The early history of Whist is involved in obscurity. All games of high character become perfected by degrees; and Whist, following this rule, has been formed by gradual development. As early as the beginning of the sixteenth century, a card game called triumph or trump was commonly played in England. This game in its chief feature, viz., the predominance of one particular suit, and in its general construction, was so similar to Whist, that no one can doubt it to have been the game from which Whist grew.

There were two distinct games called trump. Triomphe or French ruff was very like ÉcartÉ, only there was no score for the king; Trump or English ruff-and-honours closely resembled Whist.

Berni ("Capitolo del Gioco della Primera," Rome, 1526), enumerates several games at cards; among them are trionfi, played by the peasants; and ronfa, the invention of which is attributed to King Ferdinand.

Triumphus Hispanicus is the subject of a "Dialogue" written in Latin and French by Vives, a Spaniard (d. 1541).

La triomphe and la ronfle are included by Rabelais (first half of sixteenth century) in the long list of some two hundred and thirty games played by Gargantua.

In "A Worlde of Wordes or Most copious and exact Dictionarie in Italian and English collected by John Florio, 1598," ronfa is defined as "a game at cardes called ruffe or trumpe;" and under trionfo we find "triumph. * * * Also a trump at cards, or the play called trump or ruff."

There is no evidence to show whether the above were the foreign or native form of trump. Douce, in his "Illustrations of Shakespeare," concludes, from finding la triomphe in Rabelais' list, that we derived the game of trump from a French source. But it seems more probable, from the non-appearance of English ruff-and-honours in the AcadÉmie des Jeux, and from the distinction drawn in Cotton's "Compleat Gamester" between "English ruff-and-honours" and "French ruff" (la triomphe of the AcadÉmie), that the game referred to by Berni, Vives, Rabelais, and Florio, was not the same game as English ruff-and-honours, for which a purely English origin (as the name implies) may be claimed.

How and when trump or English ruff-and-honours originated cannot now be ascertained. It was played at least as early as the time of Henry VIII., for it was taken by Latimer to illustrate his text, in the first of two sermons "Of the Card," preached by him at Cambridge, in Advent, about the year 1529. He mentions the game under its original and corrupted appellations, and clearly alludes to its characteristic feature, as the following extract will show.

Later in the century trump is often referred to. In "Gammer Gurton's Nedle, made by Mr. S., Mr of Art [Bishop Still] 1575," the second piece performed in England under the name of a comedy (performed at Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1566), Old Dame Chat thus invites some friends to a game:—

In Eliot's "Fruits for the French" (1593), trump is called "a verie common alehouse game;" and Rice, in his "Invective against Vices" (printed before 1600), observes that "renouncing the trompe and comming in againe" (i.e., revoking intentionally), is a common sharper's trick. Decker, in "The Belman of London" (1608), speaks of "the deceites practised (euen in the fairest and most ciuill companies) at Primero, Saint, Maw, Tromp, and such like games."

The game of trump is also mentioned by Shakespeare in "Antony and Cleopatra," Act iv., scene 12 (first published 1623).

The repeated punning allusions to card-playing in this passage leave no doubt as to the reference in the last word. Douce ("Illustrations") points out its real meaning, and ridicules Ben Jonson's derivation of the word trump from tromper.

There is abundant evidence to show that trump is a corruption of the word triumph. In addition to the instances already given, the following may be quoted: In Cotgrave's "Dictionarie of the French and English Tongve" (1611), Triomphe is explained as "the Card-game called Ruffe or Trump; also the Ruffe or Trump at it." Minsheu, in "The Guide unto Tongues" (1617), gives, "The Trumpe in cardes. Triumfo, ita dict: quod de cÆteris chartis triumphare videatur, quod illis sit prÆstantior." Seymour, in his "Court Gamester" (1719), says—"The Term Trump comes from a Corruption of the Word Triumph; for wherever they are, they are attended with Conquest." Ash ("Dictionary, 1775") has "Triumph (s. from the Lat. triumphus). * * * A conquering card, a trump; but this sense is now become obsolete. Trump (s. from triumph)."

The derivation of the word ruff or ruffe has caused much speculation. The previous quotations show that it is the same word as ronfa (Ital.) and ronfle (Fr.), and that it is synonymous with the English triumph or trump. Even at the present day many Whist players speak of ruffing, i.e., trumping; and, in the expression a cross-ruff, the word ruff is preserved to the exclusion of the word trump.

