Jack Be Nimble

"Jack Be Nimble"
Roud #13902
William Wallace Denslow's illustrations for Jack Be Nimble, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose
Song
Written	England
Published	c. 1815
Form	Nursery rhyme
Writer(s)	Traditional
Language	English

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

The most common version of the rhyme is:

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.

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 also used in Welcome To The Void by the psychedelic rock band Morgen on their album Morgen in 1969: