Fun With Easter Eggs: Tapping, Shackling, Dancing

I had such fun Easter Sunday watching the kids running around our outdoor chapel area hunting for Easter eggs. So, of course, I had to begin hunting for what games my characters might have enjoyed on Easter Sunday—or any other Sunday in the 1800s, for that matter. Imagine my surprise when, besides the normal egg hunting, I discovered egg tapping, egg shackling and egg dancing. 

 

Egg Tapping

The rules are simple: pick an egg, face your opponent and tap eggs until one breaks. The person with the unbroken egg wins and moves to the next players. The egg still intact at the end is the winner. A single elimination tournament with no age limit and guaranteed laughs.

Egg Shackling

In the Victorian Era, egg shackling was a favorite game. It’s origins go back to medieval days. Children wrote their names on an egg and put it in a basket with all the others. The basket was shaken until all eggs cracked. The last egg to crack or remain intact was the winner.

The Egg Dance

The egg dance or the hop-egg, is a dance done in small, hopping steps through a minefield of boiled eggs. Blindfolded. If you manage to do the dance without breaking an egg, there will be chocolate! Since the Saxon word hoppe means “to dance,” hopping was probably brought to England from Germany by the Saxons as early as the 5th century.

In my latest release, WILD TEXAS HEARTS, the heroine, Lizzie, is caught teaching the hero’s young son poque, or poker.

From WILD TEXASHEARTS

“Remember, the ace can be a high card or a low card. Depends on where you need it.”

Calvin laid his two cards down, counted on his fingers, and picked them back up to be sure he saw them right. “If I have it as my high one, that counts eleven, right?” His lips moved as he recounted his hand. “That’s too many. I think.”

“Then count it as one point and ask for another card. You want to get close to twenty-one, but not go over. Remember, though.” She hesitated before dealing. “If you have more than fifteen points, another card will probably be too many.”

Calvin huffed in frustration. “I don’t understand.”

“Didn’t I tell you studying your figures in school was important?” Lizzie folded her own cards and set them aside. “Let’s have a look at what you have. We won’t count this hand.”

Calvin turned over a black jack, followed by an ace of hearts.

A shiver ran her spine at the reminder of her attacker. “That’s twenty-one. You would have won, boy.” Lizzie learned across the table and slapped his shoulder.

“Durn it!” Cal shoved his chin forward in a pout. “We didn’t count that one.”

“That’s all right. We’ll just deal again.” She gathered the cards and started to shuffle. “We’re just practicing anyway.”

“But if I win, you’re gathering the eggs tomorrow, right?”

Lizzie laughed at the hope in his eyes. “And if you lose, you wash and dry the dishes all day.”

Cal straightened in his seat. “I’m gonna win this time.”

“Don’t count on it, swabbie. I’m pretty good at this poque stuff, too.”

“What’s poque?” Cal picked up his cards, one at a time, and started adding, his lips forming the numbers so clearly Lizzie didn’t even have to see her hand to bet.

“It’s a fancy French term for poker. At least, that’s what the sailor told me when he taught me to play.” She laid the homemade deck of cards aside and glanced at the two she’d dealt herself.

“Those sailors sure taught you lots of stuff.”

“There wasn’t much else to do once my chores were done. Or when the wind quit blowing. What you gonna do?”

“I’ll take…uh…one more. I think.”

She bit back a chuckle and dealt Cal another card. “I’ll hold on these. Show your hand.”

Cal turned over a king, a ten, and seven.

“Twenty-seven is six too many.” She flipped over her hand. “Nineteen for the dealer. I win and you have to wash the supper dishes.”

WILD TEXAS HEARTS

A broken man…
Revenge has driven Wolf Richards since the brutal murders of his wife and young daughter. Returning home with his son, Cal, he faces memories and loss at every turn. Raising Cal alone seems to be more of a challenge than he can handle. He can never replace his perfect Emily—until a rough-edged female falls into his arms—and living becomes a new adventure.

An unlikely woman…
Lizzie Sutter is as rough as a cowboy and as compelling as a stormy sky. Dressing as a man allows her to hire on with a cattle drive, only to be discovered and set adrift near Civil, Texas. When she stumbles onto an abandoned cabin, she makes herself at home. Then the owner of her newfound home shows up and Lizzie discovers just what’s missing from her life—and her heart.

Two wild hearts tamed…
Lizzie hasn’t a feminine thing about her, yet she calls to something deep inside Wolf, something he can’t deny. Being a woman has always left her feeling lacking, until he shows her their WILD TEXAS HEARTS belong together…