CHAPTER X--COURT CARDS WITH FRENCH PIPS 222-244

Paio--Stock--Widow--Bunch--Pips--Court cards--Their historic derivation--The number of pip and court cards-- The Joker--His origin in America--Cunning Mercury-- Fantastic designs--Conservative court dresses-- Double-headed and index cards--Costume of the Kings-- Their attributes and headgear--Charles of France--Old Tarots in Paris--French cards--The names on the French cards--La Hire--The dress of the knaves--Their attributes--Patch the court fool--Nicknames--The Bowers-- Skat--Le Valet--Le Fante--Il Soto--Der Ober--Der Unter-- The Queens--Elizabeth of York--Her husband's picture--The history of Elizabeth our Queen of Cards--Her birth, education, betrothal and costume--The jilting Dauphin-- Louis XI--Marriage--The poem--The credulous queen--The elegy of Sir Thomas More--Elizabeth's effigy in Westminster Abbey--Card backs--Messages and invitations.