Curse of dead man’s hand

QUESTION Was Wild Bill Hickok holding the dead man’s hand when he was murdered while playing poker?

James Butler Hickok(1837-1876), better known as ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok, was an american frontiersman, army scout, gunfighter and lawman.

When he was shot dead, he was playing poker, holding the black aces and the two black eights, which became known as the dead man’s hand.

Born in illinois, Wild Bill gained notoriety in an 1861 gunfight when he coolly shot three members of the mccanles gang.

a sensationalised account of the gunfight six years later in the Harper’s New monthly magazine made Wild Bill world famous.

after accidentally killing his deputy during an 1871 shoot-out in abilene, texas, he put down his guns. For the next few years, he traded off his reputation by appearing in Buffalo Bill cody’s Wild West show.

in the spring of 1876, he arrived in the Black Hills mining town of Deadwood, south Dakota, and became a regular at the poker tables of the No 10 saloon.

on august 1, 1876, one of his fellow players, young gunslinger Jack mccall, was losing heavily. Hickok encouraged him to quit the game until he could cover his losses and offered to give him money for breakfast. though mccall accepted the cash, he was insulted.

the next day, Hickok was playing cards with gunman charles rich, con stapleton, carl mann and captain Willie massie, a missouri steamboat pilot.

unusually, he was sitting with his back to the door. it had been the only seat left at the table and he twice asked charles rich to swap seats, but was refused.

at 4.15pm, Jack mccall walked into the saloon, approached Hickok from behind and shot him in the back of the head.

the story that Wild Bill was holding black aces and eights when he was killed comes from Frank Jenners Wilstach’s popular biography Wild Bill Hickok: the Unlucky: The last hand for Hickok Prince of Pistoleers, published in 1926. Wilstach interviewed people who had known Hickok, including ellis t. ‘Doc’ Pierce, who was the Deadwood town barber and undertaker.

Pierce, who had prepared Wild Bill’s body for burial, told Wilstach: ‘charlie rich, who sat beside him, said he never saw a muscle move. Bill’s hand read aces and eights, two pair, and since that day it has been known as the dead man’s hand in the Western country.’

However, the expression seems to have had some currency for other poker hands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

the earliest citation can be found in the Grand Forks Daily Herald, Dakota, in July 1, 1886, where the hand is given as three jacks and a pair of tens.

the eau claire leader of Wisconsin, in November 3, 1898, had jacks and eights, and the 1903 edition of the encyclopaedia of superstitions, Folklore and the occult sciences stated: ‘Jacks and sevens are called the dead man’s hand. in a poker game, it is very unlucky to hold them and win the pot.’

it was Wilstach’s book that cemented the make-up of the dead man’s hand as black aces and eights. Michael Fox, Ipswich, Suffolk.

QUESTION Do any countries in Europe prohibit Sunday trading?

ONCE considered a day of rest and a time for family or religious reflection, shops are now routinely open on sundays in most european countries, but there are some exceptions.

Germany’s restrictive trading law allows shops to open on weekdays from 7am to 6.30pm, but only until 2pm on saturdays. sunday trading is limited to railway stations, airports and petrol stations.

For many years, France had restrictive laws, with high streets shutting up shop at the end of the week, except on five sundays a year.

earlier this year, however, it was announced all French stores would be allowed to open on 12 sundays per year.

tourist areas such as Paris and select out-of-town shopping centres could even trade every sunday to appeal to visitors.

in Poland, shopping hours of stores are restricted on 13 public holidays during the year. a Bill has been put forward to the Polish parliament by the solidarity trade union to ban sunday shopping for larger retail stores on all but seven sundays during the year.

restrictive shopping laws introduced in Hungary in 2015 caused a public outcry and a referendum was planned against the sunday shopping ban. since april 17, 2016, the shopping hours in Hungary have gone back to being unregulated.

Caroline Paine, Tamworth, Staffs.

QUESTION What was the largest choir ever congregated?

THE Guinness world record for the largest choir was created on January 30, 2011, when 121,440 people sang Ganesh Bhajan, a traditional song in honour of the elephant-headed god, in unison for five minutes in chennai, india.

it was part of a celebration of singing and was organised by the art of living Foundation, an indian non-government organisation, which is famous for its eyecatching promotional events.

the foundation promotes social transformation, child education, women and youth empowerment and world peace through yoga and meditation.

other record-breaking events it has organised include a 2012 Diwali celebration in ahmedabad, india, when 12,135 candles were lit simultaneously and, in 2013, when 444 musicians played the c-shaped traditional indian horn at kollam, kerala. T. Simm, Leicester.

IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Scottish Daily Mail, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB; fax them to 0141 331 4739 or email them to charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection will be published but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.