Jack a Nory
England Lyrics
I'll tell you a story
About Jack a Nory,
And now my story's begun;
I'll tell you another
Of Jack and his brother,
And now my story is done.
About Jack a Nory,
And now my story's begun;
I'll tell you another
Of Jack and his brother,
And now my story is done.
History and Meaning
This rhyme creates a sense of expectation that is immediately dashed, serving as a playful way for storytellers to signal the end of a storytelling session. It dates to around 1760, first appearing in "The Top Book of All, for little Masters and Misses." The rhyme was designed to discourage persistent requests for more stories from children, effectively ending the narrative in a lighthearted manner when the storyteller was tired. The phrase "Jackanory" gained wider recognition in 1965 when the BBC launched a popular children's television series of the same name, which ran until 1996 and made "jackanory" Cockney rhyming slang for "story."