This Is the House That Jack Built

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"This Is the House That Jack Built" is a popular British nursery rhyme, first popularized by Randolph Caldecott. It tells the story of Jack, who builds a house.

1 Rhyme
2 References in popular culture
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Rhyme

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 judge 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 rooster that crowed in the morn

That waked the judge 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 planting his corn

That kept the rooster that crowed in the morn

That waked the judge 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!

Some versions use cheese in place of malt.

[edit] References in popular culture

This popular poem has inspired countless variations and parodies.

The poem "The responsibility" by Peter Appleton is a direct parady of this rhyme,making a social comment on who really is to blame for the manafacture of weapons.

One of the "Political Miscellanies" associated with the Rolliad was "This Is the House That George Built", referring to George Nugent Grenville, Marquess of Buckingham who had briefly supported William Pitt the Younger into government before resigning from office.
A children's book "parody" of the nursery rhyme called The House That Crack Built (ISBN 0-8118-0123-3), shows drug lords in Colombia making crack and its effect on people. It follows the same format of repetitious lyrics as the original rhyme.
A television ad for a financial institution had a variant on this poem, using an alternative meaning of "jack", a slang term for "money".^{[citation needed]}
General Electric, which saw a revival under Jack Welch, has frequently been referred to as "The House That Jack Built".
The news stories in 2006 about the shady dealings of lobbyist Jack Abramoff led to editorials about "the house that Jack built".^[1]
Aretha Franklin had a top-ten pop and R&B hit single with "The House That Jack Built" (not a version of the rhyme) in 1968
English singer Tracie Young had a hit single with "The House That Jack Built" (not a version of the rhyme) in 1983
In 1987 a pioneering house music act under the name Jack N Chill released a single called "The Jack That House Built". On re-release a year it made the UK top ten.
In 1996 Metallica released the album Load with a song on it called "The House Jack Built".
A cartoon short created by Walt Disney had two jazzed versions of "The House That Jack Built" and "Old McDonald Had a Farm".