Little Jack Horner

Little Jack Horner

Little Jack Horner is a nursery rhyme. It has the Roud Folk Song Index number of 13027.

:Little Jack Horner sat in the corner, :Eating his Christmas pie, :He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum, :And said "What a good boy am I!"

Origins

It is claimed by some that the nursery rhyme is actually about Little Jack Horner, steward to Richard Whiting, the last abbot of Glastonbury Abbey before the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII of England. Legend has it that, prior to the abbey's destruction, the abbot sent Horner to London with a huge Christmas pie which had the deeds to a dozen manors hidden within it. During the journey Horner opened the pie and extracted the deeds of the manor of Mells in Somerset. The manor properties included lead mines in the Mendip Hills, hence "He pulled out a plum" - from the Latin "plumbum", for lead. While records do indicate that Thomas Horner became the owner of the manor, both his descendants and subsequent owners of Mells Manor have claimed that the legend is untrue. [http://www.rhymes.org.uk/little_jack_horner.htm]

A 16th-century rhyme noted:"Hopton, Horner, Smyth and Thynne:":"When Abbotts went out, they came in."

The first publication date for "Little Jack Horner" is 1725, but all the common English nursery rhymes were long in circulation before they appeared in print.

In popular culture

Another version was printed in "The Beano" in a joke on nursery rhymes:

:Little Jack Horner:Sat in a corner:Eating a huge Christmas pie:He should have checked the sell-by date:After all, it was mid-July

The character of Jack Horner appears in the "Fables" comic book by Bill Willingham, where it is revealed that he is also most of the other Jacks featured in fairy tales, nursery rhymes, etc. The now-grown Jack is a chancer, amiable for the most part, but not overly competent, as a rule; as such, most of his get-rich-quick schemes are doomed to failure.

He also appears in " [http://www.neilgaiman.com/exclusive/shortstories/blackbirdstory The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds] ", a short story by Neil Gaiman, as a hard-boiled detective investigating the murder of Humpty Dumpty.

Bob Dylan referred to the rhyme in a lyric, "Little Jack Horner's got nothing on me," in the song "Country Pie" on his "Nashville Skyline" album.

Jack Horner is also mentioned in the song "Ain't Misbehavin'", written by Andy Razaf, Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks: "Like Jack Horner, in the corner, don't go nowhere, what do I care..."

British Glam-rock band Slade also used a reference of this rhyme in "Did yer mama ever tell ya".

Comedian Jackie Vernon came up with this nightclub-terminology version: "Little Jack Horner sat in a corner; no cover, no minimum."

The following version, with commentary, was written by Dave Morrah as Heinrich Schnibble for the Saturday Evening Post:

JOHANN HORNER

Der smallisch Johann Horner
Ben gesitten in das corner
Der Yuletiden strudel gestuffen.
Der thumber in-gesticken
Und out-gepullen quicken
Mit burnen under blisters gepuffen!

Der oldisch rhymer ben claimen Johann is outgepullen ein plum mit braggen, "Ach! Ich bin ein gooten boy!" Is ein mistooker. Iss gooten youngischers ben gesitten in das corner? Nein. Johann ben ein littlisch schtunker under der fader und mutter ben outgaben der punishen. Ich ben gethinken iss better ein backwhacken. Und midout strudel. (Source: "Fraulein Bo-Peepen And More Tales Mein Grossfader Told," by Dave Morrah, 1953.)

John Barth's second book, The End of the Road, is told by the protagonist Jacob Horner.

There is also a [http://www.purplehousepress.com/scmg.htm parody] in [http://www.purplehousepress.com/space.htm The Space Child's Mother Goose] .

Comedy star Andrew Dice Clay had his own version of Little Jack Horner:"Little Jack Horner sat in a corner,Eating a Pizza Pie.He shit pepperoni, blew his friend Tony,wiped his mouth on his tie"

References

*William Stuart Baring-Gould and Ceil Baring-Gould, "The Annotated Mother Goose: Nursery Rhymes Old and New, Arranged and Explained," New York: Bramhall House Publishing, 1962


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Little Jack Horner — [Little Jack Horner] a boy in a traditional ↑nursery rhyme. The poem may refer to a man called Jack Horner who was a servant of King ↑Henry VIII. Little Jack Horner Sat in a corner, Eating a Christmas pie; He put in his thumb And pulled out a… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Little Jack Horner — Little Jack Hor|ner a character from a ↑nursery rhyme (=an old song or poem for young children) The rhyme goes: Little Jack Horner sat in a corner, /Eating his Christmas pie; /He put in his thumb, and pulled out a plum, /And said What a good boy… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Little Jack Horner — a boy in a traditional nursery rhyme. The full poem is: Little Jack Horner Sat in a corner, Eating a Christmas pie; He put in his thumb And pulled out a plum, And said, What a good boy am I!The poem may refer to a man called Jack Horner who was a …   Universalium

  • Little Jack Horner —    A popular nursery rhymes, still in circulation after 200 years. The first known printing dates from 1725, but the rhyme was taken up by the chapbook publishers and incorporated into a much longer rhyming tale entitled The History of Jack… …   A Dictionary of English folklore

  • Jack Horner — may refer to:*Jack Horner (Boxer) (1922 2003) A Golden Gloves Champion (1940) from St. Paul, MN *Jack Horner (Fables), a character from the comic book, Fables , created by Bill Willingham, based on the nursery rhyme character *Jack Horner… …   Wikipedia

  • Jack Horner (Fables) — Superherobox caption = Jack running from Fabletown, cover art for Jack of Fables #1 character name = Jack Horner publisher = Vertigo Comics debut = Fables #1 (July 2002) creators = Bill Willingham alliance color = background:#ffc0c0 alter ego =… …   Wikipedia

  • jack horner pie — ˈjakˈhȯrnər noun Usage: usually capitalized J&H Etymology: after (Little) Jack Horner, a nursery rhyme character depicted as pulling a plum out of a pie : an ornamental pie shaped container from which favors or toys are extracted often by… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Little Poll Parrot — is a traditional children s nursery rhyme. It is an example of a nursery rhyme that contains six dactylic lines, similar to other rhymes like Little Miss Muffet and Little Jack Horner, and it probably originates from the seventeenth century.… …   Wikipedia

  • Jack (name) — Infobox Given Name Revised name = Jack imagesize= caption= pronunciation = IPA|dʒæk (jak) gender = Male (rarely Female) meaning = region = origin = Middle English, indirect diminutive of John nickname = related names = John, Jon, Jackie… …   Wikipedia

  • Jack Be Nimble — is a nursery rhyme. Suggestions about its origins are: it is related to a marriage ceremony; it celebrates the escapes of [http://www.rhymes.org.uk/jack be nimble.htm a pirate] ; or it is about a religious choice which could have led to burning… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”