 Its first known description was in Charles Cotton's "Compleat Gamester" of 1674, where the game was reported as popular in Kent.It is probably of Dutch ancestry, and David Parlett suggests that it played a role with the association of the name "Jack" with the card rank that was originally known only as the knave.In the 19th century, the game was taken to America and became popular among the African Americans on slave plantations.