Jack Horner
☞ Public‐domain character. Folkloric. First appearance in print, “Namby Pamby : or, A Panegyric on the New Verſification,” 1725.
Jack Horner is, by most accounts, an English lad who uses his thumb to extract a plum from a pie. He later becomes a sort of heroic trickster who slays a giant, punishes dishonest people by using his coat of invisibility and his magic bagpipes and then goes on to have a number of further adventures over the next few centuries. (Says one chapbook, “Whene’er he took a ſword in hand, / He made his foes to bleed.”) His most frequent association is with pie, which he is carrying, if not eating, or which is at least mentioned, in nearly every appearance. The chapbook The Pleaſant Hiſtory of Jack Horner seems to make the claim that he is the same man as Jack the Giant‐Killer as well as the Jack who is attested in “Jack and His Step‐dame,” and possibly also Tom Thumb. In the world described in two texts from the 1890s, he is a monkey that lives and works on a sailing ship; in the world of Boy Blue and His Friends, he is an American boy whose real name is Jack Horne; and in the world of Mother Mongoose’s Nursery Crimes, he is a ghoulish cannibal.
Jack Horner is “A pretty boy, a curious wit” who is “proper, ſtrait, and trim.” Many young women fall in love with him, and “All people ſpoke his praiſe” (Hiſtory of Jack Horner).
Numerous traits and accomplishments ascribed to Jack Horner in the chapbook The Hiſtory of Jack Horner mirror those of Jack in “Jack and His Step‐dame” as well as Jack the Giant‐Killer and even Tom Thumb, and thereafter are almost entirely ignored. Despite Jack’s numerous appearances in public‐domain literature, his coat of invisibility, his magic bagpipes and the wife he takes are not mentioned in any subsequent text but for rare retellings of these early adventures. He is described in three chapters as being only thirteen inches tall (although some of the accompanying woodcuts seem to depict him as a young man of normal height), but this trait is entirely absent from later stories. From the middle of the 19th century, he is rarely depicted in any way other than as a child, often living in a fantasyland among other nursery‐rhyme personages.
By some point in the middle to late 18th century, yet said to be by the time he is twenty, Jack is living with a knight and serving as his page “To yield him much delight” (Hiſtory of Jack Horner). A source from the late 18th century suggests that Jack may have apprenticed to a minced‐pie maker (Mother Goose’s Melody), something not confirmed by other sources.
Origin. Family. The nursery rhyme wherein Jack Horner first appears tells nothing of his origin other than that he is a boy, presumably English (“Little Jack Horner”). The Hiſtory of Jack Horner confirms that he lives “Near London,” and an 1899 text specifies he was born in Islington (“Pleasant Tale of Jack Horner”). A source from April–June 1818 claims that his ancestry, however, is in the north, saying he is “descended from John Owens Horner, of Manchester county” (“Critical Researches of an Antiquary”). As Jack is commonly a nickname for John, a number of texts unsurprisingly refer to him as John Horner, apparently his real name. A text from 1906, however, says his real name is Jack Horne and that he is an American boy born on Christmas Day (Boy Blue and His Friends: ch. [13]—“Jack Horner’s Pie”), an unlikely scenario as his earliest adventures predate the 1776 founding of the United States.
His parents are Mr. and Mrs. Horner, who appear in a few texts but whose given names are not revealed. An 1897 text asserts that Jack is an orphan being raised by his poor grandparents—Grandma and Grandpa Horner, apparently his father’s parents—“in an old tumble‐down house at the edge of a big wood” (“What Jack Horner Did”), but this is contradicted by other texts wherein Jack’s parents are alive and well. By most accounts, Jack has an excellent relationship with his parents. “His Father’s heart he made full glad,” notes the narration in The Hiſtory of Jack Horner, and “His Mother lov’d him well.” A 1915 text claims that Jack is the brother of Tom, the Piper’s Son, and thus by inference that Mr. Horner and the Piper are the same person. That same text portrays Mrs. Horner as a busy suffragette who henpecks her husband and leaves Jack to care for his little sister (New Woman in Mother Goose Land).
In December 1911, Santa Claus asks Jack whether his mother has ever told him not to pick out plums from pies, at which point Mother Goose interjects “Of course I ’ve told him” (“Christmas Conspiracy”). While this could be taken as evidence that Mother Goose is literally Jack Horner’s mother, one must remember that nursery‐rhyme personages are often figuratively said to be Mother Goose’s children. However, this may also be an attempt by the chronicler to link Jack Horner with Mother Goose’s son Jack who appears in her own nursery rhyme (“Old Mother Goose”).
