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The House That Jack Built
Spoken Voice and Tambourine: Douglas Milne
From the TwinkleTrax album "Vol. 1: A Sailor Went To Sea - 20 Favourite Nursery Rhymes and Kid's Songs"
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This is the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
And this is the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
And this is the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
And this is the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built
This is the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
And this is the priest all shaven and shorn,
That married the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
And this is the cock that crowed in the morn,
That woke the priest all shaven and shorn,
That married the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
And this is the farmer sowing his corn,
That kept the cock that crowed in the morn,
That woke the priest all shaven and shorn,
That married the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
The earliest known publication of this cumulative nursery rhyme was in "Nurse Truelove's New-Year's-Gift, or the Book of Books for Children", printed by John Newberry in London in 1755.
The rhyme may be derived from a Aramaic hymn, "Chad Gadya" (lit., "One Young Goat") in "Sepher Haggadah", first printed in 1590. Although this is an early cumulative tale that may have inspired the form, the lyrics bear little relationship. It has been suggested that the English version is probably very old, presumably as far back as the mid-sixteenth century.
The actual "house that Jack built" is reputed to be Cherrington Manor, a handsome timber-framed house in North East Shropshire, England, built in the early 17th century. To reinforce the theory that it is Jack's house, there is a former malt house in the grounds where the rats enjoyed the malt that lay in the house that Jack built, and being a rural area there must at one time have been a cow with a crumpled horn and even a maiden all forlorn.
Origins text ©2011 TwinkleTrax Children's Songs.