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.