General Information abut Item:

• Rhyme
• Ritual
• Children
• American
• English

Informant data:

• Mollie McGorisk was born on March 7, 1998 in Detroit Michigan. She attended a large public school that was a part of the Detroit public school program. She has one older brother and one younger brother and lives with her parents. She has played soccer her entire life and has been actively involved in other sports teams like basketball. She likes the stay active and get involved with art. She currently attends Dartmouth College and is in the class of 2020. She is interested in majoring in engineering and physics.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context:
  • When Mollie was recalling her story, she started to think of home and all the great traditions that she did as a child. For her, this nursery rhyme was a tradition. It was passed down from generation to generation. Her parents taught her the nursery rhyme Jack be Nimble. When Mollie was telling me this story she became happy and sad at the same time. She “loves sharing this tradition with other people because it gives [her] joy to bring people into her life.” When Mollie performs this nursery rhyme it is not just sung, but it is acted out. Every week or so her mom would read her this nursery rhyme before bed. Instead of just singing it to her, her mom would set up a candle and Mollie would jump over the candle and into bed Mollie jumped over the candle stick multiple time before going to bed and the final jump would land her in bed and her mom would tuck her into sleep. When Mollie grew up it was her turn to teach this action to her younger brother and when he grows up it is his duty to tell this nursery rhyme to his younger cousins.
• Cultural Context:
  • All in all, Mollie’s nursery rhyme, Jack be Nimble, reminded her of her childhood and the relationship between her mom and her brothers. This nursery rhyme made Mollie think of her home and the traditions that she used to be a part of as a child and that have stopped over the years. She hopes to bring this nursery rhyme and the tradition of jumping over the candle to her family in the future.

Item:

“Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, jack jump over the candle stick”

Associated Item:

Collector’s Comments:

Molly seemed to get happy when sharing this story. She kept saying how she loved this nursery rhyme and how it brought great memories to her. I think that this since this was part of her nightly traditions it was hard for her to let go. Also, as she grew older and didn’t need a story before bed she grew out of this tradition and forgot about it until I asked about her childhood nightly rituals. This is considered a tradition because it was passed from mother to daughter and brother.

Collected by: Avery Schuldt