Jack has at least one sister, Patty Horner, who appears in a text that does not say whether she is older or younger than he is (Renowned History of Little Jack Horner). A 1900 text says that Jack has an unnamed older sister (“Discouraging Discovery of Little Jack Horner”) who might conceivably be the same girl as Patty as both are said to bake a pie for Jack. A text from December 1908 says that Jack has three brothers named James, George and Hugh, with Hugh being the youngest, and that they sit in other corners of the same room and eat pie with Jack (“Horner Brothers”). By 1915, Jack has a younger sister called Rockaby Baby. The same text that reveals this also asserts that Tom, the Piper’s Son, is Jack’s brother (New Woman in Mother Goose Land), but this relationship is not mentioned in other texts wherein the two appear together. Jack has an aunt named Mrs. Prim who disciplines him on at least one occasion (“Master Jack Horner”). In one of his early adventures, Jack takes an unnamed wife after slaying the giant Galligantus (Hiſtory of Jack Horner).
An 1834 book makes the bizarre assertion that the original nursery rhyme is not in English but in “Low‐Saxon” and is thus not about Jack Horner at all but about “Jacke Hoornaê,” or Justice Allproper, a greedy and unscrupulous lawyer (Essay on the Archaiology of Popular English Phrases and Nursery Rhymes). As this is the only text to make this claim, and as there is abundant evidence of Jack Horner and his adventures in other texts, it may safely be dismissed as inaccurate.
Pie episode. In 1725 or before, Jack Horner sits in a corner, presumably of his home in England, uses his thumb to pull a plum from a “Chriſtmas‐pie” he is eating and then praises himself therefor (“Namby Pamby” and others). “[W]hat a good Boy am I,” he proclaims (Hiſtory of Jack Horner and others), although sources differ.
According to The Hiſtory of Jack Horner, Jack’s sitting in a corner and pulling plums from a pie is an annual Christmastime tradition of his childhood years. A text from 1897 claims that Grandma Horner bakes him the pie on the day before Christmas to reward him for rescuing a wealthy man from drowning in a bog near their home who, in gratitude, has lavished priceless gifts on Jack and his family (“What Jack Horner Did”). According to a 1900 text, however, it is Jack’s sister who bakes the famous pie, and Jack breaks a tooth on a plum stone accidentally left within it (“Discouraging Discovery of Little Jack Horner”).
The Texts. Locales. The Hiſtory of Jack Horner specifies that Jack lives “Near London,” and his earliest adventures apparently take place in southeastern England; however, many later texts state he instead lives in some fairyland or fantasyland with other nursery‐rhyme figures. As early as 1817, … (Melincourt). According to an 1881 poem, he lives in an unspecified location with Mother Goose before going to live with Santa Claus after Santa proposes to her (“Marriage of Santa Claus”), a situation unmentioned in any subsequent story; in fact, in 1918, Jack contradictorily needs to ride a goose from the land where he lives to get to Santa Claus Land (Luck of Santa Claus). A 1906 book claims he lives with his parents in the United States, but this book contains numerous inconsistencies compared to other sources (Boy Blue and His Friends). In December 1911, St. Nicholas says he lives inside “a huge book of nursery rhymes” in the home of children Harry, Nell, Bobby and Dot (“Christmas Conspiracy”); a 1915 text (New Woman in Mother Goose Land) and a 1918 text (Luck of Santa Claus) say he lives in Mother Goose Land, with an intermediate 1916 text similarly stating he lives in Gooseland (Modern Mother Goose); and in December 1921, The Ladies’ Home Journal claims he lives in Cole’s kingdom (“There Was a Boy Who Lived on Pudding Lane”).
Developments. In 1725 if not earlier, Jack Horner uses his thumb to pull a plum from a pie he is eating and then praises himself therefor (“Little Jack Horner” and others).
Sometime in the 18th century before 1764, Jack dons a goatskin and breaks into the home of a dishonest tailor, terrifying him by pretending to be the Devil. He later has an unusual altercation with his master’s cook Joan in which she hits him on the head with a ladle and he goes under her skirt to bite her on the leg and posterior. A cave‐dwelling hermit gives Jack a coat of invisibility and magical bagpipes that compel anyone who hears them to dance and follow the player, and Jack soon thereafter uses them to punish six fiddlers and six peddlers, whom he believes to be dishonest, by leading them over rough terrain so they tear their coats and trousers and break the possessions they are carrying, and then again when he exposes his friend’s unfaithful wife as having an affair with a neighbor. In a clear conflation with Jack the Giant‐Killer, Jack Horner slays the tremendous fire‐breathing giant Galligantus by using a five‐inch sword and his magic bagpipes, and then marries the daughter of a knight who had proffered her as reward (Hiſtory of Jack Horner).
