| English children's card game | |
 "Wizzy, wizzy, wee!" | |
| Type | Collecting |
|---|---|
| Players | 4 |
| Age range | 5+ |
| Deck | French pack |
| Play | clockwise |
| Playing time | 5-10 minutes |
| Chance | Easy |
| Related games | |
| Ochse, leg dich! | |
My ship sails, also called my bird sings, [1] is an English card game for children that is played with a 52-card French-suited pack in which the aim is to collect a hand of cards in one suit.
My ship sails appears related to the 17th-century gambling game, my sow's pigg'd, [2] which is mentioned by John Taylor the "Water Poet" in a 1630 poem. [3]
The rules of a three-card version called whehee appear in Francis Willughby's Book of Plaies, written between 1665 and 1670. [4] This may be the origin of a form of my ship sails that appeared in 19th century Shropshire and was called wizzy, wizzy, wee. The aim was to be first to collect a hand of cards of the same suit, each time saying "Change a card for a card, wizzy, wizzy, wee!", the first to do so throwing the cards down on the table and exclaiming "My sow's pigged!" [5]
Each player is dealt 3 cards in one go. A player with all three of the same suit is 'whehee' and wins; if two have whehee, the eldest (first in clockwise order after the dealer) wins. If none has whehee, eldest exchanges a card with second hand, second with third and so on round to the dealer. If still no-one has whehee to the left. [4]
My ship sails may be played by four to seven players with a 52-card French-suited pack. The aim of the game is to be the first player to collect seven cards all of one suit. [6]
Each player is dealt 7 cards and the rest are set aside. Players pick up their hands and each discards one card to the table. When everyone has done that, each player picks up the discard on his right, which becomes part of his hand. The first player to collect 7 cards of the same suit, says "my ship sails" and lays his or her cards, face up, on the table. If two players go out simultaneously, there are two options for deciding the winner: either the first player to say "my ship sails" wins or the player with the highest ranking card wins. [6]
Ochse, leg dich! ("Ox, lie down!") is a German and Austrian variant played with 32 French or German cards (skat pack). It is a simple, family card game that is often played with children and is useful for learning the card values and card suits. [7] It was popular with the German-speaking population of South Bohemia prior to their expulsion after the Second World War, and was known there as Ox, liach de! [8]
The aim of the game is to collect all eight cards of one suit. Dealer deals 8 cards to each of the four players. Forehand leads by passing a card of his choice to the player on his left – middlehand. Middlehand then passes a card to rearhand and so on in clockwise order. Play continues in this way until a player has collected all eight cards of one suit in his hand, whereupon he lays them face up on the table and declares "Ochse, leg dich!" or "Ox, lie down!" [7]
The winner then receives as many chips or gaming counters from each other player as that player has fallen short in collecting eight cards of the same suit. For example, if a player has only collected five cards of one suit, he pays 3 chips to the winner. [7]
Among Danube Swabians the game was called Esel ("donkey") and a player called "Esel" on going out. The last player to lay cards down cards was the Esel and became the next dealer. [9]
In 1831, Eliza Leslie describes a game for girls which she calls speculation or matrimony that is essentially my ship sails with a full pack of 52 cards. After cutting for first deal (highest wins, Aces high), the cards are shuffled, cut and then fully dealt out. The aim is to be first to collect a full suit of 13 cards. The player to the left of the dealer passes a card she does not want, face down, to her left-hand neighbour. This continues in turn and the first player with 13 cards in suit lays them down and is the winner. This game is unrelated to the gambling game of the same name. [10]
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games. A small number of card games played with traditional decks have formally standardized rules with international tournaments being held, but most are folk games whose rules may vary by region, culture, location or from circle to circle.
Oh hell or contract whist is a trick-taking card game of British origin in which the object is to take exactly the number of tricks bid. It was first described by B. C. Westall around 1930 and originally called oh! well. It was said to have been introduced into America via the New York clubs in 1931. Phillips and Westall describe it as "one of the best round games."
Euchre or eucre is a trick-taking card game commonly played in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, and the Midwestern United States. It is played with a deck of 24, 28, or 32 standard playing cards. There are normally four players, two on each team, although there are variations for two to nine players.
Cribbage, or crib, is a card game, traditionally for two players, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. It can be adapted for three or four players.
Thirty-one or Trente et un is a gambling card game played by two to seven people, where players attempt to assemble a hand which totals 31. Such a goal has formed the whole or part of various games like Commerce, Cribbage, Trentuno, and Wit and Reason since the 15th century. 31 is popular in America and Britain.
Cheat is a card game where the players aim to get rid of all of their cards. It is a game of deception, with cards being played face-down and players being permitted to lie about the cards they have played. A challenge is usually made by players calling out the name of the game, and the loser of a challenge has to pick up every card played so far. Cheat is classed as a party game. As with many card games, cheat has an oral tradition and so people are taught the game under different names.
