LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 1913. CONTENTS.-No. 158. Barnhill-Salehurst, Sussex - A Ballad of the Revenge Reference. 8- "Tamson's mare "-Words on a Sampler- Inquisition in Fiction and Drama-"Of sorts"-French Pronunciation of "Law"-Reference Wanted, 10. REPLIES: Thomas Chippendale, Upholsterer, 10-Dr. Peter du Moulin and North Wales-Capt. Pitman. 12W. Carter-Apparent Death, 13-Thomas Pretty, Vicar of Hursley-Long "S," Date of Disappearance-Novels in Northanger Abbey,' 14-"Prock"-Yelver in PlaceNames-" Dander," 15-The Stones of London-"Jag' --Irish Families: Taylor of Ballyhaise- Variants in the Text of Kenilworth, 16-Milton's Lycidas-Wrestling Match in Fiction-The Curfew Bell-Secret ServiceHarveys of Whittington, Staffordshire. 17-Lord Grimthorpe's List of Churches-Gammer Gurton-Seals of Thomas, First Marquis of Dorset - Hogarth's 'Rake's Progress': The Black Joke'-Price of Tobacco in the Seventeenth Century, 18. and NOTES ON BOOKS: - Whitaker's Almanack, Peerage, Notes. PRIMERO. THIS old game of cards was called Prime in France, Primera in Spain, and Primiera in Italy-all derived from the Latin primarius (first). In English literature, besides the occasional use of the foreign names, the game is designated Primero (and also PrimaVista, which is probably a variant), with the usual corruptions in spelling of the early days. Primero is actually a Spanish word, meaning "first" or "chief." The earliest writer mentioning the game is an Italian named Francesco Berni (or Bernia), who was born about 1496, and died in 1536. His work is entitled Capitolo del Gioco della Primiera,' &c., a poem published in Rome in 1526. It contains some particulars of the game, and is believed to be the earliest work extant describing a cardgame. The book is very rare, but a number of references and extracts from it is to be found in Samuel Weller Singer's 'Researches into the History of Playing Cards', (1816). Throughout his work Berni mentions the following eleven games of cards : Bassetta, Cricca, Flusso, Noviera, Primiera, Quintiera. Ronfa,* Sestiera. Trentuno, Trionfi, and Trionfi-Piccoli. He says in reference to Primero, as translated by Singer : "To describe what Primero is would be little less than useless, for there can scarcely be any one so ignorant as to be unacquainted with it.The game is played differently in different places, but it would occupy too much tinie, to recount all its varieties. At Florence it is the.thstom to leave out the Sevens, Eights, and Nines, keeping and vying only with the smaller cards; the, Rest is made at the second card, and when the thist player says Pass every one is obliged to discard, notwithstanding any one may have an Ace or a Six in his hand. At Venice, for example, the mode of playing may be different; in Lombardy, Naples, France, and Spain, so many countries so many customs. But of all the modes in the world, let them be what they may, none can be superior to that of the court at Rome. In this glorious court, then, among other laudable customs, Primero principally flourishes; it has there its liberty, its reputation, its decorum, its full members and figures, and all its parts: there the Sevens, Eights, and Nines are not withdrawn ; there it is allowed to discard, but not to discard both cards, after Pass is once said; nor can this be done with the two cards of the Rest, as is usual in other places. The most essential operation of this game may be called its two principal heads, the Flush and the Primiera, and a third, derived from the first, which is called the Point; from these three are deduced all the varieties which daily occur at Primero, as the greater and lesser Flush, the great and little Prime, and more or less Points, which diversity gives rise to numerous controversies, and a thousand disputable points. -Another not less excellent operation in this game is, that four cards of one sort, as four Court cards, four Aces, &c., conquer both the Flush and Primiera." According to this account, the game, as played at Florence, was with twenty-eight cards (Aces to Sevens), and at Rome with the full pack; and from the references to the numerous methods of play it was in existence for some time previous to 1526. Another more celebrated Italian, Jerome Cardan (1501-76), wrote a work in Latin entitled Liber de Ludo Aleæ,' being an amplification of an original tract by him 10,000 words, and is divided into thirtyIt contains about on games of chance. two chapters, each with a heading. In it the following twelve games of cards are mentioned: Baseta, Centum, Cricones, * Berni attributes the invention of Ronfa to King Ferdinand-evidently referring to the husband of Queen Isabella, and King of Naples, Sicily, and Spain. This is a mistake in the original or translation. He means the Eights, Nines, and Tens. Primera, Ronfa, Scaltara. Sequentiæ, Sequentium, Tarochi, Trapola; Triumfeti, and Triumphi. Singer, in one of the appendices to his own work above mentioned, sets out the text of Cardan's book, so far as it relates to cards.. A portion of it deals with Primero, but the text is so corrupt or imperfect that it is difficult to