Ludus Chartarum

"Ludus Chartarum" (The Game of Cards) - Ludovico Vives 1545
( Excerpt translated from Latin)

Five young gentlemen whiling away a winter afternoon in the city of Bruges decide to play a game of cards. They are :
Castellus
Manricus
Lupianus
Tamayus
Valdaura

M - I will take no part in this affair, but will be an onlooker.
T - Why so?
M - Because I am most unlucky. I always leave a game stripped and beaten.
T- Do you know what dicers say as their motto ? "Look for your cloak where you lost it !"
M - Indeed, but the danger is that while I seek the cloak I lost, I may lose my shirt and vest as well.
T - It often happens, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
M - That is the counsel of a speculator.
T - Aye , and of the money-changers of Antwerp too.
V - You are right. But only four people can play, and there are five of us. Shall we draw lots to see who sits out to watch the others ?
M - I will do so without a draw.
V - By no means, let us not be unfair to anyone. It shall not be determined by anyone's humour, but by chance. The first person to be dealt a King shall sit out to overlook the game at leisure, and be the judge of any quarrel that may arise.
L- Here before you are two decks of cards, one Spanish, one French.
V - The Spanish deck appears to be incomplete.
L- How so ?
V - The tens are missing.
L - They don't usually include them, unlike the French. Whether cards be French or Spanish they are divided into four types or suits. The Spaniards have gold coins, cups, staves, and swords: The French have hearts, diamonds, trefoils, and plough-shares. In each suit there is a King, Queen, a knight, ace, two, three, four, five , six , seven, eight, nine. The French have the tens as well. In the Spanish deck the higher points of coins and cups are weaker, and the opposite in swords and staves. For the French the higher points are always better.
C- Which game shall we play ?
V - Spanish Triumph, and the dealer shall keep the turn-up card for himself if it be an ace or a coat.
M - Let us see who will sit out from the game.
T - Well said. I will deal the cards so ..yours....yours.. yours... Lupianus you shall be our umpire.
V - I prefer to have you as a spectator rather than as an opponent.
L- A compliment ? Why do you wish it so ?
V - Because you are crafty and untrustworthy at the card table. They say you know the art of stacking the deck to aid your play.
L - My play has no deceit about it. This sounds to me a like a huff to hide your own lack of skill that borders on complete ignorance. Beside, who wants Castellus ? He will desert his fellow gamesters the moment he wins the smallest sum of money.
T - Sooner Gone than Game !
V - It is a trifling flaw, for if he starts losing, he will be more firmly fixed to the game than a nail in a beam.
T - If we are to play in pairs, two against two, how shall we be matched ?
V - As I know little about this game, I shall cleave to you Castellus. I hear you are the sharpest at it .
T- The greatest sharper you mean !
C - It is not a matter of personal choice. All must be settled by chance. Those who are dealt the highest cards shall play against those who draw the lowest.
V - So be it. Deal out single cards.
M - Just as I hoped. Castellus and I are partners. Valdaura and Tamayus defend the opposing positions.
V - Let us seat ourselves as we should be, cross-wise: give me that reclining chair so that I may loose in greater comfort.
T - Have the foot-stool too. Let us now lift to see which side is eldest hand.
V - We are. Deal the cards Castellus.
C- In what manner ? From left to right in the Belgian fashion, or the opposite Spanish way from right to left ?
V - The latter since we play at a Spanish game. Did you lay out the tens ?
C - Yes. How many cards do I give to each player ?
V - Nine. But what shall our wager be ?
M - Three dollars on each hand with doubling of the stakes.
C - My dear Manricus I feel that you are over rash. It is not a game, but a madness when so much money is at stake. How can you enjoy yourself in such a frenzy? Lest too much money be lost, a single dollar will suffice, and any raise of the wager shall be half that, five shillings.
V - Good advice. Thus we neither play for nothing, which is folly, nor for that which is injurious and painful.
C - Has everyone got nine cards? Then hearts is trumps and this queen is mine.
V - I wonder how happy an omen this might be. It is most apt that the hearts of women should hold dominion over all of us.
C - Give over thy conceits and reply to this. I raise the stake.
V - I have a weak and unharmonius hand . I yield it to you.
