was told that “good music added
greatly to the pleasure of a whist-party, that it increased the joy of
good fortune and soothed the affliction of the bad.”
One writer has described a visit to a temple in Thibet, in which he
found among other decorations “a couple of old playing-cards,”—the
Knave of Hearts and the Ace of Acorns. Whether these were worshipped by
the natives or considered as decorations, he could not discover.
The descendants of Lady Katherine Alexander, daughter of Major-Gen.
Lord Sterling and wife of Col. William Duer, relate the following
anecdote of her. The dame was fond of the rubber at Whist; and it
is probable that in the beginning of the century cards were not as
common nor as cheap as they are now, and that ladies carried their
own packs with them to card-parties. At any rate, one morning while
attending services at St. Paul’s Church, New York, her Ladyship pulled
her handkerchief out of her capacious pocket, and with it drew out a
pack of cards, which, to the amusement of her neighbours and her own
consternation, flew about the pew. Her mischievous sons never lost an
opportunity of reminding her of the circumstance and teasing her about
it.
PIPS, SUITS, AND COLOURS.
The emblems on the cards have been, since 1656, called _pips_, or
_peeps_, and sometimes _points_; the former is the term generally used
by card-makers and players, by which they designate the symbols at the
present day.
The manufacturers call the court cards _têtes_; but this name has
not been adopted among players. They are also frequently named _coat
cards_,—a term which is supposed to be derived from the coats worn by
the figures, in contradistinction to the other designs, which were
sometimes flowers and animals as well as the symbols familiar to our
eyes.
Many old and curious packs have survived the hard usage they were
called upon to endure not only in the course of play, but also by their
having been impressed into the book-binders’ service, which has in many
cases been the fortunate means of their being preserved to be prized
and studied at the present day; and there are valuable collections
in European museums which contain rare specimens of cards, not only
delicately painted like the most beautiful miniatures on parchment and
other materials, but also exquisitely engraved; and among them are some
of the first specimens of that art.
The pack painted by Gringonneur, which has already been fully
described, is in Paris; but this is a Tarot pack, which seems to have
been the one in use at the French Court just before playing-cards in
their modern dress were adopted. The cards prepared for the use of the
French King, which were the first to be divided into suits and marked
with the symbols of Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs, are also
preserved in the same place.
In the print-room of the British Museum is a portion of a pack which
has the German marks of suits. These cards are stencilled and not
printed or painted, and are supposed to date from 1440. They were
discovered, as so many others have been, in the cover of an old book.
There is another pack dated 1790, manufactured by Rowley & Co. “In
it the Spade” (to quote from Mr. Taylor) “is a kind of dagger, of a
clumsy, inconvenient form. The Ace of Clubs is a clover-leaf in an
oval. Diamonds clearly point to the original conventionalized form,
being a veritable diamond, lozenge-shaped, with the facets of the
cutting shown in relief. This idea of a quadrangular shape is involved
in all the names of the Diamond suit, whether it be panes of glass or
paving-tiles. Clubs,” he declares, “has always been an anomaly.”
The colours used in cards vary with the pips or the caprices of the
card-makers. In the curious old pack mentioned by Mr. Singer, which
dates from 1500 and perhaps earlier, there are only two colours used,
and these were red and green; but they were not intended to mark the
suits, they were used only on the costumes of the court-card figures.
Some early Italian cards mentioned by Zani in his book entitled “Le
Carte Parlante,” were executed with a pale ink of a grayish tint, while
others were printed with very black ink.
The Germans now call two of their suits _Roth_ and _Grün_, or Red and
Green, the emblems of which are a heart and a leaf.
There is still in existence a curious pack of cards which were
presented to Capt. D. Cromline Smith by a Brahmin of India in 1815,
which is mentioned by Mr. Chatto. They were supposed to be a thousand
years old. The Brahmin considered them to be a great curiosity, as they
had been in his family from time immemorial. He did not know whether
or not they were perfect, but believed that originally there were two
more colours or suits. He said they were not the same as the modern
cards, that none knew how to play with them, and that no books give any
account of them. The pack consists of eight suits, each containing two
honours and ten common cards. The backs are green, and they are painted
in many different colours. Mr. Chatto remarks, that if they are even
one hundred years old they must have been preserved with great care,
and he is inclined to doubt their extreme antiquity.
