Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards

by William Andrew Chatto

FOR WALES.

King of Spata.—Camber, the third Son of Brute, King of Cambria.

Queen of Spata.—Elfrida, the beautiful Queen of Mona, and of the Mountains.

Knight of Spata.—Thaliessin, the Welch Bard and Poet, dressed like a Herald or King at Arms of the Divine and Ancient Druids, as he sang to King Henry II of the great deeds of Arthur, the justly termed hero of the British Isle, Knight of Cambria."

"In the selection which we have made," say the proprietors, "to form our set of court cards, we have chosen them from among those characters who have rendered themselves most conspicuous in the history of the United Kingdom. In this particular, we have had recourse not only to historical truth, which we have rigidly observed, but we have taken care to fix upon personages, who lived at different periods, and which are calculated in colour, variety of dress, and characteristic features, to form an agreeable and elegant contrast, and to avoid that unpleasant monotony which must have taken place if they had all been selected from the same period of time; and it will be a peculiar gratification to us, in our attempts to form a set of cards, should we contribute in the smallest degree, to augment the elegant and rational amusements of taste and fashion.

"Nor have we been inattentive to minor objects in our anxiety to complete the plan. We believe it has never been attempted to be explained why the coarse and vulgar appellation of knave, was originally given to the card next in degree to the queen. Perhaps the following demonstration is the most plausible way in which it can be accounted for. 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 relaxation, from the cares and formalities of royalty. This person was generally chosen from among men of low condition, but not wholly destitute of talent, particularly in that species of 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 the king's fool, or knave.

"Whether this explanation be really the origin from whence the knave in the old cards is derived, may still remain undetermined, but it appears to us the most rational way of accounting for it. Nor is it indeed essential to our present purpose; the name of knave in our opinion is vulgar, unmeaning, and inconsistent, and being moreover absolutely incompatible with the dignity of our characters, and the uniformity of our plan, we have entirely rejected it, and substituted a knight in its stead. This being a title of honour, not only in immediate succession to that of king and queen, but is ever considered as an honorable appendage to royalty itself."

About 1819, a set of cleverly drawn satirical cards, with the marks of the suits introduced in the same manner as in Cotta's cards, appeared at Paris. Their satire is directed against the political party then in the ascendant; and in the Nine of Hearts, portraits of Chateaubriand and other persons, both lay and clerical, are introduced as advocates of the old order of things; in the background are the ruins of the Bastille, and at the foot is the inscription, "Les Immobiles." The coat cards of the suit of Hearts consist of figures representing three popular journals: King, "Constitutionnel,"—a figure in Roman costume, with sword and shield, defending a column inscribed: "Charte constitutionnel. Liberté de la Presse. Liberté Individuelle. Loi des Elections. Tolérance." Queen, "Minerve,"—Minerva putting to flight certain evil spirits of the "Partie Prêtre."—Knave, "Figaro,"—the character in proper costume. The coat cards of Spades are: King, "Conservateur,"—a Jesuit with a sword in one hand, and a torch in the other. Queen, "Quotidienne,"—an old woman holding in her left hand a book inscribed, "Pensée Chrétienne quotidienne;" and in her right an extinguisher, which she is about to clap upon a figure of Truth seen emerging from a well. Knave, "Bazile,"—figure of Chateaubriand, in clerical costume, but concealing a Jesuit's cap under his robe; beside him is a braying ass, on its knees. Clubs: King, "Débats,"—the Editor endeavouring to carry two large bags, the one inscribed, "Débats" and the other "Empire:" in the distance, two asses mutually caressing each other. Queen, "Gazette,"—a hard-featured old lady, with a pen in her hand, at a writing table: near to her a magpie in a cage. Knave, "Clopineau,"—the figure of Talleyrand; towards the top are the signs of the political zodiac which he had already passed through. In the only pack which I have had an opportunity of examining, the Queen of Diamonds is wanting. The representative of the King is the "Moniteur,"—a brazen head on a kind of pedestal, round which are stuck flags of various colours, indicative of the different parties whose cause the paper had advocated. Knave, "Don Quichotte,"—the Don, with shield and lance, attacking a windmill: the person intended by this figure I have not been able to discover. [302]

With respect to the common names of the first three numeral cards,—Ace, Deuce, and Tray,—it may be observed that the term Ace or As is common in almost every country in Europe as the designation of the One at cards; [303] and that the terms Deuce and Tray, signifying Two and Three, may have been derived either from the Spanish Dos and Tres, or from the French Deux and Trois. The Deuce of cards, it may be observed, has no connexion with the term Deuce as used in the familiar expression "to play the Deuce;" in which it is synonymous with the Devil, or an evil spirit, and is of Northern origin. In some parts of the country, the Deuce, though 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 amongst old card-players, who like to enliven the game with an occasional remark as they lay down a card. In Northumberland, the Four of Hearts at Whist is sometimes called "Hob Collingwood," [304] and is considered by old ladies an unlucky card. As far as memory can trace, according to Captain Chamier, in his novel entitled the 'Arethusa,' the Four of Clubs has been called by sailors the "devil's bedpost." In Northamptonshire, according to a writer in the 'Gentleman's Magazine,' 1791 (p. 141), the Queen of Clubs is called "Queen Bess," and the Four of Spades, "Ned Stokes." [305]

In various parts of Ireland, but more particularly in the county of Kilkenny, the Six of Hearts is known by the name of "Grace's card;" and it 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 III, gave the following answer, written on the back of the Six of Hearts, to an emissary of Marshal Schomberg's, who had been commissioned to make the proposal 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."