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
Bells (card suit) ("Schellen 7") or, in South Tyrol the 6 of Bells ("Belle, Weli") is the second highest trump card in the game of Watten. The gallery below shows a suit of Bells from a German suited deck of 32 cards, plus the "Weli" or 6 of Bells which is used in some games as an 'honour' card. The main deck is of the Saxonian pattern: Bells (card suit) Bells are a suit in playing cards of the German-suited cards. They correspond to Diamonds in a French deck. The suit is usually known in German as Schellen, but is sometimes abbreviated to