The oldest set of French Piquet cards, known as the “Corsube pack,”
which were invented about 1425, or nearly five hundred years ago, are
engraved on wood and coloured. The outlines are printed in pale ink,
and the colours appear to have been applied by means of a stencil.
A beautiful pack engraved on copper in the latter quarter of the
fifteenth century was not intended to be coloured, as the symbols which
marked the suits distinguished them without resorting to different hues.
Among other useful inventions, cards have been made for blind people,
on the surface of which the pips were raised so as to be easily
distinguished by aid of the fingers.
Within the past twenty-five years various alterations have been made
in the cards. The court or face cards have been cut in halves, and so
arranged that whatever end turns up in the hand the heads are always
uppermost. The old figures showing the whole body are now only made for
Faro (or Pharaoh) players. The custom of placing the numbers of the
cards in their left-hand upper corner has lately crept in, having been
demanded by Poker players, who glance rapidly at their hands and close
them before betting on them. These cards are known to the card-makers
as “Indexed,” but are commonly called “Squeezers.”
Although M. la Croix has declared that Étienne la Vignolles, sometimes
called La Hire, who is supposed to have arranged the pack with the
pips of Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, and Spades, was inspired chiefly in
his choice of these symbols by his heraldic knowledge and his military
tastes, and that his Spades and Hearts were shields, and his Diamonds
arrow-heads, it is worth noting that the Germans had chosen nearly
identical devices to mark their suits, and that the Acorn is a Club,
and Leaves and Hearts so closely resemble Spades and the French Cœur,
that the similarity in form can hardly be due to a caprice of the
card-maker or the fancies of a military man.
Cards have by many people been regarded for centuries with a
superstitious awe, and accorded supernatural powers of divination;
and it seems more probable that the devices were suggested by various
symbols which were probably constantly before the eyes of men of the
Middle Ages, particularly in churches or houses devoted to religious
purposes.
Mr. Baring-Gould, in his “Curious Myths of the Middle Ages,”
mentions the discovery in 1850 of a Gallo-Roman palace near Pau in
France. In one of the rooms the pavement consisted of squares which
were ornamented with crosses of different shapes. Those of Saint
Andrew “terminated in either a heart-shaped leaf or a trefoil.” Here
then may be seen the various devices adopted by the card-maker. On the
“Carreaux,” or diamond-shaped tiles, were displayed Clubs, Hearts,
and Spades, beneath the feet of the worshipper in his church or the
courtier in the palace; and to transfer the emblems to the card in
place of the symbols used by the Oriental was an easy matter. The
“Club,” as we name it, is a favourite emblem of the Trinity, which has
been used for centuries as its symbol; and we need not search for an
Agnes Sorel or a Saint Patrick as the first to use the clover-leaf, and
fancy that the French courtier meant to compliment the King’s mistress
by placing her device among the cards. It might just as well have
been directly the reverse, and that she, seeing how pretty the leaf
and how appropriate the pun on her name, might have adopted it from
the card pips. It is quite possible that beside the Tarot cards there
were others in use about the fifteenth century, and that their emblems
became favourites in France and Germany, while Italy and Spain clung to
those seen in the Saracen pack.
ODDS AND ENDS.
Among the other extravagant fashions of the French Court from the
time of Charles the Sixth to that of Louis the Sixteenth, that of
decorating the card-room, its furniture, accessories, and even the
cards themselves, was by no means the least. It was perhaps fitting
that the place in which enormous sums of money changed hands should
be decorated as a shrine to the God of Play, and it is certain that
they were luxuriously furnished and magnificently adorned. Under
Louis the Fourteenth the cloths were of green velvet embroidered in
gold and enriched with bullion fringes. The counters were of various
metals,—mother of pearl, or other valuable substances. We read of a
pack embroidered on white satin enriched with silver, and another
one engraved on mother of pearl. Some of the more luxurious among
the aristocracy ordered their cards from the most famous miniature
painters of the day, in order to differ as widely as possible from the
roughly produced and cheap cards used by the common people; and of
course for these cards enormous prices were given. The decorations of
the card-rooms were in harmony with the accessories of the tables, and
tapestries were designed and woven to accord with the scenes which they
surrounded; even within a few years one of the modern palaces in Europe
has been adorned with mural decorations which represented the court
cards of obsolete packs; and the four Knaves in picturesque costumes,
life size and beautifully designed and executed, surround the card-room.
