Jack Be Nimble
| "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 | Traditional |
"Jack Be Nimble" is an English languagenursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13902.
Lyrics
The most common version of the rhyme is:[1]
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick.
Origins and meaning
The rhyme is first recorded in a manuscript of around 1815 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
- ^ abcI. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 226–7.