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"Jack and Jill" is a classic nursery rhyme in the English speaking world. The origin of the rhyme is obscure and there are several theories that attempt to interpret the lyrics. The rhyme is known to date back to at least the eighteenth century. The song is sometimes titled "Jack and Gill", particularly in early versions. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 10266.

Lyrics

William Wallace Denslow's illustrations for Jack and Jill, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose

Jack & Jill in the act of tumbling down, according to Denslow

There are several variants of Jack and Jill (many of them parodies), all sharing the same first rhyme:

Jack and Jill went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down and broke his crown,

And Jill came tumbling after.

The second verse of the rhyme is less commonly performed:

Up Jack got and home did trot

As fast as he could caper;

And went to bed to mend his head

With vinegar and brown paper.

There is also an alternative to the third line of this second verse:^[1]

Then up Jack got and home did trot

As fast as he could caper;

To Old Dame Dob who patched his nob

With vinegar and brown paper.

The third verse:

Jill came in and she did grin

To see his paper plaster;

Mother vexed did whip her next

For laughing at Jack's disaster.

There is also an alternative to the second line of the third verse:

Jill came in and she did grin

To see Jack's paper plaster;

Mother vexed did whip her next

For causing Jack's disaster.

And a fourth:

Now Jack did laugh and Jill did cry

But her tears did soon abate;

Then Jill did say that they should play

At see-saw across the gate.

Origin and interpretation

While the true origins of the rhyme are unknown, there are several theories. The earliest publication of the lyrics was in the 1760s^[2] in John Newbery's Mother Goose's Melody.^[3] As a result, Jack and Jill are considered part of the canon of "Mother Goose" characters. As is common with nursery rhyme exegesis, complicated metaphors are often said to exist within the lyrics of Jack and Jill. Although these theories of meaning appear to make perfect sense, it does not follow that they are in fact the original meaning of the song.^[4] This is corroborated by the fact that the Newbery publication predates some of the common origin stories. These include:

• In Norse mythology, Hjúki and Bil, a brother and sister (respectively) who, according to the thirteenth-century Prose Edda book Gylfaginning written by Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson, were taken up from the earth by the moon (personified as the god Máni) as they were fetching water from the well called Byrgir, bearing on their shoulders the cask called Saegr and the pole called Simul. Many tales and figures from the Prose Edda date much earlier, recorded from Skaldic poetry that was transmitted orally, much of which related to stories rooted in the Germanic paganism of the Germanic peoples.
• The village of Kilmersdon in Somerset has a long tradition of association with the nursery rhyme and the hill featured in the rhyme is said to be one near this village. It has been suggested that the surname Gilson originated in this area and could have been derived from 'son of Jill'.
• Jack is Cardinal Wolsey (c.1471–1530); and Gill is Bishop Tarbes who attempted to arrange the marriage of Mary Tudor to the French king. Their failure to negotiate this peace with France led to tax raises and thus the Jack and Jill protest song.^[5]
• In the 17th century, King Charles I tried to reform the taxes on liquid measures. He was blocked by Parliament, so subsequently ordered that the volume of a Jack (1/2 pint) be reduced, but the tax remained the same. This meant that he still received more tax, despite Parliament's veto. Hence "Jack fell down and broke his crown" (many pint glasses in the UK still have a line marking the 1/2 pint level with a crown above it) "and Jill came tumbling after". The reference to "Jill", (actually a "gill", or 1/4 pint) is an indication that the gill dropped in volume as a consequence. A variant of this is that liquids (specifically alcoholic beverages) were watered down, hence, "fetch a pail of water."
• Jack and Jill signify the 18th century Louis XVI of France, who was deposed and beheaded (lost his crown), and his Queen, Marie Antoinette (who came tumbling after). The words and lyrics were made more palatable for the nursery by giving it a happy ending.
• Jack and Jill were forms of currency referring to dollars and cents, respectively. The rising value of Jacks and Jill caused them to "go up a hill" until a plague caused a lack of water, causing a drop in the values of this currency (falling down and breaking his crown).^[6]

A far more straightforward interpretation of the rhyme is that it is a cautionary warning intended to suggest that children caught engaging in incestuous activity (going "up the hill" with the intention to do something besides "fetch a pail of water") will be dealt with very severely. In the rhyme, Jack and Jill "fall down" not at the same time but one after the other, with no cause specified -- the implication being that they were "caught in the act," then broken up and punished by being thrown down the hill by their angry, disapproving father. Subsequent verses suggest that boys and girls who do what Jack and Jill did will or should not only be punished but also be mocked for their inappropriate, forbidden behaviour as well.

A Jack and Jill reference appears in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the end of act three: Jack shall have Jill; Nought shall go ill. There is no evidence of any specific connection between this and the nursery rhyme and it is probable that the Jack and Jill here are used in a general representative sense for man and woman. A similar reference occurs in Shakespeare's 'Love's Labour's Lost near the end of the play: "Our wooing doth not end like an old play; Jack hath not Jill".

A. E. Housman created a parody of the poem in his "Fragment of a didactic poem on the Latin grammar" : "So, up the steep side of the rugged hill, //Companions in adventure, Jack and Jill //With footing nice and anxious effort hale //To the moist pump the necessary pail".

Uses in popular culture

• British Glam-rock band Slade used a reference to this rhyme on their song "Did yer mama ever tell ya".
• In 1978, the pop group Raydio had a hit song entitled "Jack and Jill" in which Jack sneaked down from the hill to get "love he couldn't get from Jill". Another Raydio song, "A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do)" (1981) provided an apparent continuation of the earlier song by saying that when Jack returned up the hill, "somebody else had been loving Jill".
• The Louis Prima song "Jump, Jive an' Wail" featured in the album The Wildest! contains a reference to the rhyme.
• The Dresden Dolls song "Half Jack" also contains references to the rhyme.
• The Can song "Pauper's Daughter and I" from the album Out of Reach also contains part of the rhyme in its lyrics.
• Two music groups have adopted names from this nursery rhyme: Jack N' Chill and Jack Off Jill
• The Caravan song "Jack and Jill", from the 1976 album Blind Dog at St. Dunstans suggests an interpretation of the original rhyme, presenting it as a romantic encounter, told from Jack's point of view.
• English Ska artist Judge Dread references Jack and Jill in his song Big Seven, singing "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a roll of cheese, Jack came down with a beaming smile and the trousers around his knees."
• The Kim Richey song "Jack and Jill" references the classic rhyme.
• Almighty Records have released a dance song under the name Jack & Jill by the artist name ' Essence'
• British orchestral pop group The Divine Comedy refer to the rhyme in their 1997 album A Short Album About Love, in the song "If", in which the protagonist reveals "If your name was Jack, I'd change mine to Jill for you".
• Jack is one of Renee J.F. Piazza's characters in his spoof on nursery rhymes; "Who Kidnapped Mother Goose?"
• On the tape Teletubbies Nursery Rhymes a voice tumpet sings Jack and Jill to Dipsy and Laa-Laa and they tumble down the hill.
• "Jack and Jill" is the name of the short student film in the May horror movie.
• Dave Matthews band used a reference to "Jack and Jill" on the song "What Would You say".
• On Van der Graaf Generators 2008 album Trisector, the elderly couple comitting suicide in the song "The Final Reel" is called Jack and Jillian.
• The 2009 Hindi film Paying Guests has a song called "Jack & Jill".
• British pop artist Pixie Lott has a song entitled "Jack" which references the rhyme on her 2009 album "Turn It Up".

Notes

External links

• A sing-along version of Jack and Jill and its illustrated lyrics