Jacky, Come Give Me Your Fiddle Lyrics
Someone asks Jacky for his fiddle and he refuses, point blank. Of all the rhymes about music, this one is the most stubborn, and the most loving.
Jacky, Come Give Me Your Fiddle
"Jacky, come give me your fiddle,
If ever you mean to thrive."
"Nay, I'll not give my fiddle
To any man alive.
Jacky's answer
"If I should give my fiddle
They'll think that I'm gone mad,
For many a joyful day
My fiddle and I have had."
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/jacky-come-give-me-your-fiddle/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Traditional
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
What Does Jacky, Come Give Me Your Fiddle Mean?
A fiddle is a violin. Someone asks Jacky to hand over his fiddle, and says he will do well in life if he does. Jacky will not give it to anyone alive. If he did, people would think he had gone mad, because he and his fiddle have had so many happy days together.
It is a good rhyme to talk about treasured things: a favorite toy, a blanket, a book that a child would never give away.
History and Origin
Halliwell printed a version in the 1840s, using the older words "thy fiddle" and "thou". The text here is from the Mother Goose edited by Eulalie Osgood Grover, which modernized it to "your". Fiddle playing was the heart of village dances and fairs, and a good fiddler was always popular.
Learning Activities
- Treasured things: ask children which of their things they would never give away, and why.
- Listen to a fiddle: play a short piece of folk fiddle music and let children dance.
- Make an instrument: stretch rubber bands over an open box to make a simple string instrument.