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

Lyrics

The most common version of the rhyme is:

Origins and meaning

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.

Notes