THIS is the house that Jack built.
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.
This is the cat that killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.
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.
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.
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.
This is the cock that crowed in the morn
That waked 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.
This is the farmer sowing his corn
That kept the cock that crowed in the morn
That waked 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 House That Jack Built’ first appeared in 1755, in Nurse Truelove’s New Year’s Gift, or The Book of Books for Children, its relentlessly cumulative verses inspired by a Hebrew hymn in the Jewish book of rituals Sepher Haggadah.
This rhyme has been used ever since as a memory-improving device but also to remind children that everything has a consequence. Each part of the ever-expanding list is dependent on the last, just as in For Want of a Nail. The series of events also builds up a picture of English country life during the eighteenth century – clearly quite action-packed in Jack’s neck of the woods. To this day, the rhyme’s refrain is used as a derogatory term for any badly designed or built property, the phrase the house that Jack built – Jack generally being a lazy fellow in English folklore – evoking an image of something that is about to fall down.