T - Me too . Deal the cards Manricus.
V- What are you doing ? Why don't you turn over the trump card ?
M -I wish to count my cards first in case I have received too many or too few.
V- You have one card too many.
M - I will discard it.
V- That is not the law of the game. You loose your turn at dealing which passes to the next player. Hand over the cards.
M - I refuse to do so as I haven't yet turned over the trump.
V - By God you shall !
C - Go to ! What are you thinking of my dear Valdaura? You mingle such oaths with the lightest of matters as could scarcely be applied to the gravest.
M - What does our umpire say ?
L - Truly I do not know what the rule is in this situation.
M - What a referee we have appointed over us, one without an opinion. Talk about the blind leading the blind !
V - What do we do now ?
M - What indeed? Unless we send for Lutetia. She can quote chapter and verse on the laws of the game for us.
C - Shuffle them all together and deal again.
T - Oh what a hand I must now throw away . I won't see another one like it today !
C - Shuffle those cards thoroughly and deal them singly with greater care.
V - Once again I will raise the stake.
T - Did I not prophesy that I would not hold another hand like it today ! I am the unluckiest player ever! I don't know why I even bother to look at this hand .
C - Truly this is not playing, but distressing yourself. How can it be a refreshment or a diversion of one's spirits to become so heated ? A game should be a game , not a source of wrath.
M - Hold up a while and do not throw aside your cards, it is Spades.
V - Answer me, do you wish to hold it ?
M - I hold and raise again.
V- Do you hope to put me to flight with your fierce words ? I will not yield.
M- Say but once and promptly, will you let it go ?
V - Yes and most freely. My intelligence prompts me to compete for an even greater prize with a hand like this one, but this will suffice amongst friends.
T - Do you not count me amongst the living ? There has been no mention of me so far.
C - And what have you to say for yourself scarecrow ?
T- Indeed I will raise the stake for my side.
M - Castellus what say you ?
C - Now you ask me ! After your exertions have created an immense pool. I dare not hold this raise on my hand.
V- Give a definite answer
C - I have not the means to answer other than very ambiguously, doubtfully hesitantly, timidly and diffidently . Is that clearly enough expressed ?
M - God Almighty what superfluity ! The recent hail did not fall so thick. Let us take a risk, just this once I beseech you.
C - When we put it to the test please do not expect any great help from me.
M - You will render such assistance as you are capable of.
C- You have no need to remind me so .
M - We are surely beaten.
T - We win four dollars. Shuffle and deal.
V - I raise five shillings.
C - I don't know whether to yield , I will surely loose.
T - Raise another five
C - What say you to this challenge ?
M - What can i say ? I flee !
C - You lost the last deal. Allow me to lose this one in my own way. I know that I am weaker, but I must stay in as long as i have strength left.
V - What are you saying ? Do you decline ?
C - No, I accept.
T - O Valduara do you not know this Castellus ? He has a better hand than you, and it is his custom to trap an unwary challenger with his net in this way. Have a care and do not proceed rashly for you are ensnared.
V - God's faith ! How could you have known that my last remaining card was of that suit ?
C - I knew all the cards.
V - That is not beyond belief.
C - I knew each from its face.
V - And from its back as well perhaps ?
C - You are too suspicious.
V - You make me so, by your good leave.
T - Let us discover whether any of these cards be pricked on their reverse sides with marks whereby they could be recognised ?
V - I pray you shall we make an end of playing. This game vexes me, to have lost so unluckily.
C - Whenever you wish, but perhaps the fault lies not with the game but in your own artlessness. You do not know how to play skillfully and adapt yourself to victory, but throw down your cards without a plan as chance takes you, thinking it to be of no consequence which you play first or last, or which shall be thrown on what occasion.
T -There is a surfeit of everything, even pleasure. I am fatigued of sitting, let us rise.
L - Take up your lute and give us a song.
T - About what ?
L - Something about the game ?
T -The song of Virgil ?
L - The same, or if you prefer, how about the one our friend Vives was singing the other day as he strolled along the city walls of Bruges ?
V - And honking like a goose !
(translation by E.M.M)

