English whist and English whist players by Courtney William Prideaux 1845-1913

Author:Courtney, William Prideaux, 1845-1913
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Whist
Publisher: London : Richard Bentley and Son
Published: 1894-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

The most famous players in the annals of whist met around its tables, and vied with one another for the supremacy in reputation and in gain. Most of them are still remembered in every card circle. One of them, now forgotten, was the wild and extravagant father of Miss Mitford. Though she was ruined by his folly, which was not confined to the card-table, she gloried in his reputation at piquet and whist, boasting in a letter to one of her friends,

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which was written in 1842, when she was far advanced in life, that * he was reckoned one of the six best players in London.' Graham's Club was dissolved on December 31, 1836, but was immediately reconstituted. The object of this temporary dissolution was to obtain the exclusion of some ten or twelve persons who had crept into a society they were not fit for. They played for excessive stakes which they were unable to pay, and were undesirable associates in other ways. It dragged on a precarious existence for a few years longer, when the proprietor found that he could not obtain the payment from most of the members of the subscriptions which they had undertaken to discharge, and determined upon closing its doors. In this ignoble fashion died the most illustrious whist club which has ever flourished in the United Kingdom.

The card clubs in and around Pall Mall are three in number, and the most famous of them without doubt is the Portland. Its first home was in Bloomsbury Square, when its members were largely drawn from the City, and after a brief residence in Jermyn Street, the club migrated to Stratford Place. There it was fixed for a short period only; but for many years its members used to meet at their house in Oxford Street, at the east comer of Stratford Place, in a house which is said to have been famous about 1810 * for the^ hospitalities and gaieties of Mrs. Lind'; but that building is now demolished, and its occupants have removed to a

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CLUBS AND CARDS an

more convenient place of assembly. They are now housed on the north side of St. James's Square in a mansion at the south-west comer of York Street, and since the date of their removal the number of the members has considerably increased. The new rooms are spacious and well ventilated, with shafts carrying away to the roof the fumes of smoke and the heated air. The tables are constructed with the latest devices for allowing the players to pick up the cards most easUy and expeditiously, and a general air of comfort reigns throughout the building.

At its dinners—Serjeant Ballantine is our witness —* much good fellowship prevailed,' and if the play at some of the tables was at times for an excessive amount, a game for more moderate stakes could generally be obtained by those who wished it. At the Portland may at this time, as at any year since its opening, be observed the most skilful of the London card-players.

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