The tables were at first covered with green cloths which hung down and
were held in place by their bullion fringes; but these covers were soon
discarded, and the cloth was carefully pasted on the top of the table.
Much ingenuity was expended in making the card-tables as handsome as
were all the other details of the room. They were inlaid with beautiful
woods, painted by celebrated artists, and richly ornamented in many
other ways. They are nearly always square or partly rounded in shape,
but are sometimes octagonal or three-cornered.
Mazarin seized on cards, which he was passionately fond of, as a
means of instructing the young King Louis, and adopted the educational
series, inducing the eight-year-old monarch to study history,
geography, and other sciences by their means. This early introduction
to cards led to their becoming the ruling passion of the life of that
“Grand Monarch;” and under his reign the rage for cards reached a great
height, and enormous sums were lost and gained. Mazarin was himself a
notorious gambler; and his niece, although left an enormous fortune
by her Cardinal uncle, died insolvent, the greater part of her money
having been lost at cards. When Louis Quatorze reached the age of
manhood, every evening from six until ten o’clock was passed in play.
Even when engaged in necessary business, the game proceeded, the King
deputing some of his courtiers to hold his cards during his absence.
The knights of the green cloth being in such favour, a card-ball was
proposed and given at Marley, Feb. 19, 1700, at which one dance was
performed by the courtiers, who were dressed like the court cards of
the pack. As Marley was the palace above all others in which gambling
was carried to the highest extent, it was, says the historian, “the
appropriate theatre for such an event.”
The rage for playing cards was at one time as great in England as in
France. James the First forbade cards in Scotland; but it was his
favourite amusement. Charles the First did not disdain to create
a monopoly of playing-cards by buying all those produced by the
Card-makers’ Company of London, and selling them out at a much higher
price. Cards sold in 1545 for twopence a pack, and they must have been
wretched specimens. The marriage of Charles to a French princess in
1629 may have introduced Piquet into England; it is mentioned in a book
printed in 1649, at the same time with Cribbage.
The Roundheads professed to despise all frivolous amusements, and
considered them sinful, although the early Christians evidently did not
look on Dice and such games in the same light, as recent excavations in
the Catacombs show that the graves there contained various implements
of sport. “Dice-counters and gambling-boards,” says a recent writer,
“have been discovered in Christian tombs”; and the boards, with their
gay and inspiriting inscriptions (“Victus leva te; ludere nescis; da
lusori locum,” “Domine, frater hilaris semper ludere tabula”), do not
differ at all from those with which the heathen had made merry. In the
Domitilla Catacomb has been found the tomb of a master in the art of
making Dice.
After the restoration of Charles the Second the court cards resumed
their sway, and from that time to the accession of Queen Victoria,
reigned supreme, from court circles down to the gypsies in their
encampment in the fields. The rage for play reached such a pitch during
the latter years of the reign of George the Third, that the Regent, his
brothers, and his friends were all deeply involved in debt.
A story is related of the famous Dowager Electress of Saxony, who
was devoted to the card-table and was not above taking advantage of
her position and using it when opportunity offered. She one evening
“committed some irregularity” (as cheating is termed when indulged in
by a person of exalted rank), and excited suspicions of her honesty by
her play. A courtier took notice of this, at which she expressed her
surprise; thereupon he remarked, “Pardon, madame, my suspicions could
not fall on you. _Sovereigns_ cheat only for _crowns_.”
Napoleon tried to while away the tedious hours of his captivity by
playing cards. His favourite games were Vingt-et-un, Piquet, and Whist.
The counters used for the last game were always of gold, and these
have been carefully treasured by the descendants of his jailers. A
nine of Hearts upon which he had written some English sentences is
also preserved. It is related that he never entered on any enterprise
or military operation without consulting a peculiar pack of cards,
which were not provided with the customary marks of suits, and in
fact were not divided into suits at all. These cards, which have been
carefully preserved, were sent to the author for inspection. They were
smaller than those generally used, and were printed in black on yellow
pasteboard. Each card was surrounded with the signs of the Zodiac,
and was divided by a black line drawn through its centre, and always
contained two little pictures, one above and one below this line.
Rings, Hearts, Roses, Cupids, Ladies, Kings, and Queens were displayed
on these cards; but it was evident that they were not intended to be
used for any game, and were only for purposes of divination. The cards
were torn, and showed marks of age; and if not the pack originally used
by the celebrated general, they may have resembled those he was said to
have consulted and believed in.
THE END.
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