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
Queen (playing card) Queen (playing card) The Queen is a playing card with a picture of a woman on it. In many European languages, the King and Queen begin with the same letter so the latter is often called "Dame" (Lady) or variations thereof. In French playing cards, the usual rank of a queen is between the King and the Jack. In tarot decks, it outranks the Knight which in turn outranks the Jack. In the Paris pattern, each court card is identified as a particular historical or mythological personage as follows: In the game of Hearts, the Queen of Spades is the