The game of ruff-and-honours, if not the same as trump or ruff, was probably the same game, with the addition of certain advantages to the four highest cards of the trump suit. Rabelais includes in his list a game called "les Honneurs," but whether it had any affinity to ruff-and-honours is doubtful. In "Shufling, Cutting, and Dealing, in a Game at Pickquet: being Acted from the Year, 1653. to 1658. By O.P. [Oliver Protector] and others; With great Applause." (1659), the "Old Foolish Christmas Game with Honours" is mentioned. Some writers are of opinion that trump was originally played without honours; but as no description of trump without honours is known to exist, their view must be taken as conjectural. In 1674, Charles Cotton, the poet, published a description of ruff-and-honours in "The Compleat Gamester: or Instructions How to play at Billiards, Trucks, Bowls, and Chess. Together with all manner of usual and most Gentile Games, either on Cards or Dice." Cotton gives a drawing of the game of "English Ruff and Honours," (see frontispiece) and thus describes it:—

This game was clearly Whist in an imperfect form. Whist is not mentioned by Shakespeare, nor by any writer (it is believed) of the Elizabethan era. It is probable that the introduction of the name whist or whisk took place early in the seventeenth century.

The first known appearance of the word in print is in the "Motto" of Taylor, the Water Poet (1621). Taylor spells the word whisk. Speaking of the prodigal, he says:—

The word continued to be spelt whisk for about forty years. The earliest known use of the present spelling is in "Hudibras the Second Part" (spurious) published in 1663:—

After this, the word is spelt indifferently, whisk or whist. In "The Compleat Gamester" (1674 and subsequent editions) Cotton says, under playing the cards at "Picket," "the elder begins and younger follows in suit as at Whisk." But he uses the other spelling in his chapter on the game itself. He observes, "Ruff and Honours (alias Slamm) and Whist, are Games so commonly known in England in all parts thereof, that every Child almost of Eight Years old hath a competent knowledge in that recreation."

After describing ruff-and-honours (see the passage quoted, pp. 36, 37), Cotton adds, "Whist is a game not much differing from this, only they put out the Deuces and take in no stock; and is called Whist from the silence that is to be observed in the play; they deal as before, playing four, two of a side * * * to each Twelve a piece, and the Trump is the bottom Card. The manner of crafty playing, the number of the Game Nine, Honours and dignity of other Cards are all alike, and he that wins most tricks is most forward to win the set."

Cotton's work was afterwards incorporated with Seymour's Court-Gamester (first published 1719). The earlier editions contain no Whist, but after the two books were united (about 1734), Seymour says, "Whist, vulgarly called whisk. The original denomination of this game is Whist, [here Seymour is mistaken] or the silent game at cards." And again, "Talking is not allowed at Whist; the very word implies 'Hold your Tongue.'"

Dr. Johnson does not positively derive Whist from the interjectio silentium imperans; he cautiously explains Whist to be "a game at cards, requiring close attention and silence." Nares, in his "Glossary," has "Whist, an interjection commanding silence;" and he adds, "That the name of the game of Whist is derived from this, is known, I presume, to all who play or do not play." Skeat ("Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 1882") gives, "Whist, hush, silence; a game at cards * * * named from the silence requisite to play it attentively."

Chatto, however, ("Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards, 1848"), suggests that whisk is derived by substitution from ruff, both of them signifying a piece of lawn used as an ornament to the dress.

The best modern etymologists are of opinion that, whisk and whist, being, like whisper, whistle, wheeze, hush and hist, words of imitative origin, it makes no difference which form is first found. So the received derivation from silence, having a good deal of evidence in its favour, may be accepted until some more conclusive arguments than Chatto's are brought against it.

While Whist was undergoing the changes of name and character already specified, there was for a time associated with it another title, viz., swabbers or swobbers. Fielding, in his "History of the life of the late Mr. Jonathan Wild, the Great," records that when the ingenious Count La Ruse was domiciled with Mr. Geoffrey Snap, in 1682, or, in other words, was in a spunging-house, the Count beguiled the tedium of his in-door existence by playing at Whisk-and-Swabbers, "the game then in the chief vogue." Swift, in "The Intelligencer" (No. v, Dublin, 1728), ridicules Archbishop Tenison for not understanding the meaning of swabbers. "There is a known Story of a Clergy-Man, who was recommended for a Preferment by some great Man at Court, to A. B. C'T. His Grace said, he had heard that the Clergy-Man used to play at Whisk and Swobbers, that as to playing now and then a Sober Game at Whisk for pastime, it might be pardoned, but he could not digest those wicked Swobbers, and it was with some pains that my Lord S——rs could undeceive him." Johnson defines swobbers as "four privileged cards used incidentally in betting at Whist." In Captain Francis Grose's "Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" (1785), swabbers are stated to be "The ace of hearts, knave of clubs, ace and duce of trumps at Whist." The Hon. Daines Barrington (writing in 1786), says that at the beginning of the century, whisk was "played with what were called Swabbers, which were possibly so termed, because they, who had certain cards in their hand, were entitled to take up a share of the stake, independent of the general event of the game." This was probably the true office of the swabbers, the etymology of the word showing it to be allied to sweep, swoop, swab, swap, and to be first cousin to sweepstakes. Swabbers soon went out of general use, but they may still linger in some local coteries. R. B. Wormald writes thus respecting them in 1873:—Being driven by stress of weather to take shelter in a sequestered hostelry on the Berkshire bank of the Thames, he found four persons immersed in the game of Whist: "In the middle of the hand, one of the players, with a grin that almost mounted to a chuckle, and a vast display of moistened thumb, spread out upon the table the ace of trumps; whereupon the other three deliberately laid down their hands, and forthwith severally handed over the sum of one penny to the fortunate holder of the card in question. On enquiry, we were informed that the process was technically known as a 'swap' (qy. swab or swabber), and was de rigueur in all property constituted whist circles."

