Okay, okay...I know...this obsession with rhymes surely has to end somewhere! If I tell you that I MUST write about these phrases that "pop" into my head, what does that say for my state of mind? Oh well...here goes:
"Jack & Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down & broke his crown & Jill came tumbling after" (I am supposed to at this point give credit to the original author but I don't know who that is. It's not me. Can we leave it at that?)
Poor Jack & Jill, there they are in a heap at the bottom of that hill. What the heck happened? It makes me think of a married couple...trudging along in their lives, working together towards a common goal when life deals them a wicked blow. One or both struggle with a severe problem & lose the way. They both fall. It's a mess. Divorce, sick children, death of parents/sibling/friend, long term illness, accident, loss of job, cut in pay, or, even (believe it or not), great success, prosperity, fame... the list is endless. Whatever the cause, their common purpose & togetherness is lost.
I don't know what "the rest of the story" was for Jack & Jill. I do know there is help & hope for the rest of us. That hope arrives in the person of Jesus Christ. There is no mess too big or problem too small that He does not care about. Do you need help today? Just ask Him. What...you don't know Him? Just ask about that too.
Wow i never thought about it I like your theory better but I came up with who the earliest known.
ReplyDeleteWhile the true origins of the rhyme are unknown, there are several theories. The earliest publication of the lyrics was in the 1760s[2] in John Newbery's Mother Goose's Melody.[3] As a result, Jack and Jill are considered part of the canon of "Mother Goose" characters.
And here is my favorite supposed meaning, well before yours ;)
Jack is Cardinal Wolsey (c.1471–1530); and Gill is Bishop Tarbes who attempted to arrange the marriage of Mary Tudor to the French king. Their failure to negotiate this peace with France led to tax raises and thus the Jack and Jill protest song.[4]