Jack Be Nimble
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| "Jack Be Nimble" | |
|---|---|
 William Wallace Denslow's illustrations for Jack Be Nimble, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose | |
| Nursery rhyme by Jay Dutt | |
| Published | c. 1815 |
| Songwriter(s) | Traditional |
"Jack Be Nimble" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13902.
Lyrics
[edit]The most common version of the rhyme is:
- Jack be nimble,
- Jack be quick,
- Jack jump over the candlestick.[1]
Origins and meaning
[edit]
The rhyme is first recorded in a manuscript of around 1815 A.D. and was collected by James Orchard Halliwell in the mid-nineteenth century.[1] Jumping candlesticks was a form of fortune telling and a sport. Good luck was said to be signalled by clearing a candle without extinguishing the flame.[1]
Popular Culture
[edit]Don Mclean sampled the rhyme in his 1971 hit American Pie. In the 5th verse he sings a slightly altered version of the rhyme, with the lyrics going "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candlestick."
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 226–7.