Jack was actually John Horner, steward to Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey before the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII of England.
Legend has it that, prior to the Abbey's destruction, the Abbot sent Horner to London with a huge Christmas pie which had the deeds to a dozen manors hidden within it. During the journey Horner opened the pie and extracted the deeds of the Manor of Mells, Somerset.
The manor properties included lead mines in the Mendip Hills, hence "He pulled out a plum" from the latin (plumbum) for lead.
While records do indicate that Thomas Horner became the owner of the manor, both his descendants and subsequent owners of Mells Manor have claimed that the legend is untrue.
A 16th-century rhyme noted:
"Hopton, Horner, Smyth and Thynne: When Abbotts went out, they came in."
The first publication date for "Little Jack Horner" is 1725, but all the common English nursery rhymes were long in circulation before they appeared in print.
Morgana West