Footnote:
Ludovico Vives (1492 -1540) was a renowned Spanish humanist scholar from Valencia who was invited to the English court by Henry VIII in 1522. Six years later Vives was imprisoned and expelled from England for speaking out against the annullment of the King's marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Vives spent the rest of his life in Bruges. The 'Ludus Chartarum' is one of a series of witty Latin dialogues on everyday topics which Vives apparently wrote as compositional examples for his students.

The original Latin text can be found online at http://www.grexlat.com/biblio/vives/21_Ludus.html

The game described here as "Spanish Triumph" was the predecessor of Ombre which was orginally a four-handed game. It mutated into a three-handed variant known as "Renegado Ombre" (Rengado means "Traitor") which was reimported into England after the Restoration in 1660 and became highly fashionable . By this time "Renegado Ombre" had acquired the peculiar trump structure of Matadors described by Alexander Pope in "The Rape of the Lock" (1714) which did not exist in the earliest forms of the game.

Wittes Pilgrimage

"Mortall Life compared to Post, and Pare". (John Davies of Hereford 1610)

(1)
When well I weigh the state of mortall Life,           
Mee seemes it seemes but too like Post, and Pare:
Where eache Man seekes to winn, by ciuill strife;
While most make show of more then what they are.

(2)
One, vies it, beeing but a Knaue, perchance,           
Against a King, or Queene, or Paires of both,
Our-brauing Cowardize, and Ignorance:
And, others part Stakes, that to lose are loth.

(3)
Some, Nothing seeme, to gett Some-thinge by it,    
These some, passe all, to goe beyond the rest:
These, better their Good-fortunes by good Witt,
Who crouch, as being worst, till they are best.

(4)
Some, some-what giue, to fetch some others in,
That so, at last, they may bee furthest out:
These, little giue, by small guifts, much to winne,
Yet oft so loose they all, to winne a Flout.

(5)
Some, beeing Pa-riall, dare to do, what not?
Vy, and re-uy and weene they all shall winn:
When some One other better Cards hath gott,
That they are furthest out, when furthest in!

(6)
Some Elders, for re-uies, passe Pare, and Post,
When lo, the Yonger shares, or Doubles it:
Then fretts the VVinner, for his wynning, lost,
Sith foolish Fortune Conny-catched VVitt.

(7)
Some, vy, and reuy faceing, so, to foile; 
That haue no Games, but game some seem, with griefe:
The while the rest haue game to see their spoile,
Who yet, out-brau'd, do blush, sith they were chiefe.

(8)
Some, being Cock, like Crauens giue it ore 
To them that haue the worst Cards in the Stock:
For, if the one be ritch, the other poore
The Cock proues Crauen, and the Crauen, Cock!

(9)
Some, hauing lost the double Pare and Post, 
on in direct helpes
Make their aduantage on the Purrs they haue:
Whereby the Winners winnings all are Lost,
Although at best, the other's but a Knaue.

(10)
Pur Ceit deceaues the expectation 
Of him, perhaps, that tooke the Stakes away;
Then, to put Tant hee's in subiection:
For, Winners on the Losers oft do play.

(11)
Flush is ore-borne oft by a better Flush: 
And Kings do conquer Kings but by the hand:
As Stronger do the weaker euer crush:
And still win of them Glory Goods, and Land.

(12)
Some, look awry to see if they can spie 
Anothers Cards, thereby to make their game,
Then on a Nineten times, perhaps they vy
Knowing the other's blind, though they are lame.

(13)
Some Pack, and others Cut, to breake the Pack: 
Some, shuffle cunningly, and shift thereby:
Some, take a Card, and some a Card put back
More then they should, to back their vice, and Vie.

