Noddy (O.F. ''naudin'') also Noddie, Nodde or Knave Noddy, is a 16th-century

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 (such as poker). A small number of card ...

ancestor of

Cribbage 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. Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbag ...

. It is the oldest identifiable card game with this gaming structure and thus probably also ancestral to the more-complicated 17th-century game of

Costly Colours Costly Colours, sometimes just called Costly, is an historical English card game for two players and a "fascinating relative of Cribbage".

History

The earliest reference to the game of Noddy in the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

dates from 1589. 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 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 genea ...

'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 Middleton'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 Edmund Gayton (1608–1666) was an English academic, physician and author, now considered a hack writer. Life The son of George Gayton of Little Britain, London, he was born there 30 November 1608. In 1623 he entered Merchant Taylors' School, a ...

(Festivous Notes upon Don Quixot, 1654) speaks of noddy boards, but

Robert Nares Robert Nares (9 June 1753, York – 23 March 1829) was an English clergyman, philologist and author. Life He was born at York in 1753, the son of James Nares (1715–1783), organist of York Minster and educated at Westminster School and Ch ...

in ''A Glossary: or Collection of words, phrases, names and allusions to customs, proverbs, &c'' (1822) says that Noddy was not played with a board, which seems to be plausible due to the natural evolution of card games.

Gameplay

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 peculiar 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 Parlett published its rules in 2008.Parlett (2008), pp. 429/430

References

Literature

*Festivous notes on the History and adventures of the renowned Don Quixote by - 1768 *

Parlett, David David Parlett (born 18 May 1939 in London) is a games scholar, historian, and translator from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. He is the president of the British Skat Association. His published works include many pop ...

(2008). ''The Penguin Book of Card Games'', Penguin, London.

External links

History and Rules of NoddyEncyclopædia Britannica
{{Historical card games 16th-century card games English card games Adding games