"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:

Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over
The candlestick

Origins and meaning

The rhyme is first recorded in a manuscript of around 1815 A.D. 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

Jack tales
English nursery rhymes
English poems
English folk songs
English children's songs
Traditional children's songs
Songs about fictional male characters