Curse of Scotland excluded, making the 7, later called the "beer card", a "stop") but there is no direct relation with the 9. Gomme's book goes on to claim "At the game of Pope Joan, the nine of diamonds is Pope; therefore the nine of diamonds is the curse of Scotland". "The Spectator" review considered the claim "more cogent in form than in matter". A letter written in response to "The Spectator's" book review pointed out that the saying was established well before Culloden, and preferred the Pope Joan theory to other explanations. Other explanations given in the letter were: An 1864 book
Standard 52-card deck Standard 52-card deck The deck of French playing cards is the most common deck of playing cards used today. It includes thirteen ranks of each of the four French suits: clubs (), diamonds (), hearts () and spades (), with reversible "court" or face cards. Each suit includes an ace, depicting a single symbol of its suit; a king, queen and jack, each depicted with a symbol of its suit; and ranks two through ten, with each card depicting that many symbols ("pips") of its suit. Anywhere from one to six (most often two or three since the mid-20th century)