(14)
Some, haue Confedrates of the Lookers on: 
Who look as friends they were to all alike:
Then with a signe of least suspition
They note the Conny which they meane to strike.

(15)
And if the Gamsters do play ouer-long, 
All, drawne, by all, the Butlers Box doth drawe:
As Lawiers gett all bee it right, or wronge
That's wonne, and lost, if Men bee long in Lawe:

(16)
Thus properlie we may this Life compare, 
Vnto the bragging game of Post, and Pare.


(17)
My Corollarie. 
Wealth , like a Pegasus, doth runne, or Flee,
(As swift as Thought) especially from those
That nere are gladd, but when at game they bee,

(18)
Though all their Wealth thereby, in Post, they loose: 
And so when Wealth thereby, in Post, they loose:
And so when Wealth away is posted quite
They runne away, or else play least in sight.

A game at Post and Pair

Four players -Alfred, Benjamin, Christopher and Daniel sit down.

The players stake for the Post and Pair Pools, and the first two cards are dealt.

Alfred           - Ace Spades, Ace Clubs
Benjamin      - Queen Hearts, Queen Diamonds
Christopher   - 7 Hearts, 2 Diamonds
Daniel           - King & 6 Spades

Christopher promptly abandons his stakes and throws in his worthless hand. The other three players stake for the Seat and all receive a third card. The hands are now :

Alfred           - Ace Spades, Ace Clubs, 4 Diamonds
Benjamin      - Queen Hearts, Queen & 9 Diamonds
Christopher   - 7 Hearts, 2 Diamonds, 4 Clubs (folded)
Daniel           - King 6 & 2 Spades

Alfred exercises his option as eldest hand of checking by saying "pass". Benjamin decides to vye on his Queen pair and his two card flush of 19 in Diamonds. Daniel with a 3 card flush of 18 in Spades matches the bet.
Alfred now uses his privilege as eldest hand to re-enter the betting even though he previously passed, and re-vyes, i.e he matches and raises the bet. After some thought Benjamin and Daniel both match Alfred's bet without re-raising.

Settlement:
Benjamin now optimistically suggests that perhaps they should all "part stakes", i.e divide the money evenly among themselves without showing down their cards. Alfred and Daniel both refuse and insist on "showing best card for it".

Benjamin puts down his Queen pair, but loses the Pair stake to Alfred's pair of Aces.

Benjamin now puts down his 2 card flush of 19 points in Diamonds for the Post, but it loses to Daniel's three card flush of 18 in Spades ( a three card flush is intrinsically superior).

A pip count of all the cards originally dealt by suit (including Christopher's folded hand) gives:
Spades        -  A.K.6.2  =  29
Diamonds   -  Q.9.4.2   =  25
Hearts         -  Q.7        = 17
Clubs           - A.4         = 15

Spades is now established as the Triumph suit, unfortunately for Daniel he doesn't hold the highest trump in show. Daniel's King of Spades is beaten by the Ace of Spades in Alfred's hand which is the "best card" for Seat and Vyes.

Alfred wins the Pair Pool, Seat and Vyes
Daniel wins the Post Pool
Benjamin wins nothing.

Showdown !

The legendary Senator Henry Clay (1777-1852) was once playing Poker in a fashionable Washington salon against the equally flamboyant lawyer and orator Daniel Webster (1782 -1852)
Webster dealt, Henry Clay drew one card, and Webster stood pat. They kept raising till each had $2000 on the table. Clay then called. Webster laughed sheepishly and said "I have only a pair of deuces". Clay laughed too and said "the pot is yours, I have only Ace High".

