Parlett describes Rams as a "nineteenth-century French, Alsatian and Belgian" pastime, representative of a "very loose-knit group of gambling and drinking games". In fact, although its rules were first published in France around 1820, there are also Austrian sources banning the game of "Leveferln or Ramschen" as early as 1826 and a Bavarian account of the "rural game" of
Ramsen being played around 1800. By the 1830s it had reached Sweden and, in 1847, the Swedish variant had already been enhanced by the promotion of the four 'Knights' (Jacks) to become permanent top trumps, hence the game was also known as
Knektpass. By the 1850s the game, based on a
Piquet pack and using
Écarté ranking, was established in France and was just coming into vogue in Paris. Meanwhile identical rules for German-suited cards were being published in Leipzig and, by 1868, the game had reached America where Hoyle's described the American game of Rounce as a 52-card variant derived from the German game of Ramsch. In 1862, the
Freiberger Biercomment, a book by students about how they should conduct themselves in pubs and bars, included the rules of drinking games, including Rammes. These rules were more elaborate and introduced the 7 of Bells, or
Belle (pronounced "Beller"; the equivalent of the in a French pack), as the 2nd highest trump and a
widow known as the
'blind' (
Blinde). A bonus was awarded for capturing the
Belle and there were rules about the protocol for leaving the game temporarily, for viewing the bottom card of the cut, for various infractions and a more complex scoring system. The American variant, Rounce, which we are told is "derived from the German game of Ramsch" is first recorded in 1868, played with a 32-card pack and featuring the blind, known here as a 'dumby'. In ''Foster's Complete Hoyle'' of 1897, a Rams variant appears under the name 'Bierspiel', "a popular form of Rams among German students." In fact it is none other than Rammes, the game recorded over 30 years earlier in the
Biercomment, the name apparently the result of a mistranslation, since
Bierspiel is simply German for "drinking game." The error persists to the present day, Bierspiel being recorded as recently as 2008 in an English games compendium. It's more authentic modern equivalent is
Ramscheln. It was not long before some of these rules became more widely adopted by Rams players. In 1859, rules published in Paris included the option of a
mort, the equivalent of the blind, with which forehand had the right to exchange his hand; if he chose not to, the next player in turn had the option and so on. And in Alsace, where Rams was one of the six most popular games in 1883, the first deal was a
force in which all players had to play. In subsequent deals, players could 'pass' and
drop out, and there was a
blind with which players could exchange their hands. But the game was already on the wane in central Europe; for example, in 1904 it is reported as being "formerly popular" in the whole of the Austrian state of
Vorarlberg. ==Overview==