Oh what a good boy am i
'Little Jack Horner' : NPR
Reason Behind the Rhyme: 'Little Jack Horner' Host Debbie Elliott and Chris Roberts dissect the meaning of the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner." It's about a real estate swindle in 16th-century England. Roberts is the author of Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme.
Heard on All Things Considered
Reason Behind the Rhyme: 'Little Jack Horner'
Host Debbie Elliott and Chris Roberts dissect the meaning of the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner." It's about a real estate swindle in 16th-century England. Roberts is the author of Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme .
DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Debbie Elliott.
You think the real estate market is treacherous today, try England in the late 1530s. That's what the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner" is really all about.
(Soundbite of music)
ELLIOTT: Here to explain is our London librarian Chris Roberts. He's the author of "Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme," and he's at our London bureau.
Hello again, Chris.
Mr. CHRIS ROBERTS (Author, "Heavy Words Lightly Thrown"): Hello. Hi, Debbie.
ELLIOTT: So who was Little Jack Horner?
Mr. ROBERTS: Little Jack Horner was actually Thomas Horner. The name Jack comes up in nursery rhymes a lot, usually to reflect a slightly knavish character, a bit of a ne'er-do-well. So I suspect that's why they changed his name to Jack from Thomas.
(Reading) `Little Jack Horner sat in a corner eating his Christmas pie. He stuck in a thumb and pulled out a plum and said, "What a good boy am I."'
Where to begin with this? This is talking about the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII taking property from the Catholic Church.
Jack, as we know, is actually called Thomas Horner. Now he was a steward to the Abbot of Glastonbury during the reign of Henry VIII. This is how the story goes: He was entrusted to take some title deeds of properties to Henry VIII as a bribe so the abbot could keep the main monastery, but was prepared to give away some of the lesser properties.
Now the title deeds were held and sealed in a pie, and Jack's off to London. But instead of delivering the bribe to Henry VIII, he helps himself to the pie, puts his hand in, pulls out a plum piece of real estate--in this case, a place called Mells Manor--and thinks he's very clever for doing this. That's one version of it, that Jack is a thief and he's stealing the bribe that's intended for the king. And he...
ELLIOTT: So was this common? Is there historical evidence to support the theory that bribes were often delivered in pies?
Mr. ROBERTS: It comes up bewilderingly often in nursery rhyme.
And it's--I think the pie is used as a metaphor. I think it's not necessarily what we would think of as a pie. It's just referring to a means of concealing a document, concealing anything. It could be jewels in some cases. Now the Horner family, who incidentally lived in Mells Manor until the 20th century, are quite outraged at this slander of their ancestor and understandably so.
And there are actually two rhymes that mention Mr. Horner. The first one that mentions him is: `Hopton(ph), Horner, Smith and Finn, when the abbots went out, they came in.' And a much more likely reading of what happened is that Thomas Horner, along with the other people mentioned in the previous rhyme--Hopton and Smith and Finn--were up-and-coming gentry. They were Protestant, they were local merchants doing quite well for themselves in the area around Glastonbury, and that they bought the property. You could see it as an early example of gentrification.
They bought the property at the time admittedly at a knockdown rate, and admittedly the land had been stolen from the Catholic Church by Henry VIII. This seems to be what happened after the dissolution of the monasteries. The king didn't keep all the land for himself; he distributed it amongst his supporters so he then could rely on their loyalty should anything occur in the future, should there be a rebellion in the future. I suspect, though I can't prove this, that the popular `Little Jack Horner sat in a corner, eating his Christmas pie' version is actually the Catholic take on proceedings there.
ELLIOTT: Chris Roberts is the author of "Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme," and he's a librarian at Lambeth College in South London.
Thank you, Chris.
Mr. ROBERTS: Thank you, Debbie.
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Little Jack Horner/Little Miss Muffet (Medley)
The Nursery Rhymes Collections 1-4 contain a total of 277 children's songs. Each double CD album showcases the highest quality children's music ever recorded with a total playing time in excess of 10 hours!
Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner
Eating his Christmas pie,
He stuck in his thumb
And pulled out a plum and said
"What a good boy am I
What a good boy am I"
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on her tuffet,
Eating her curd and whey;
Along came a spider,
And sat down beside her,
Frightened Miss Muffet away, oh yeah
Frightened Miss Muffet away
Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner
Eating his Christmas pie,
He stuck in his thumb
And pulled out a plum and said
"What a good boy
What a good boy
What a good boy am I"
Words: Traditional
Music: Ian J Watts
Origin and background
We have joined together 2 historical nursery rhymes to one song: Little Jack Horner and Little Miss Muffet.
Both rhymes sound similar and both rhymes use the same metre. Ian J Watts has set the new songs to music.
The first part of "Little Jack Horner" is about a boy eating Christmas pie. He sticks his fingers into the pie and pulls out a plum which is very naughty of course but the boy seems to be pleased with himself and says: "What a good boy am I." So far so good but the rhyme seems a bit pointless. There must be another meaning because if these lines were pure nonsense they certainly would have disappeared at some time.
This is a possible explanation: Little Jack Horner refers to the secretary of the Bishop of Glastboury, Richard Whiting (1461 - 1539). The bishop was concerned about the expropriation of the monasteries arranged by Henry VIII. We mentioned him before, King Henry VIII, the father of Mary I Tudor, who was kept back from the thrown due to one of the many marriages of her father and became Queen of England later on, trying to restore Roman Catholism in England (see Mary, Mary quite contrary).
But back to the bishop and his worries regarding the menacing expropriation of Glastboury. To forestall the threat of expropriation, he sent his secretary (Jack Horner) to King Henry VIII, with a cake, in which the deeds of manors were baked in. The most valuable of these documents, the Manor of Mells, is the plum, which he pulled out of the cake.
However, Richard Whiting failed and was accused of treachery because he did not officially abondan Catholism. Jack Horner was called as a witness when the trial took place and he incriminated the Bishop. At the end of the trial Jack Horner was given the Manor of Mells and his family remained owner of the estate up to the 20th century. There is another Nursery Rhyme dealing with the subject:
Hopton, Horner, Smith and Finn,
when the abbots went out, they came in.
This is another proof that there might be some truth within the legend. Horner stands in a row with a series of commercially successful Protestants: Hopton, Smith and Finn.
All of them purchased land at a very low price after it has been taken away from the Catholic Church.
Next Song
Lyrics of the song Red mold - I'm a good lad translation, lyrics, video, clip
Song about me
And I play, I score
I smoke and sing songs
Song about me
I'm a good boy though I masturbate
I like to listen to music, smoke joints and hang around
Song about me
I am a good boy
La la - la la la
La la - la la la
La la - la la la
La la - la la la
I am a good boy
Sometimes I take a cat by the tail
And throw it out the window
And watch her fly down from high
I am a good boy
La la - la la la
I have a girlfriend
We play with her, and sometimes she takes
from me I love her for it
And when I spread her legs
I see one big beautiful girlfriend
La la - la la la
Feet up, feet up
And me between them
La la - la la la
La la - la la la
I like to smoke marijuana
La la - la la la
I am a good boy
I am pulling out the White Sea
spitting tobacco out of her
And I put weed in it
I am a good boy
La la - la la la
I like to smoke marijuana and fuck with my girlfriend
La la - la la la
Although I'm small, I'll give dad a head start
La la - la la la
My dad is only twenty years old
But in a year he will become a grandfather
La la - la la la
I am a good boy
And it's a good song
La la - la la la
La la - la la la
La la - la la la
La la - la la la la la la
And Dasha likes to take from me
Let's score
Let's spread
La la - la la la
La la - la la la
In the head not la la
Legs to the sides
I'm coming to you baby
I am a good boy
Come on, come on, come on
What a good song
And now to the beat of the music
Wave, la la
La la - la la la
La la - la la la
When I take a joint
I set it on fire, I breathe smoke
Mom and dad don't understand anything
And I'm a good boy
I am a good boy
I should go to sleep
But not alone, I have a lot of girlfriends
Who listen to this song
And they also score
Also smoking and spreading
Come on come on
Afroculture is alien and dangerous,
Her propaganda is damaging.
Native Earth will be beautiful,
If we stop the multi-racial nonsense!
