Jack and Jill

"Jack and Jill" (sometimes "Jack and Gill", particularly in earlier versions) is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the commonest tune and its variations as number 10266, although it has been set to several others. The original rhyme dates back to the 18th century and different numbers of verses were later added, each with variations in the wording. Throughout the 19th century new versions of the story were written featuring different incidents. A number of theories continue to be advanced to explain the rhyme’s historical origin. Text The earliest version of the rhyme was in a reprint of John Newbery's Mother Goose's Melody, thought to have been first published in London around 1765. The rhyming of "water" with "after" was taken by Iona and Peter Opie to suggest that the first verse might date from the 17th century.<ref>The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, OUP 1997, pp.265-7</ref> Jill was originally spelled Gill in the earliest version of the rhyme and the accompanying woodcut showed two boys at the foot of the hill. Later the spelling was changed to Jill and more verses were added to carry the story further, of which the commonest are: As presented over the following century, the rhyming scheme of the six-line stanzas is AABCCB and they are trochaic in rhythm. Alternatively, when given the form of internally rhymed quatrains, this would be an example of the ballad form commonly used for nursery rhymes.