Another memorable Poker game on Capitol Hill occurred when President Grover Cleveland (1837- 1908) was playing against a number of cabinet colleagues including the secretary of the Navy Whitney, Senator Cameron, and Speaker of the House John Griffin Carlisle. Cleveland had been dealt a pat full-house and the opening betting was high. At the draw, Cleveland stood pat, Cameron, drew one card, but the Speaker Carlisle who had stayed in the betting drew FOUR cards.
After much banter and further betting, the Speaker Carlisle put down four Kings !
"Take the money" said the President, "If I am ever President again you shall be Secretary of the Treasury, but don't make that four card draw too often".
Cleveland did become President again in 1893, and Carlisle became Secretary of the Treasury.

The Scagliola table

 
                                                    
Some years ago this item appeared in the Peterborough column of the Daily Telegraph

"Wages of Sin"

At the Callaly castle sale in
Northumberland tomorrow ,
Christies expects an early 18th
century Scagliola table with a
macabre history to fetch
between £30,000 and £40,000.
It's flat black top depicts the
aftermath of a card game. Four
hands of cards can be identified.
They lie scattered, some of
them torn, together with a
fob watch and a signet ring.
There is a tradition in the
family of the owner of Callaly,
Major Simon Browne, that the
table represents the last game
played by a member of the
D'Aeth family, during which he
staked his entire estate on a
single hand.
His own hand consists of the
ace of diamonds, ace of clubs,
six and seven of clubs. But the
hand of the banker at the head
of the table caps it: ace of
spades, ace of hearts, king of
clubs and six of diamonds.
The ruined gambler it is said,
tore two of his cards in half,
threw down his fob and signet
ring, went upstairs and shot
himself."
(DT 21/09/86)


Comment:
The game was clearly Primero which was played in England from about 1532 up until the 1740s.
The most striking detail is the losing hand. Under Italian rules as described by Cardano (1565), the seven six and ace of clubs would have made a special 3 card flush called "Gobbo" worth 55 points ( 21+18 +16), beaten only by Four of a kind called a "Chorus". Yet we are told in no uncertain terms that this player lost ! (he went upstairs and shot himself).

The hand must therefore have been played under the alternate Spanish rules for Primero which were also popular in England at the time and were described by Joseph Strutt in his 18th century compendium on games "Sports and Pastimes of the English People".

Under the alternate Spanish rules for Primero, an ace counts for only 15 points not 16, and a six is worth only 16 points not 18, which reduces the loser's hand of seven six ace of clubs to an ordinary 3 card flush or "Point" of 52 (21+16+15) . The Spanish game also counted the jack of hearts as a "Quinola" or joker which can duplicate or assume the value of any card. (All other court cards were nulls)

What is so special about the winning hand - ace of spades ace of hearts king of clubs and six of diamonds ? The answer is that the four cards are of four different suits, which makes it a "Prime" which beats any ordinary 3 card flush . In this instance the Prime is worth only 46 points (15+15+0+16), but it beats the 3 card Point of 52.

One could speculate that the unlucky loser only bet so high (his whole estate) because he was confused as to which rules, Spanish or Italian, were in use at the table. One can only imagine the recriminations that ensued when he discovered everyone else was following Spanish rules.

The two cards torn in half were most likely the seven and six of clubs. Had these been any value of Hearts or Spades respectively , then the hand would have been a Prime; had they been the other two aces, he would have won with four aces. Both players had originally bet and drawn to a pair of aces .

Footnote -
Scagliogla tables of this type were highly sought after by young English Gentlemen on 'Grand Tours' of of the Continent  from the late 17th century onwards and there are numerous examples of them in various collections. Tuscany in Italy was a major centre of manufacture. The Scagliola table pictured at the top of the post  is of a different design from the one referred to in the text. It dates from around 1680 and is  attributed to the craftsman Laurentius Bonuccelli and shows  the cards from a game of Piquet rather than Primero. (You can tell from the presence of  8, 9 & 10 spot cards which don't exist in the 40 card Primero pack.)

Post and Pair

Post & Pair

Post & Pair was a three card gambling game that gave the expression "Pipped at the Post" to the English language. It was first mentioned in 1528, and became fashionable at court in the late Elizabethan period.

