Noddy (card game)
Encyclopedia
Noddy Noddie, Nodde, is a 16th century English
card game
ancestor of Cribbage
. It is the oldest identifiable card game with this gaming structure and a relative to the more-complicated 18th century game Costly Colours.
The basic term noddy, means a fool or simpleton, but in the gaming sense, it is just the name given to the Knave of the suit turned up at the start of play.
A very interesting description of the game can be found in Randle Holme
's The Academy of Armory, written in 1688, which displays previously unrecorded scoring features and terminology.
Edmund Gayton (Festivous Notes upon Don Quixot, 1654) speaks of noddy boards, but Robert Nares
in A Glossary: or Collection of words, phrases, names and allusions to customs, proverbs, &c says that Noddy was not played with a board, which seems to be plausible due to the natural evolution of card games.
The earliest reference to the game in the Oxford English Dictionary, dates from 1589. It is now presumed extinct, although recent reports suggests it is still played in parts of Lancashire
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
card game
Card game
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...
ancestor of Cribbage
Cribbage
Cribbage, or crib, is a card game traditionally for two players, but commonly played with three, four or more, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points...
. It is the oldest identifiable card game with this gaming structure and a relative to the more-complicated 18th century game Costly Colours.
History
The earliest reference to the game of Noddy in The Oxford English Dictionary dates from 1589, although the name "Nody" appears nicely illustrate in the line "O beastly nody without brayne" from (1550).The basic term noddy, means a fool or simpleton, but in the gaming sense, it is just the name given to the Knave of the suit turned up at the start of play.
A very interesting description of the game can be found in Randle Holme
Randle Holme
Randle Holme was a name shared by members of four successive generations of a family who lived in Chester, Cheshire, England from the late years of the 16th century to the early years of the 18th century. They were all herald painters and genealogists and were members of the Stationers' Company of...
's The Academy of Armory, written in 1688, which displays previously unrecorded scoring features and terminology.
Cribbage without the Crib
Noddy can be thought of as the "small Cribbage without the Crib". But it would seem that the game of Noddy was played for counters, and that it was fifteen or twenty-one up, as quoted by Shirley. In a play of Midleton's, Christmas, speaking of the sports of that time as children, says that the game was played for thirty one. And in Salton's Tales the game was depicted as being played for twenty one. It is probable, however, that it was played all the three ways, as 15, 21 and 31 points at the choice of the players.Edmund Gayton (Festivous Notes upon Don Quixot, 1654) speaks of noddy boards, but Robert Nares
Robert Nares
Robert Nares was an English clergyman, philologist and author.-Life:He was born at York in 1753, the son of James Nares , organist of York Minster and educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.From 1779 to 1783 he lived with the family of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet as...
in A Glossary: or Collection of words, phrases, names and allusions to customs, proverbs, &c says that Noddy was not played with a board, which seems to be plausible due to the natural evolution of card games.
The game
Noddy is a game for two or four players - the latter presumably partners - receiving each 3 cards from a 52-card pack ranking from Ace (low) to King (high). The object of the game is to peg points for making combinations both in the hand and in the play up to 31 over as many deals as it takes. A23 is a valid sequence, but AKQ isn't. Whoever cuts the lower card deals first.Combinations
- Knave Noddy - Jack of the trump suit: 1 (or 2 to non-dealer if it's turned up)
- Point-counts - Fifteen (two or more cards totalling 15): 1 per card.
- Twenty-five (three or more cards totalling 25): 1 per card.
- Thirty-one, or 'Hitter' (four or more cards totalling 31): 1 per card.
- Pairs
- Pair (two cards of the same rank): 2
- Pair royal, or prial (three of the same rank): 6
- Double pair royal (all four of a rank): 12
- Runs (Sequences)
- Run of three: 2
- Run of four: 4
- Run of 5 or more: 1 per card.
- Flushes
- Three or more cards of the same suit: 1 per card.
Terminology
In the game certain cards have funny names, and scores, like "Flatback" (K♠) 6, "Countenance" (Q♥) 4, "Roger" (J♥) 5, and "Knave Noddy" - name applied to the Knave of the suit turned up at the start of the play - scores 2 to the dealer.The earliest reference to the game in the Oxford English Dictionary, dates from 1589. It is now presumed extinct, although recent reports suggests it is still played in parts of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
.
Literature
- Festivous notes on the History and adventures of the renowned Don Quixote by - 1768