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
Published	c. 1815

"Jack Be Nimble" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13902.1882

Lyrics[]

The most common version of the rhyme is:

Jack be nimble,

Jack be quick,

Jack jump over

The candlestick^[1]

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[]