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Jack is an English hero and archetypal stock character appearing in multiple legends, fairy tales, and nursery rhymes. Folktales about Jack date back to 15th century England, but have since spread to other countries through English migration and colonialism. Appalachia in particular has a tradition of Jack tales, often told through folk songs.
Folklorist Carl Lindahl writes that stories about Jack go as far back as the 15th century with the English story "Jack and His Step-Dame", a story about Jack getting revenge on his stepmother who beats him. Jack folktales from the 16th and 17th centuries such as "Jack and the Giants" gave Jack a more heroic role by having him kill giants. By the 18th century, Jack became a common name in folktales as well as nursery rhymes, such as "Jack and Jill", "Jack Horner", and "Jack Sprat". [1]
Stories about Jack spread to Scotland and Ireland, appearing as Jock in Robert Chambers's Popular Rhymes of Scotland and as Jake in Gaelic stories. In particular, the Scottish Travelers are prolific tellers of Jack stories in the modern era. [2] Duncan Williamson, a Scottish Traveler and storyteller, described Jack as a "local folk hero" to the Travelers. After fifty years of collecting folk tales, Williamson collected hundreds of stories involving Jack. [3] English colonialism further spread Jack stories to the Caribbean: in the Bahamas, Jack appears as the most popular human character, while in some Jamaican traditions, Jack is used not as a character, but as a figure listening to the story, with stories ending with the phrase "Jack Mantora, me no choose any", meaning "By Jack Mandora [listening at heaven’s gate], don’t blame me for the tale I’ve just told." [4] English migration also spread Jack tales to Newfoundland; many stories in Folktales of Newfoundland (1996) by folklorists Herbert Halpert and J. D. A. Widdowson have Jack as the protagonist. [5]
"Jack tales" are present in Appalachian folklore. [6] [7] In the Appalachian Jack tales, where the English original would feature a king or other noble, the Appalachian Jack tale version would have a sheriff.[ citation needed ] Appalachian folklorist and singer Jane Gentry wrote several "old Jack, Will, and Tom tales", in which Jack seeks adventure with his older brothers Will and Tom, and Jack succeeds in passing the trials laid out for them. Many of Gentry's stories were published in 1925 by Isabel Gordon Carter. [8] In his 1943 book The Jack Tales, American folklorist Richard Chase collected many popular Appalachian Jack tales as told by descendants of a man named Council Harmon (1803–1896), whose grandfather Cutliff Harmon (1748–1838) was believed by Chase to have brought the Jack tales to America. [9] [10] In the Appalachian tradition, Jack tales are handed down to each generation in the same way that folk songs are. [11] Herbert Halpert writes that the origin of English folktale in America may be English, Irish, or Scottish stories, or a combination of the three. [12] The Jack Tales were compiled in a period when American intellectuals sought to define a national folk hero. [13] One notable descendant of Council Harmon known for the telling of Jack Tales was Ray Hicks, whose relatives continue to keep the oral tradition alive. [14] The Harmon-Hicks family are also known for their unique repertoire of traditional British folk ballads. [15]
Jack is generally portrayed as a young adult. Unlike moralizing fairy heroes, Jack is often thievish, lazy or foolish, but emerges triumphant through wit and trickery, resembling the trickster or rebel archetypes. In "Jack and his Step-Dame", Jack uses a variety of magical tools to punish his cruel stepmother, including a spell that causes her to fart whenever she looks angrily at Jack. Lindahl writes that "obscene and scatological elements" were part of the tradition of Jack tales. [16]
Folklorist Martin Lovelace listed several traits of Jack in the Newfoundland tradition, such as being wary of trusting others, having a desire to work and be useful, being adept at using deceitful words, and refusing to flinch. Lovelace attributes these traits to the difficult lives of the working class in Newfoundland, with young children going out to work and being "maltreated by stepmothers or farmer's wives who load them with tasks, starve them, and spy on them." Lovelace compares Jack to historian G.R. Quaife's description of English peasants from 1500 to 1800, both having difficult childhoods that lead them to be short-tempered and prone to violence. [17] Halpert and Widdowson write that Jack is normally good-natured, though cheeky, and able to stoically take abuse, but once he is able to outwit his tormentors, he becomes vengeful and cruel, punishing those who abused their power over him. Jack acts as a "people's champion", giving an outlet for people who feel wronged by injustice. Halpert and Widdowson also write that Jack is, above all else, an achiever, who is able to succeed against unlikely odds and despite the expectations of other people. In stories where Jack has older brothers, Jack attempts tasks where his brothers failed and succeeds despite being mocked for making the attempt. [18]
Chase distinguishes the Appalachian version of Jack from the English, writing that he has "the easy-going, unpretentious rural American manners that make him so different from his English cousin, the cocksure, dashing young hero of the 'fairy tale'". [19]
Some of the stories feature Jack's older brothers Will and Tom, such as in Jane Gentry's stories. According to Duncan Williamson, in stories where Jack had brothers, he was always the youngest brother. [3] Lovelace wrote that in the Newfoundland tradition, Jack was typically the youngest of three brothers and his brothers were often treacherous, with the phrase "you can't trust your brother" being told in one story. [20]
The notional "Jack" corresponds with the German Hans (or Hänsel) and the Russian Ivan the Fool. [21] Some Jack tales feature themes that appear to originate from Germanic folk tales.[ citation needed ]
Halpert and Widdowson gave a list of common elements of Jack tales from Newfoundland they observed, including an unpromising hero, a meeting with a future bride, an encounter with an adversary, assistance from a human or supernatural entity, and accomplishing a task or quest, though they state that some elements are optional. The quest is usually a journey or voyage. [22]
