Jack Be Nimble


"Jack Be Nimble" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13902.

Lyrics

The most common version of the rhyme is:

Origins and meaning

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. 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":
It is also a line in Lindsey Buckingham's song Holiday Road, featured in National Lampoon's Vacation:
It is used in Welcome To The Void by the psychedelic rock band Morgen on their album Morgen in 1969:
It is used in My Medicine by Snoop Dogg:
It also features in the song Limbo Rock, by Chubby Checker:
The group Set It Off also uses it in their song Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.
The lyric appears in Shark in the Water by V V Brown.
The video game contains a quest called "Boots of Springheel Jak" in which the player must retrieve a pair of boots with the same name. The owner of said boots is, in keeping with the popular image, a vampire by the name of "Jakben, Earl of Imbel". The quest and boots are a reference to the mythical Spring-heeled Jack, whereas the character is a reference to both Spring-heeled Jack and "Jack Be Nimble".