Jack Be Nimble
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"Jack Be Nimble" | |
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![]() 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]![](http://178.128.105.246/content-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Jack_Be_Nimble_2_-_WW_Denslow_-_Project_Gutenberg_etext_18546.jpg/220px-Jack_Be_Nimble_2_-_WW_Denslow_-_Project_Gutenberg_etext_18546.jpg)
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]
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.