_Deck of Cards._--
"The king was slily finger'd from the _deck_."
_Henry VI._, pt. iii. Act v. Sc. 1.
It is well known, and properly noted, that a pack of cards was formerly
called a _deck_; but it should be added that the term is still commonly
used in Ireland, and from being made use of in the famed song of "De Night
before Larry was stretched,"
"De deck being called for dey play'd,
Till Larry found one of dem cheated,"
it seems likely to be preserved. I may add, that many words and many forms
of expression which have gone out of vogue in England, or have become
provincial, are still in daily use in Ireland.