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
International Playing-Card Society of standard playing-card design. The IPCS was founded in 1972, as "The Playing-Card Society", with a journal titled "The Journal of the Playing-Card Society". In May 1980 the names of the society and the journal were changed, becoming "The International Playing-Card Society" and "The Playing-Card". A newsletter, which became known as "Playing-Card World", was formerly published as a supplement to the journal, running for 80 issues from 1975 to 1995. Notable members of the Society are or have included: International Playing-Card Society The International Playing-Card Society (IPCS) is a non-profit organisation for those interested in playing cards, their design, and