Published c. 1815 | ||
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"Jack Be Nimble" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13902.
Contents
Lyrics
The most common version of the rhyme is:
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. 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.
In other media
A variation of this rhyme is featured in the song "American Pie", by Don McLean in 1971, with a play on the title of the Rolling Stones song, "Jumpin' Jack Flash":
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candlestick, 'Cause fire's the devil's only friend.It is also a line in Lindsey Buckingham's song "Holiday Road", featured in National Lampoon's Vacation:
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Take a ride on the West Coast kick. Holiday road.It is also used in Welcome To The Void by the psychedelic rock band Morgen on their album Morgen in 1969:
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick, Ouch, said Jack as he touched the lighted wick, My God, you know that fire burns.