Curse of Scotland play. Curse of Scotland The Curse of Scotland is a nickname used for the Nine of Diamonds playing card. The expression has been used at least since the early 18th century, and many putative explanations have been given for the origin of this nickname for the card. In a book printed in London in 1708, "The British Apollo, or, Curious amusements for the ingenious", a question is posed: Q. "Why is the" Nine of Diamonds "called" the curse of Scotland? A. Diamonds as the Ornamental Jewels of a Regnal Crown, imply no more in the above-nam'd Proverb than a mark
Unter (playing card) games using the German style cards, and in German Schafkopf the "Unters" are the highest trump cards. Unter (playing card) The Unter, also called the Wenzel or Wenz, and (in Swiss) also the Under, is a court card in the German and Swiss-suited playing cards, which corresponds to the Jack in French decks. The name "Unter" (lit.: "under") comes from the fact that the suit sign is located in the lower part of the card as opposed to the higher ranking "Ober" (lit. "over") whose suit sign is located on the top of the card. Unters were described soon after