Charles Cotton wrote in 1674, "Post and Pair is a game on the cards very much played in the West of England". Some writers on rural life claim the game survived there until the early 19th century. Post & Pair also travelled to America. George Washington is said to have played Post & Pair, and his accounts for March 1772 show a loss of £39 11s 3d in only 12 games.

Post & Pair is related to two earlier French card games called "Le Flux" and "Gé ". A French game called Gilet which was popular in the 17th century is said to have been similar to Post & Pair, and it is useful to read Cotton's account of Post & Pair in tandem with French descriptions of these related games.

Post & Pair was often associated with two other gambling games called "One & thirty" and "Bone-Ace", collectively known as "The Fool's Game", partly on account of their association with the Saturnalian revels of the Lord of Misrule at Christmastide. A colourful example can be found in the "Masque of Christmas" by Ben Jonson (1616) where one of the daughters of Christmas is called "Mis-Rule" and one of the sons is portrayed as:
"POST AND PAIRE.
With a paire-Royall of Aces in his Hat; his Garment all done over with Payres, and Purrs; his Squier carrying a Box, Cards, and Counters."

Outline
Post and Pair is a vying game with a couple of unusual twists. It was played with a trump suit, a show-down was optional, and in the absence of a Pair-royal, the vyes were won by the holder of the best card.

Playing Rules

Players - Any number from 2 to 10 (or more)

Deck - 52 card French standard

Points - Court Cards counted 10 points.
Aces counted 1 point.
All other cards counted their pip value.

Equipment - Two small dishes (optional)
Counters - each player had a prise of a dozen counters

Deal & staking
Each player placed a counter in each of the two dishes in the centre of the table, one for "Pair", the other for "Post" and received two cards face down. They now placed a third counter in front of them called the "Seat", and received a third card face down. All cards were taken into hand. This completed the deal. ( A player could abandon his hand after the first two cards and decline to stake at the Seat.)


Vying
Eldest hand alone had the option to say "Pass" first time round and subsequently re-enter the betting. All other players had one chance to Vye or else drop out from the deal. If all the Elder players passed, then the dealer could Vye with only the Eldest hand entitled to re-enter the betting. If the dealer passed as well, then the stakes were left on the table and doubled when the players dealt and staked again. If one player vyed, and another player re-vyed (raised the bet) then other players had to match or fold.

Settlement
If one player made a bet that no-one was prepared to match, then he won all the stakes unseen.
Players were not compelled to have a final show down. If all the players left in agreed to do so, then they could simply divide all the stakes and share them evenly between themselves without exposing their cards. But if one or more players refused to "Part stakes" and insisted on "showing best card for it ", the cards were shown down as follows:

The stakes were settled in sequence, first for Pairs and then for Post, and finally for the Seat and vyes.

Pair-royal
If one player held a Pair-royal then the divison ended there. The holder of a Pair-royal swept all the money on the table, Post Pair Seat and Vyes. The highest possible Pair-Royal was three Aces which was unbeatable. If more than one player held a Pair-Royal other than Aces, then the pip value of the cards was counted (court cards 10) and the elder hand won if there was a point tie. This meant that 3 Queens beat 3 Kings if the Queens were elder.

Pair
If no-one held a Pair-royal then the counters in the Pair dish were taken by the player with the best two card Pair. A pair of Aces was highest, other pairs were counted on their pips (Court cards 10) . Once again point ties were split in favour of the elderhand, so 2 Jacks would beat 2 Kings if the Jacks were elder.

If no-one held a pair, then the counters in the Pair dish were taken by the best trump card (see below).

Post Pool
The players now turned to the Post stake. A Post was a 2 or 3 card flush of 21 points or less. The highest 3 card Post was normally two 10 point cards plus the Ace of the same suit e.g K.J.A of Spades. If a player held a 3 card flush with a pip value greater than 21, then the Post value was that of the two highest cards (some circles counted it as 20.5). Any three card Post beat any two card Post.  A two card flush  of T.A could be counted as 21.

