jubilee pool
The magnificent pool on the edge of Penzance...
A Cornish Shower!
Trebarwith Strand - they got very wet 2 seconds after this photograph was taken!...
Surfer
March 2008, Harlyn Bay...
Surfer
March 2008, Harlyn Bay...
I've always been led to believe that its Cornish, never known it played anywhere else, but it isn't, its history is disputed but it started in mainland Europe sometime in the 18c
Hello Phil, in the UK Euchre is mainly played in Cornwall and some parts of Devon. The origins are unclear, the two handed game is similar to Ecarte, very popular in Paris around 1840. Some say it derives from juker and was taken to Pennsyvania by the Dutch. It became popular with the US navy, this may be why it is played in parts of Australia and New Zealand as well as the far west of the States.
Great game Euchre, I always thought it was a Cornish game exported overseas by the Cornish miners. I know it is played in Canada, Australia, NZ and S Africa. I have a friend originally from Perth who swears it was invented in W Australia. Still played though in most Cornish pubs (and some in Devon). Unbeatable hand is Benny, Left, Right, Ace and King - 4 pointer !!
Euchre is very much a Cornish game and there are several leagues in The Duchy. The origins, as Kernow noted, are vague.
In areas where the Cornish settled (Michigan, California, Victoria, South Africa), there are euchre leagues so I think the US Navy theory is quite weak.
However, many card games were brought back from sea where sailors picked up games from shore leave (often learnt the hard way through gambling with the locals and losing) and played on the boa to relieve the boredom.
I used to play it with my grans who would win my pocket money and not pay it back. We'd play Newmarket as well.
I could never work out the difference between a right bower and a left bower.
I have played Euchre for many years now and have also been told that the game originated from Cornwall.Living in Devon all my life and becoming the drinking age 26 years ago I was taught Euchre down at my local.Then as now,and many many years before me,there has been great interest in this game with many Euchre leagues in my area.
As for left and right bowers,these are the Jacks in the pack.It depends on which suit has been called for which Jacks are active as bowers.Say Hearts are called,the Jack of hearts will become the right bower,being a heart,and the second highest card .The jack of diamonds,being red as well,will become the left bower the third highest card.If diamonds are called the Jack of diamonds becomes the right bower and the Jack of hearts the left bower.The two black jacks are not active as trumping cards in these two cases.
However the two black Jacks are active if either of there suits are called as trumps.So treat them as the same as the red Jacks explained above.In this case the red Jacks are not active as trumping cards.
I hope this explains the "bowers" and is not to complicated.
Anyway this is a great pub game and who ever plays it enjoy.
Most references I've seen suggest the game has either German or possibly Alsation. I expect many of the Cornish who worked/lived in the US brought the game home. However there were thousands of US troops stationed in Cornwall prior to D-day so there is a possibility they made it popular or maybe a combination of the two.
".....it is believed that the Joker was added to the pack by American Euchre players who, when modifying Euchre rules sometime during that era, decided that an extra trump card was required. The Joker was first called the Best Bower. In the game of Euchre two of the Jacks are named Right and Left Bower; this happened during the 1860s in the USA. Bower is a corruption of the German word Bauer used in Alsace, from where Euchre or Juker originated as the ordinary word for Jack. This card evolved into the Joker during the 1870s."
As the game is played in Canada, Australia & South africa Isuggest that it was spread by the cornish miners as it was played in cornwall long before the americans played it.
We played Euchre all the time as children - in America. It is a fun game but I don't hear much about it being played any more. Maybe in circles I am not a member of. Hazel
<<As the game is played in Canada, Australia & South africa Isuggest that it was spread by the cornish miners as it was played in cornwall long before the americans played it.>>
In all due respect, there were Cornish miners in USA as far back as they were in Canada. As a descendant of one, I am certain of that. I suspect the same is true about Australia which was being (forcibly) settled after America gained its independence. Hazel
The game is popular worldwide, still called Euchre, but sometimes with varying rules. Heck, its one of the online games on Yahoo Games, you can play it online with thousands of others, 24 hours a day.
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