Rummy is a group of games related by the feature of matching cards of the same rank or sequence and same suit. The basic goal in any form of rummy is to build melds which can be either sets or runs and either be first to go out or to amass more points than the opposition.
Ruff and Honours, Ruffe and Trump or Slamm was an English trick-taking card game that was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries; it was superseded in the 18th century by Whist.
Put, occasionally Putt, is an English tavern game first recorded in the 16th century and later castigated by 17th century moralists as one of ill repute. It belongs to a very ancient family of trick-taking card games and bears close similarities a group known as Truc, Trut,Truque, also Tru, and the South American game Truco. Its more elaborate cousin is the Catelan and Spanish game of Truc, which is still much played in many parts of Southern France and Spain.
Quinze, Quince, also known as Ace-low, is a 17th-century French banking game of Spanish origin that was much patronized in some parts of Europe. It is considered a forerunner of the French Vingt-et-un, a game very popular at the court of Louis XV, and also a two-player simplification of the modern game of Blackjack.
Schlafmütze ("nightcap") is a fast-paced game of matching and bluffing, which is closely related to the English game Spoons. The game requires a minimum of two players, but ideally a minimum of three players, and involves each player passing round cards in an attempt to acquire a hand consisting of all the same value cards. Upon doing so, they silently place their hand of cards on the table. The last player to notice that this has happened is the loser of the round.
Elfern or Elfmandeln, is a very old, German and Austrian 6-card, no-trump, trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card, French-suited Piquet pack or German-suited Skat pack. The object is to win the majority of the 20 honours: the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten in a Piquet pack or the Ace, King, Ober, Unter and Ten in a Skat pack. Elfern is at least 250 years old and a possible ancestor to the Marriage family of card games, yet it is still played by German children.
Triomphe, once known as French ruff, is a card game dating from the late 15th century. It most likely originated in France or Spain and later spread to the rest of Europe. When the game arrived in Italy, it shared a similar name with the pre-existing game and deck known as trionfi; probably resulting in the latter becoming renamed as Tarocchi (tarot). While trionfi has a fifth suit that acts as permanent trumps, triomphe randomly selects one of the existing four suits as trumps. Another common feature of this game is the robbing of the stock. Triomphe became so popular that during the 16th century the earlier game of trionfi was gradually renamed tarocchi, tarot, or tarock. This game is the origin of the English word "trump" and is the ancestor of many trick-taking games like Euchre and Whist. The earliest known description of Triomphe was of a point-trick game, perhaps one of the earliest of its type; later, the name was applied to a plain-trick game.
Gleek is an English card game for three people. It is played with a 44-card pack and was popular from the 16th century through the 18th century.
German Rummy or Rommé is the most popular form of the worldwide game, Rummy, played in Austria and Germany. It is a game for 2 to 6 players and is played with two packs of French playing cards, each comprising 52 cards and 3 jokers. There are no partnerships. In Germany, the Germany Rummy Association is the umbrella organisation for local rummy clubs and organises national competitions. The game is often just known as Rommé in Germany and Rummy in Austria.
Newmarket is an English card game of the matching type for any number of players. It is a domestic gambling game, involving more chance than skill, and emerged in the 1880s as an improvement of the older game of Pope Joan. It became known in America as Stops or Boodle before developing into Michigan. In 1981, Newmarket was still the sixth most popular card game in Britain.
Zwanzig ab, 20 ab or simply Zwanzig is card game for four players. It is a member of the Rams family in which the key feature is that players may choose to drop out of the game if they believe their hand is not strong enough to take a minimum number of tricks. It appears to be a recent, internet-propagated variant of Schnalzen or Bohemian Watten. However, the latter has a natural card ranking, is played with double German cards and a Weli, has no exchanging and has a different scoring system. It is suitable for children from 8 upwards. It may be related from Fünf dazu! which is a simpler game described by Gööck in 1967 that has neither trumps nor the option to drop out.
Losing lodam is an historical English card game for three or more players. It is a 'negative' game like hearts whereby the aim is to avoid taking tricks with certain cards known as loaders. Ulf Martin has described it as "an early version of Ramsch."
Laugh and Lie Down or Laugh and Lay Down is an historical English card game for five players and the earliest example of a European game of the fishing family.
Comet is a very old, French card game of the stops family for 2 to 5 players that is still played today. It was originally called manille, but acquired a new name on the appearance of Halley's comet in 1682. It is not related to the modern trick-taking game also called manille. The American game of commit is an evolution of comet.
Children's card games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Two-player games |  | |
| Four-player games | ||
| Round games |
| |
| Proprietary games | ||
