Editing Jack Sprat

{{short description|English nursery rhyme}}
{{about|the nursery rhyme|the character in the works of Jasper Fforde|Jack Spratt (fictional detective)|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name      = Jack Sprat
| cover     = Jack Sprat and his wife by Frederick Richardson.jpg
| alt       =
| caption   = Jack Sprat and his wife by [[Frederick Richardson]]
| type      = [[Nursery rhyme]]
| written   =
| published = 1639
| writer    = Appeared in John Clarke's collection of sayings
| composer  =
| lyricist  =
}}
"'''Jack Sprat'''" (or "'''Jack Spratt'''") is an [[English language]] [[nursery rhyme]]. It has a [[Roud Folk Song Index]] number of 19479.

==Rhyme==
The most common modern version of the rhyme is:<ref name=Opie1997>{{cite book | last1 = Opie | first1 = I. | last2 = Opie | first2 = P. | title = The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes | publisher = Oxford University Press | orig-year = 1951 | edition = 2nd | year = 1997 | page = 238 | author-link1 = Iona Opie | author-link2 = Peter Opie }}</ref>

{{poemquote|
Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean.
And so between them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.
}}

==Origins==
The name "Jack Sprat" was used of people of small stature in the 16th century.<ref name=Opie1997/> This rhyme became an English [[proverb]] from at least the mid-17th century.<ref name=Opie1997/> It appeared in John Clarke's collection of sayings in 1639 in the form:<ref name=Opie1997/>

{{poemquote|
Jack will eat not fat, and Jull doth love no leane.
Yet betwixt them both they lick the dishes cleane.
}}

Like many nursery rhymes, "Jack Sprat" may have originated as a satire on a public figure. History writer Linda Alchin suggests that Jack was [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]], who was left "lean" when parliament denied him taxation, but with his queen [[Henrietta Maria of France|Henrietta Maria]] he was free to "lick the platter clean" after he dissolved parliament—Charles was a notably short man.<ref name="Alchin">{{cite book |last1=Alchin |first1=Linda |title=Secret History of Nursery Rhymes |date=2004 |isbn=9780956748621 |page=55|publisher=Linda Alchin }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Stroud |first1=Angus |title=Stuart England |date=1999 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415206525 |chapter=The Accession of Charles 1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/stuartengland0000stro }}</ref> An alternative explanation comes from the popular [[Robin Hood]] legend, applying it to the disliked [[John, King of England|King John]] and his greedy queen [[Isabella of Angouleme|Isabella]].<ref name="Alchin"/>

The saying entered the canon of English nursery rhymes when it was printed in ''[[Mother Goose's Melody]]'' around 1765, but it may have been adopted for use with children much earlier.<ref name=Opie1997/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Jack tales]]
[[Category:English folk songs]]
[[Category:English children's songs]]
[[Category:Traditional children's songs]]
[[Category:Songs about fictional male characters]]
[[Category:English nursery rhymes]]