Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Wilkie Bards n.

playing cards.

1925		(con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 304: Wilkie Bards: A pack of cards.
a.1945		L. Payne private coll. n.p.: Cards Wilkie Bards.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 268: A tosser on a Wilkie Bard, / A lord on a Charing Cross, / Is ’ow I fell, and it’s bread-’n-lard / To bear my milkman’s ’orse.
1960		J. Franklyn Dict. of Rhy. Sl.
1972		Dodson & Saczek Dict. of Cockney Rhy. Sl.
1980		Barltrop & Wolveridge Muvver Tongue 11: The above expressions did not catch on because there was no need for them; nor did ‘Wilkie Bards’ for playing cards, from the 1950s’ TV series ‘The Army Game.’.
2003		(con. 1934) W. Woodruff Beyond Nab End 76: The rest played shove-ha’penny or Wilkie Bards (cards).