Just the place for a Snark!
- Newt
- Nov 18
- 3 min read
We mentioned a while ago Lewis Carroll's own card game, Court Circular, and provided instructions as to how you can play it with a regular pack of cards. But we also thought it would be nice to make a dedicated three-suit Snark pack, designed to play the game. It has three suits, Hearts, Diamonds and a red Club pattern we designed for our Stroop effect pack.
It features portraits of the crew taking from Holiday's illustrations, including a proposed illustration of Boots. Here are the Boots (1) of Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs
As you can see, it also features the caption on the cards in Nyctography, the system of writing in the dark that Carroll also invented. Conventional scholarship has the Boots not depicted at all, but the illustration of the Bellman has misaligned legs, so we have concluded that they belonged to Boots.
The pack includes a Snark card, and to determine in it is a Boojum, there are three separate Snark-determining cards, one of which is a Boojum, and two not. We've left the Snark blank, even though Holiday drew one, because Caroll thought it better not shown.
If none of this makes sense to you, The Hunting of the Snark is an allegorical poem written by the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. This is the poem's start:
“Just the place for a Snark!” the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.
“Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true.”
Part of the appeal of the poem lies in the mystery as to what exactly the allegory is. You can read more about the Hunting of the Snark at Wikipedia here.
Here is the full set of the designs, from the Clubs suit. The ones that are partially obscured were that way in the available pictures.
The Game
Court Circular was Lewis Carroll’s own trick-taking card game, built around forming combinations called “Lines.” In adapting it to our custom Snark Pack — which features three suits and a crew drawn from The Hunting of the Snark — we’ve reimagined the game to reflect the poem’s whimsical hierarchy.
The Bellman leads the expedition. The Banker, Barrister, and Broker represent the professional classes — the Eminent cards. The rest of the crew — Beaver, Baker, Butcher, Billiard-marker, Bonnet-maker, and Boots — form the Common cards.
The suit hierarchy follows Carroll’s original emphasis: Hearts outrank Diamonds, which outrank Clubs, with all suits rendered in red to preserve visual unity.
Lines are combinations formed using the cards played in a trick, plus a central Lead card flipped from the deck. These Lines include:
Trio: three of the same crew member
Sympathy: three cards of the same suit
Valentine: two Hearts
Pair: two of the same crew member
High Card: if no Line is formed, the highest suit and crew wins
Players are dealt six cards each. In each trick, they play one card in turn, aiming to form the strongest Line with the Lead. The winner scores points and sets the next Lead. Play continues until all cards are used.
But there is one card unlike the others: the Snark. It has no rank and forms no Line. It may be played at any time, but it cannot win a trick. If the Snark appears — whether as Lead or played into a trick — the winner must draw one of three face-down cards kept beside the deck: one marked “Boojum,” two marked “Not Boojum.”
If the card reads “Not Boojum,” the player draws a bonus card — a reward for their courage. But if it reads “Boojum,” their hand vanishes, and they sit out the rest of the deal. The Boojum cards are then reshuffled and placed face-down again.
You can download the PDF of the Rules
and a reference sheet here.
We've also made a useful table for you to keep at hand.
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