Chorus - 2Р.
Song about me
And I play, I score
I smoke and sing songs
Song about me
I'm a good boy
I love listening to music, smoking shoals and hanging around
Song about me
I am a good boy
La la la la la
La la la la la
Sometimes I take a cat by the tail
And throw it out the window
And watch her fly high down
I am a good boy
La la la la la
I have a girlfriend
We play with her, and sometimes she takes from me
I love her for that
And when I spread her legs 9
I see one big beautiful girlfriend
La la la la la
La la la la la
I am a good boy
I pull out the white sea
Spitting tobacco out of her
And I hammer grass in it
I am a good boy
La la la la la anasha and fucking with my girlfriend
La la la la la
Although I'm small, I'll give Dad a head start 9
La la la la la
My dad is only twenty years old
But in a year he will become a grandfather
La la la la la
La la la la la
La la la la la
La la - la la la la la la la
And Dasha likes to take from me la
In my head not la la
Legs to the sides
I'm coming to you baby
I am a good boy
Come on come on come on come on
What a nice song
And now to the beat of the music
Swing, la la
La la la la la
La la la la la I take a joint
Set it on fire, breathe smoke
Mom and Dad don't understand anything
I'm a good boy
I am a good boy
I have to go to sleep
But not one, I have a bunch of girlfriends
Who listen to this song
And they also clog
Smoke and push too
Come on, come on
Afro-culture is alien and dangerous
Her propaganda is harmful.
Native Land will be beautiful
If we stop the multiracial ravings!
Chorus - 2P.
Who knows whose song this is? "A song about me...
Germany.ru → Forums → Boards Archive→ Music
Who knows what song this is? "A song about me...
298
Natusik guest 08.12.03 12:41
08.12.03 12:41
... I am a good boy, I like to listen to music. Come on, come on."
It's "Hands Up" or maybe DJ Groove, I can't remember anything.
#1
kostavan guest 08.12.03 13:39
NEW 08.12.03 13:39
in reply Natusik 08.
12.03 12:41
99% sure they are
If you don't know what to say, it's better to keep silent.
Es wird schlimmer als es ist, doch wir werden besser, wenn die Zeit gekommen ist, dann wetzen wir die Messer.
#2
Nikiskov familiar face 08.12.03 17:02
NEW 08.12.03 17:02
in reply Natusik 08.12.03 12:41
Of course, hands up!
Their first album!
!!!Disa!!!
#3
Super-DJ visitor 09.12.03 09:48
NEW 09.12.03 09:48
in reply to Natusik 08.12.03 12:41
Hands Up - "Kid"
#4
SVOIYAK passerby 14:12.0 NEW 14.12.03 11:30
in reply to Super-DJ 09.12.03 09:48
D/J/Gruv.
..of course...one hundred pounds...
If I'm wrong...correct me
#5
Saschok13 passer-by 14.12.03 17:41
New 14.12.03 17:41
In response to Natusik 08.12.03 12:41
100% of the hand up, Solo album "Baby"
#6
Edil Visitor 14.12.03 19:42
NEW 14.12.03 19:42
in reply Saschok13 14.12.03 17:41
u krasnoj pleseni tosche takoe estj
___________
---> www.dieb.matthias-scheller.net/eng/?id=5 <319560 --- dawite
#7
Natusik guest 12/15/03 14:45
NEW 12/15/03 2:45
in reply Super-DJ 12/09/03 09:48
Thank you all for your answers!
What I was looking for is really "Hands Up" - "Baby", I'm sitting rocking e╦ with Grammy.
Only this is definitely not their first album, the very first I have, and there is no this song.
#8
Chuk guest 12/15/03 20:28
NEW 15.12.03 20:28
in reply to Natusik 15.12.03 14:45
"What is the question, such is the answer."
#9
Natusik guest 12/18/03 09:57
NEW 12/18/03 09:57
in reply Chuk 12/15/03 20:28
find, every time I return to the link again when Die Seite nicht gefunden, and I hammer it until I find it. The speed is really not so hot, and sometimes it happens that there are a couple of seconds left until the end of the song download, and the connection is cut off.
