Jack Be Nimble
Scottish Country Dance Instruction
JACK BE NIMBLE (J4x32) 4C Set Chris Ronald Formation Foundations1- 8 1s cross RH, cast to bottom, meet below 4s, dance up middle to 2nd place to finish BtoB facing opposite sides
9-24 1s+2s+3s+4s dance the Spurtle:
9-12 1s dance ½ RSh reel of 4 with 2s and turn RH to face 3s (M facing L)
13-16 Repeat to end facing 4s
17-20 Repeat to end on opposite sides in 4th place. (2)(3)(4)(1)
21-24 All couples set and cross RH. 2341
25-32 All circle 8H round and back
(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)
Dance Notes
Can be danced as a Strathspey, a Reel or a Jig.Keith Rose's Crib Diagram
Dance Information
Jack Be Nimble is a traditional English nursery rhyme consisting of the well-known lines,Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick;
Jack jump over the candlestick.
It forms part of the long-established body of British nursery rhymes commonly associated with Mother Goose collections and children's folklore. The rhyme has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13902.
The rhyme was first recorded in manuscript form around 1815 and was later collected during the nineteenth century by the English folklorist James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps. It became widely known through printed nursery rhyme collections published during the nineteenth century and afterwards.
The short verse refers to jumping over a candlestick, an activity which historically existed both as a children's game and as a form of amusement among adults. Some sources describe candle-jumping as a type of fortune-telling custom in which successfully clearing a lit candle without extinguishing the flame was considered a sign of good luck.
Like many nursery rhymes, "Jack Be Nimble" has attracted speculative explanations and supposed hidden meanings. However, there is no reliable evidence that it originally referred to a particular historical event or person. Modern scholarship generally treats it as a traditional popular rhyme intended primarily for entertainment and recitation.
William Wallace Denslow's Illustrations For Jack Be Nimble, From An Edition Of Mother Goose, c. 1901
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Text from this original Jack Be Nimble article on Wikipedia.
Image from William Wallace Denslow, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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