Little Jack Horner

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 8 1s set, cast (2s step up), 1s turn 1¼ LH to face 1st corners
9-24 1s dance Corner Chain with 1st and 2nd corners:
 1s change place RH with 1st corners, 1st corners turn LH in centre and return to places giving RH to 1s who turn LH in centre to face 2nd corners
 1s change places RH with 2nd corners, 2nd corners turn LH in centre and return to places giving RH to 1s and 1s end turning LH in the middle to finish Lady above Man facing opposite sides
25-32 1s dance RH across (1L with 2s, 1M with 3s), pass RSh to dance LH across with other couple

(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)

Dance Notes

Dance Information

First mentioned in the 18th century, it soon became associated with opportunism, particularly in politics. Moralists later rewrote and expanded the rhyme to counter its apparent endorsement of greed.

The name Jack Horner was also linked to an entirely different, older poem with a folkloric theme. In the 19th century, a theory emerged suggesting that the rhyme was originally a satirical reference to the alleged dishonesty of Thomas Horner during the Tudor period.

The song's most common lyrics are:

The rhyme was first recorded in full in the nursery rhyme collection Mother Goose's Melody, or, Sonnets for the Cradle, which may date back to 1765, though the earliest surviving English edition is from 1791.

The melody most commonly associated with the rhyme was first documented by composer and nursery rhyme collector James William Elliott in National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs (1870).

Little Jack Horner - Scanned Page From The Baby's Opera By Walter Crane, By Mcloughlin Bros. In New York, c. 1878

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