Trump Suit
The highest pointed Post won the Post stakes.  In some cases, the suit of the best Post produced at show-down became the 'Triumph' or Trump suit. But the usual rule was to count the pip values of all the cards originally dealt with Coats =10 and A = 11, and the highest pointed suit across all the hands, (including those that folded) became the Trump suit. The holder of the best card in this suit won Seat and Vyes unless they had folded their hands, in which case the holder of the next best card that stayed in for the show took the money. If none of the players who stayed in held a card of the dominant suit, then the suit of the best Post at show became the Trump suit instead. - Counting the pips of all the cards originally dealt to establish the Triumph suit is the method followed in the related French games Brelan and Bouillote.

Seat & Vyes
The Seat and Vyes were taken by the player in the show with the best single card in hand. This would be the highest Trump card on the table. The Trump suit was often that of the best Post shown down . The Ace of Trumps was the highest card followed by King down to Two.

Odd counters
If players decided to to split the stakes without a show and divided the stakes evenly , any odd counters left over were "given to the box" which meant they were donated to the butler, or whoever had provided the cards and counters.


Strategy
A substantial part of the strategy of Post and Pair lay in trying to win the money on the table without showing your cards; either by making a bet no one wished to match, or by persuading those who did match bets to share the stakes evenly without a show.
Players would seek to bet on pairs or flushes that were anchored to a strong potential trump card. An Ace pair was a particularly valuable holding. Not only would it be likely to win the Pair pool, but quite often it might win the Seat and Vyes as well if the Ace of the best Post suit happened to be in your hand rather than that of the Post winner.
Being "pipped at the Post" meant that not only did you fail to win the Post pool, but another suit might become Trumps, so you probably lost the Seat and Vyes as well.


Sources
There is only one period description of the rules of Post and Pair . This appears in the "Complete Gamester" by Charles Cotton (1674). Other descriptions by Randle Holme "Academy of Armory" (1688) and Richard Seymour "Complete Gamester" (1734) are copied verbatim from Cotton.

"Wittes Pilgrimage" by John Davies of Hereford (1610) contains an 18 verse poem called "Mortall Life compared to Post and Pare" which is an allegory that includes numerous allusions as to how the game was played.

Passing notes on the rules of Post and Pair can be found in the "Volume of Plaies" by Francis Willughby (1665), and the "French Dictionary" by Randle Cotgrave (1611).

Richard Jefferies (1848-1887) a writer on rural life who was born at Chiseldon near Swindon, mentions Post and Pair as still being played by tenant farmers in the West Country in his posthumously published work 'Toilers In The Field' (1892) -  "Whist and Post and Pair are the staple indoor amusements".

Other literary references include :

"Rede me and be nott wrothe" - Jerome Barlow and and William Roye (1528).
"in carde playinge he is a goode Greke and can skyll of Post and Glyeke"


"Interlude of Youth" - anon (1554).
"the old foolish game Christmas game of Post"

"Controversy with Harding" - Bishop Jewel (1563)
"He cometh in only with jolly brags and great vaunts as if he were playing Post
and should win all by vying"

"A Woman killed with Kindness" -Thomas Heywood (1598)
"she and I will take you at Post and Paire"

"The Alchemist" - Ben Jonson (1610)
"The which, together with your Christmas vails
At post-and-pair,  your letting out of counters" (i.i)

"Epigrams" Sir John Harrington (1615)
"The second game was Post until with posting, they paid so fast, 'twas time to leave their boasting".

"Microcosmographie" John Earle (1628)
"An old colledge butler - His faculties extraordinary is the warming of a paire of cards, and telling out a doozen counters for
Post and Paire, and no man is more methodicall in these buisnesses"

"Hesperides" Robert Herrick (1648)
"at Post and Paire, or Slam, Tom Tuck would play this Christmass, but his want wherewith sayes nay"

" Miscellanies" John Aubrey (d.1697)
John Aubrey in his life of the philospher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), recounts how as a student at Oxford he snared
pigeons using pack-thread and "the leaden counters used in the old christmas game of Post and Pair".