How did honours in the trump suit affect scoring in traditional partnership whist?

In traditional partnership whist, honours—defined as the ace, king, queen, and jack of the trump suit—provided a way for partnerships to earn bonus points based on the cards held in their hands.1

If a partnership held three of these honours, they scored two points; if they held all four, they scored four points. These points were awarded regardless of whether the honours were held in a single hand or split between the two partners.1

However, there were specific conditions regarding these scores:
* Honours were ignored if the points would bring a partnership to the winning score (game).1
* Reaching the game score first prevented the opposing side from counting any points for honours.1

It is important to note that in modern versions of the game as played in Britain, the practice of scoring for honours has been abandoned.1