After the swabbers were dropped (and it is probable that they were not in general use in the eighteenth century), our national card game became known simply as Whist, though still occasionally spelt whisk. The Hon. Daines Barrington ("Archaeologia," Vol. viii.) says, that Whist in its infancy was chiefly confined to the servants' hall. That the game had not yet become fashionable is evident from the disparaging way in which it is referred to by writers of the period. In Farquhar's comedy of "The Beaux's Stratagem" (1707), Mrs. Sullen, a fine lady from London, speaks in a contemptuous vein of the "rural Accomplishments of drinking fat Ale, playing at Whisk, and smoaking Tobacco." Pope also classes Whist as a country squire's game, in his "Epistle to Mrs. Teresa Blount" (1715)—

Thomson, in his "Autumn" (1730), describes how after a heavy hunt dinner—

Early in the century the points of the game rose from nine to ten ("nine in all," Cotton, 1709; "ten in all," Cotton, 1721; "nine in all," Cotton, 1725; "ten in all," Seymour, 1734, "rectified according to the present standard of play"). Every subsequent edition of Seymour (with which Cotton was incorporated) makes the game ten up. It seems likely that, simultaneously with this change, or closely following it, the practice of playing with the entire pack instead of with but forty-eight cards obtained. This improvement introduced the odd trick, an element of the greatest interest in modern Whist.

At this period (early part of the eighteenth century) there was a mania for card playing in all parts of Europe, and in all classes of society, but Whist had not as yet found favour in the highest circles. Piquet, Ombre, and Quadrille, were the principal games of the fashionable world. But about 1728, the game of Whist rose out of its comparative obscurity.

A party of gentlemen (according to Daines Barrington), of whom the first Lord Folkestone was one, used at this date to frequent the Crown Coffee-house, in Bedford Row, where they studied Whist scientifically. They must have made considerable progress in the game, to judge by the following rules which they laid down:—"Lead from the strong suit; study your partner's hand; and attend to the score."

Shortly after this, the celebrated Edmond Hoyle, the father of the game, published his "Short Treatise" (1742-3). About Hoyle's antecedents, but little is known. He was born in 1672; it is said he was educated for the bar. It has been stated that he was born in Yorkshire, but this is doubtful. At all events, the author, by personal enquiry, has positively ascertained that he did not belong to the family of Yorkshire Hoyles, who acquired estates near Halifax temp. Edward III. It has also been stated that Hoyle was appointed registrar of the prerogative court at Dublin, in 1742. This, however, is unlikely. At that time, Hoyle was engaged in writing on games, and in giving lessons in Whist, and he was probably living in London. At all events, the only known genuine copy of the first edition of the "Short Treatise" (in the Bodleian), was published in London; and Hoyle afterwards resided in Queen Square. The name Edmund or Edmond is common in both the Yorkshire and Irish families of Hoyle; and probably one Hoyle has been mistaken for another.

Internal evidence shows that Hoyle originally drew up notes for the use of his pupils. His early editions speak of "Purchasers of the Treatise in Manuscript, disposed of the last Winter," and further state that the author of it "has fram'd an Artificial Memory, which takes not off your Attention from your Game; and if required, he is ready to communicate it, upon Payment of one Guinea. And also, he will explain any Cases in the Book, upon Payment of one Guinea more." The cheap spurious editions lament that there was "a Treatise on the Game of Whist lately dispersed among a few Hands at a Guinea Price;" that it was to be procured with no small difficulty; and that the public lay under imposition and hardship in not being able to get the book under a guinea, and by its being reserved only in a few hands.

No doubt, the circulation of these surreptitious copies induced Hoyle to print the manuscript, and to register the "Short Treatise" at Stationers' Hall in November, 1742.

The treatise ran through five editions in one year, and it is said that Hoyle received a large sum for the copyright. This last statement, however, requires verification; at all events, Hoyle continued for years to sign every copy personally, as the proprietor of the copyright. This was done in order to protect the property from further piracy, as the address to the reader shows.

The following is a facsimile of Hoyle's signature, taken from the fourth edition:—