The Middleton Accounts of 1526: #2

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated as the 4th January. It was again described as money to Sir Henry Willoughby for him to play cards. The amount was 19 pence, which was the equivalent of about £34.93 today.

In the previous post, we explained the origins of card playing and the nature of the deck in Tudor times. However, what type of games were played? It is known that popular card games played in the Tudor era included: Trumps; Ruff; Noddy; Gleek; Laugh and Lie Down; Primero; and Imperial.

Sir Henry’s great-great-great-great grandson, Francis Willughby FRS, had what was in his time a very rare interest in the subject of probability. To study this subject, he used games and created an unpublished manuscript that included information on many types of games and sports. However, it did not always provide full instructions on how to play them as that was not his focus. This manuscript was published as Francis Willughby’s Book of Games by David Cram, Jeffrey L. Forgeng and Dorothy Johnston in 2003. The first five of the aforementioned games from Tudor times are included in Francis Willughby’s Book.

Cover of Francis Willughby's Book of Games.

This post will focus on how to play Trumps, which Willughby described as the simplest version of the trump genre of card games. He also wrote that he thought it was probably the origin of all the later versions in the genre.

1. Deal the cards (12 per player).

2. The trump suit is revealed as the uppermost card from the remaining undealt deck.

3. Every player lays down a card and he/she that has played the best card wins the round, which is known as a trick.

4. The winner picks up the cards of the trick and lays them face down in front of him/her. The winner then lays down any card from their hand face up to be the first card for the next trick. In turn, all other players must then follow suit if they can. If they can’t follow then they can play any card. If they play any suit other than a trump, it signifies nothing. If a trump card is played, unless a greater trump card is played in the same trick, then it will win.

5. The game continues with the winner of each trick playing first each round until all cards are played.

6. Whoever has collected the most tricks when all cards have been played, wins.

Next entry: 8th January.

Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. p.379.

David Cram, Jeffrey L. Forgeng & Dorothy Johnston, Francis Willughby’s Book of Games, 2003. p.147.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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