Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1899-03-08
CLARKE COURIER
WEDNESDAY,. MARCH s, 1890.
PLAYING CARDS.
what the Suits Are Said to Have
Originally Represented.


what the suits Are said to Have
Originally Represented.
There may be some among you who
are not acquainted with the four symbols
upon which fortunes are hourly waged.
I'm the first place. you must understand
that cards are of French origin. having
been invented about the year 1890 to
drive away the melancholy moods Of
Charles " Of France. Printing not then
being one of the arts. cards were painted
by hand, and in a synodical canon in
terdicting their use by the clergy issued
within 90 years of their originatiOn
they are described as painted little
leaves" Thugs early you see was recog.
nized the possibility of their being pat
TO evil uses, and that they were quickly
seized upon as medium for gaming is
shown by the fact that 90 years after
their invention severe edicts were passed
against them. and the Duke of Savoy
only permitted women the pastime "for
pins and needles. Z"
Their inventor intended the four suits
10 represent the four classes of men in
the French kingdom. The hearts repre-
sent the choir men or ecclesiastics,
termed in French gems de chGur. The
chour was corrupted into coeur, mean
ing hearts, as you all know. The Span
iards who obtained the use of cards
from the French, have chalices as one
of their suits instead of hearts, proving
cOnclusively that the ecclesiastics were
intended 10 be represented. What we
call spades" were originally intended
as pixies or the points Of lances being
representative Of the noble or military
class. The diamonds - which all for
tune tellers tell you are indicative Of
wealth, We're originally intended as
square stone tiles and are repre-
sentative Of the order of citizens. mer-
chants, tradesmen and artisans CLUBS"
are nothing more than the three leaved
clover, which was originally intended
as the symbol Of the husbandmen and
peasants.
Now for the meaning of the court
or face" cards. AS to the original
standing Of the four kings there is some
difference of opinion. Some say that the
king of clubs originally represented the
arms of the pope, the king of spades
the arms of the king Of France, the
mug VI NldiuOuuS Ine arms OF the King
of Spain. and the king of hearts the
arms of the king of England. This ex-
PLANTATION is Of doubtful origin. 1t is
more likely that the four kings charac-
terize the heads of the Jewish. Greek.
Roman and Frankish empires, the kings
depicted being David (spades), Alexan-
der (clubs), Caesar (diamonds) and
Charles (hearts). In fact, to this dav
many French cards bear their names.
IN packs so marked the queens are
thus named; Argine (hearts), Judith
(clubs), Rachel (diamonds) and Pallas
(spades). Argine is an anagram for
Regina, and the four names respect
lively royalty, fortitude, piety and wis
dom. They are supposed TO be likenesses
of Marie d Anjou. queen of Charles VII !;
lsabeau, the queen mother; Agnes Sorel,
the kings mistress, and Jeanne d'Arc
The jacks or knaves represent the
servants to knights. In old time lingo
the now objectionable word knave
meant simply a servant. and in fact in
an old translation of the Bible ST. Paul
is spoken of as 1.-THE knave of Christ. -
Philadelphia Times.