translate exactly what Cardan intended to say. The following principal details are embraced therein, viz. — "*Primera [sic] is the best of all games. The Eight Nine, and Ten are rejected from the ordmary pack, and the King, Queen, and Knave count ten each. Ten points are added to the hips of the Two, Three, Four, and Five, which therefore count respectively twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen. The pips of the Six and Seven are trebled, so that they count respectively eighteen and twenty-one. The Ace is value for sixteen. The hand is complete with four cards, and there are five different classes of hand, (1) Number, (2) Primera, (3) Highest, (4) Flush, and (5) Four of the same Rank. Number (or Point), the lowest class, consists of two or three (two court cards) is value for twenty, and the highest (Seven, Six, and Five) for fifty-four.‡ Primera is four cards of four different suits, and beats any Number hand; the lowest Primera is forty (four court cards), and the highest eighty-one (three Sevens and a Six). Highest, fifty-five points (the Seven, Six, and Ace of the same suit), beats both Primera and Number. Flush, four cards of the same suit, beats the other three classes, and the lowest hand in it is forty-two, the highest seventy. The remaining and best class is akin to Primera (four different suits), and is four cards of the same kind, such as four Sixes, or four Kings; the lowest hand in it is forty, and the highest eighty-four. Four Kings, four Queens, and four Knaves are equal in value. In each class a higher value beats a lower one, and when two or more hands of the same class are equal in value, the eldest holder of them conquers. Two cards to each player are dealt round singly, and afterwards two together. When the first two cards are dealt to each, a rest in the dealing takes place, and each player looks at his cards and makes the stake. Discarding is permitted, fresh cards to make up the proper number being taken into the hand and dealt from the pack." But it is not clear from Cardan's account where the discarding actually takes place cards of the same suit; and the lowest hand in it * Could this game in any way be akin to Scartino, a favourite of the D'Estes-Isabella (1474-1539), Marchioness of Mantua, and Beatrice (1475-97), Duchess of Milan. The former lady, writing to the latter (her sister) in 1493, said, "I often wished myself back in your room playing at Scartino.' Scartino, from its name, seems to have embraced the feature of discarding. These ladies were also players of Britano and Imperiale. This is the Spanish form, not the Italian. The three highest cards of a suit-Seven, Six, and Ace-make fifty-five, but that combination is allocated to a class by itself. whether at the Rest, or from the complete hand, or at both times. His account is also obscure about the staking and vying. He gives some examples of discarding, which, if one thoroughly understood Cardan's game, would no doubt be instructive, as he was a mathematician of no mean order, and a clever man in other ways. repute as a physician was worldwide. visited Scotland in 1552 to attend John Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, for asthma, whom he cured. He also attended Edward VI., whose horoscope he made out, and afterwards published in one of his works. His He Rabelais, in 1532, places the game second in the list of the Gargantuan Games. Another French writer, in the 'Cabinet du Roy de France' (1581), mentions it as being played by the French clergy. In 1584 Amurath III., Sultan of Turkey, sent a poem to Henry of Navarre (afterwards Henry IV. of France) commencing with the verse (old translation) :— The estate of ffraunce as now it stands Wher some doe vye, and some doe hould And best assured maye be too bould. The Duc d'Angoulême, son of Charles IX. (France) and Marie Touchet, tells the following tale about 1 and 2 Aug., 1589: "The King [Henry III.] ordered us to retire and M. de Bellegarde, as first gentleman of the bedchamber, after drawing the royal curtains, accompanied me to my quarters, where I found Chemerault, Richelieu, Lanergue, and Renty playing at Primero, with whom I made a fifth. The game lasted till four in the morning, and it being sunrise, I threw myself on my bed, and was just settling off to repose, when one of my footmen arrived with the news of my utter ruin, crying out in tones of amazement, as the occasion warranted, that the King was stabbed." Primero is not described in any of the Académies, but the game of Ambigu, which first appears in the Paris Académie of 1659, is a later and enlarged version of it. This is confirmed by the Address to the Countess de V. prefixed to the description of Mesle, or Ambigu, in that edition, which purports to give the origin of the newer game, and admits that it is derived principally from Primero. Duchat in his edition of Rabelais' Works' (1732) describes Prime (Primero) as follows (translation) :— valued at fifteen. The Ace is equivalent to sixteen points, but the other cards, that is to say, the Two, Three, and Four, are only valued at the points marked on their faces. To all these cards there may be added, if desired, a Quinola, generally the Knave of Diamonds, which can be regarded as being any card in any suit as wished. After which, each of the players having shown his four cards, he having his cards in four suits wins the Prime; and if they are of the same suit, he wins the Flush." The Great Game, it will be observed, is not described beyond the statement that the pack in it embraces the court cards. Simultaneously with Rabelais's work, or previously (for some writers question the publication of 'Gargantua' in 1532, and assign a later date), Primero is mentioned in the Privy Purse Expences of King Henry the Eighth as being played by the King on 6 Oct., 1532.