| Jack Be Nimble | |
| Cover: | Jack Be Nimble 1 - WW Denslow - Project Gutenberg etext 18546.jpg |
| Alt: | dunces |
| Caption: | William Wallace Denslow's illustrations for Jack Be Nimble, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose |
| Type: | Nursery rhyme |
| Artist: | Jay Dutt |
| Published: | 1815 |
"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:
Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over the candlestick.[1]
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.[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]