* This is generally held to be the first allusion to a specific game of cards being played in England. It is certainly the first account that gives direct details of the players and the actual day of play; but William Forrest in Second Gresyld' (c. 1581) says that Queen Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536) played Gleek as a girl, which would bring it to about 1501 when it was played in England. John Skelton (who died in 1529) evidently refers to Primero in the quotation which will be given at the end of these articles, and Elyot directly names it in 1533. Gilbert Walker in Manifest Detection of the Most Vyle and Detestable Use of Dice Play' (1552) refers to Primero as being a new game, and played at Court. Among other writers of the sixteenth century who refer to the game, there are Turbervile (1575), Carew (1594), Greene (1599), and Rowlands (1600). In the Sydney Papers,' ii. 83, in 1598, there is another specific account of Primero being played by Ambrose Willoughby, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Mr. Parker, out of which a quarrel arose; and Sir Henry Percy, ninth Earl of Northumberland (1564–1632), relates in his 'Letters' that Joscelin Percy played Primero at Essex House on a Sunday, at the time of the Gunpowder Plot. Shakespeare mentions the game twice: in The Merry Wives of Windsor' (1600) and King Henry VIII. (1613). The principal writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries who allude to the game are: Ben Jonson (1605 and 1610), Dekker (1608-9), Harrington (1615), Taylor Imperial holds a very close place to Primero, as the King is mentioned as playing it on the next day (7 Oot.) with Master Weston. (1621), Randolph (1634), D'Avenant (1636), Hall (1646), Worcester (1663), and Goldsmith (1762). And in the nineteenth century Scott mentions the game in The Fortunes of Nigel' (1822): scene, London in 1604; and Stanley J. Weyman in A Gentleman of France (1893): scene, France in 1588-9. J. S. McTEAR. 6, Arthur Chambers, Belfast. (To be continued.) CHRISTMAS BIBLIOGRAPHY, (Continued from 11 S. iv. 503.) [We are glad to have received this communication at least in time for Old Christmas Day.] THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE of N. & Q.' seems strangely unfamiliar without the instalment of Christmas bibliography contributed to its columns for so many years by the late REV. W. C. BOULTER. W. C. B.'s first list appeared in 1882 at 6 S. vi. 506, and from then until last year he contributed twentysix lists, missing only in 1889, 1891, and 1892. In 1891-2 lists were prepared by MR. J. C. WELCH. Having made a slipindex of the whole of the lists, I find there are nearly 500 titles mentioned, about onefifth of them being sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature. The following list has been prepared with a view to continuing the Bibliography. One of the titles has appeared in previous lists, a more precise reference being given. 1879. Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders. By William Henderson. Christmas and New Year's Day, pp. 64-77.-Folk-lore Society, 1879. 1880. Christmas Mummers in Dorsetshire. By J. S. Udal.-Folk-lore Record, iii. 87–116. 1881. Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland. By the Rev. W. Gregor. Christmas and New Year's Day, &c., pp. 156-64.- Folk - lore Society, 1881. 1884. Sussex Journal, ii. 1-8. "Tipteerers' " Play. Folk-lore This is performed on Boxing Day 1886. Notes on some old-fashioned English Cus toms: the Mummers. By G. A. Rowell.-Folk-lore Journal, iv. 97-101. 1887. [Christmas] Yorkshire Custom.-Folk-lore Journal, v. 74-5. 1889. Beliefs and Religious Ceremonies of the Mordvins [at Christmas]. By John Abercromby.— Folk-lore Journal, vii. 116-28. Dorsetshire Children's Games: [Christmas Mummers]. By J. S. Udal.-Id., 246-7. 1889. The Folk-Tales of the Magyars: [Christmas and New Year Customs], pp. li-liv.-Folklore Society, 1889. 1891. Christmas Crackers. -Strand Magazine, ii. 616-22. Primera, Ronfa, Scaltara. Sequentiæ, Sequentium, Tarochi, Trapola; Triumfeti, and Triumphi. Singer, in one of the appendices to his own work above mentioned, sets out the text of Cardan's book, so far as it relates to cards.. A portion of it deals with Primero, but the text is so corrupt or imperfect that, it is difficult to translate exactly what Cardan intended to say. The following principal details are embraced therein, viz. : Primera [sic]t is the best of all games. The Light Nine, and Ten are rejected from the ordinary pack, and the King, Queen, and Knave count ten each. Ten points are added to the pips of the Two, Three, Four, and Five, which therefore count respectively twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen. The pips of the Six and Seven are trebled, so that they count respectively eighteen and twenty-one. The Ace is value for sixteen. The hand is complete with four cards, and there are five different classes of hand, (1) Number, (2) Primera, (3) Highest, (4) Flush, and (5) Four of the saine Rank. Number (or Point), the lowest class, consists of two or three cards of the same suit; and the lowest hand in it (two court cards) is value for twenty, and the highest (Seven, Six, and Five) for fifty-four. Primera is four cards of four different suits, and beats any Number hand; the lowest Primera is forty (four court cards), and the highest eighty-one (three Sevens and a Six). Highest, fifty-five points (the Seven, Six, and Ace of the same suit), beats both Primera and Number. Flush, four cards of the same suit, beats the other three classes, and the lowest hand in it is forty-two, the highest seventy. The remaining and best class is akin to Primera (four different suits), and is four cards of the same kind, such as four Sixes, or four Kings; the lowest hand in it is forty, and the highest eighty-four. Four Kings, four Queens, and four Knaves are equal in value. In each class a higher value beats a lower one, and when two or more hands of the same class are equal in value, the eldest holder of them conquers. Two cards to each player are dealt round singly, and afterwards two together. When the first two cards are dealt to each, a rest in the dealing takes place, and each player looks at his cards and makes the stake. Discarding is permitted, fresh cards to make up the proper number being taken into the hand and dealt from the pack." But it is not clear from Cardan's account where the discarding actually takes place– Could this game in any way be akin to Scartino, a favourite of the D'Estes-Isabella (1474-1539), Marchioness of Mantua, and Beatrice (1475-97), Duchess of Milan. The former lady, writing to the latter (her sister) in 1493, said, "I often wished myself back in your room playing at Scartino." Scartino, from its name, seems to have embraced the feature of discarding. These ladies were also players of Britano and Imperiale. This is the Spanish form, not the Italian. The three highest cards of a suit-Seven, Six, and Ace-make fifty-five, but that combination is allocated to a class by itself. His whether at the Rest, or from the complete hand, or at both times. His account is also obscure about the staking and vying. He gives some examples of discarding, which, if one thoroughly understood Cardan's game, would no doubt be instructive, as he was a mathematician of no mean order, and a clever man in other ways. repute as a physician was worldwide. visited Scotland in 1552 to attend John Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, for asthma, whom he cured. He also attended Edward VI., whose horoscope he made out, and afterwards published in one of his works. He Rabelais, in 1532, places the game second in the list of the Gargantuan Games. Another French writer, in the 'Cabinet du Roy de France' (1581), mentions it as being played by the French clergy. In 1584 Amurath III., Sultan of Turkey, sent a poem to Henry of Navarre (afterwards Henry IV. of France) commencing with the verse (old translation) :— The estate of ffraunce as now it stands Wher some doe vye, and some doe hould And best assured maye be too bould. The Duc d'Angoulême, son of Charles IX. (France) and Marie Touchet, tells the following tale about 1 and 2 Aug., 1589 :— "The King [Henry III.] ordered us to retire and M. de Bellegarde, as first gentleman of the bedchamber, after drawing the royal curtains, accompanied me to my quarters, where I found Chemerault, Richelieu, Lanergue, and Renty playing at Primero, with whom I made a fifth. The game lasted till four in the morning, and it being sunrise, I threw myself on my bed, and was just settling off to repose, when one of my footmen arrived with the news of my utter ruin, crying out in tones of amazement, as the occasion warranted, that the King was stabbed." Primero is not described in any of the Académies, but the game of Ambigu, which first appears in the Paris Académie of 1659, is a later and enlarged version of it. This is confirmed by the Address to the Countess de V. prefixed to the description of Mesle, or Ambigu, in that edition, which purports to give the origin of the newer game, and admits that it is derived principally from 6 Primero. Duchat in his edition of Rabelais' Works' (1732) describes Prime (Primero) as follows (translation): "There is Great and Little Prime, and each is a game of cards for four persons. The Great is played with the Court cards, but in the Little, where each player is dealt four cards one by one, the highest card is the Seven, which is valued at twenty-one points; the next is the Six, which is valued at eighteen, and following it is the Five, |