Sometime before 1829, Jack encounters a beggar while on his way to school and sends her to his home so his mother can give her his leftover pie. So impressed is his mother with his charitable nature that she and his sister Patty Horner bake him a fresh new pie (Renowned History of Little Jack Horner).
In the 1830s or 1840s, Jack again finds himself in a corner when he is punished by his aunt, Mrs. Prim, “Because he would not spell PIE,” possibly suggesting that he is not particularly intelligent (Nursery Rhymes). A variant of this story, however, describes a similar episode as instead involving Jack Jelf (HathiTrust, 1846) (Internet Archive, 1858) (HathiTrust, 1895) (Internet Archive, 1902) and so may have been attributed to Jack Horner in error.
In 1881, … (“Marriage of Santa Claus”).
In 1897, the book Mother Goose in Prose recounts a past adventure wherein Jack rescues a man from drowning in a bog near his home who turns out to be quite wealthy and, in gratitude, lavishes priceless gifts on Jack and his family (“What Jack Horner Did”).
In 1900, the book Mother Goose for Grown‐Ups recounts the original pie episode, but stating that Jack breaks a tooth on a plum stone accidentally left in the pie by his sister (“Discouraging Discovery of Little Jack Horner”).
In December 1904, … (“Message to Mother Goose”).
In 1905 … (Humorous Quartets for Men’s Voices).
In 1906, possibly on a visit to the United States, Jack is punched in the face by a Bryn Mawr alumna while he is standing on a street corner flirting with girls (Mrs. Goose). In another 1906 book that coincidentally also places him in the US, Jack arrives to school late and, in his haste, leaves the door ajar and so is the one responsible for inadvertently letting in Mary’s lamb Fleecy. The “Christmas pie” is actually a fake pie fashioned by his mother for a party at their home, with the “plums” inside being wrapped party favors for the guests. Jack’s plum contains a watch so he would not be late to school again (Boy Blue and His Friends).
In 1910, the book Rimes and Stories recounts the episode wherein Bo‐peep loses her sheep, and claims that Jack Horner and other nursery‐rhyme personages encounter her crying shortly after she has lost the sheep (“Little Bo‐Peep and Her Sheep”).
In December 1911, Jack Horner participates in a lighthearted plot on Christmas Eve to “capture” and confront Santa Claus to ask why he doesn’t bring gifts to nursery‐rhyme children. So confident is Jack that he will get the pie that he wants for Christmas that he gives his old pie to Simple Simon, saying “I picked out all the plums years ago.” Jack indeed receives a new pie from Santa, which is visible thereafter in the book in which the text claims he lives (“Christmas Conspiracy”).
In 1913, Jack Horner is the best man at Jack’s and Jill’s wedding (Marriage of Jack and Jill).
In 1915, Mrs. Horner leaves Jack to care for his little sister, Rockaby Baby, and … (New Woman in Mother Goose Land).
In 1916, Jack is a guest at one of Mistress Mary’s nightly parties on the moon (Modern Mother Goose).
In 1918, Jack Horner flies to Santa Claus Land on the back of one of Mother Goose’s wild geese in order to help her and other nursery‐rhyme personages deliver presents on Christmas Eve after Santa and his reindeer are injured in a sleighing accident (Luck of Santa Claus).
In December 1921, The Ladies’ Home Journal recounts a past adventure wherein Jack is one of the children rescued by Santa Claus after being entranced by the villainous Pied Piper (“There Was a Boy Who Lived on Pudding Lane”).
In 1922, Jack denies ever having pulled a plum from any pie, saying that the nursery rhyme is inaccurate, but it is revealed that the pig stolen by Tom, the Piper’s Son, which had only been taken temporarily as a prank, actually belongs to Jack (Strike Mother Goose Settled). That same year, he is once again one of a group of children to fall victim to the nefarious Pied Piper (Children Who Followed the Piper).
Public‐domain bibliography
“Namby Pamby: or, A Panegyric on the New Verſification Addreſs’d to A⸺ P⸺ Eſq;” (poem), by Henry Carey, 1725. (HathiTrust)
“Little Jack Horner” (nursery rhyme), Mother Gooſe’s Melody: or, Sonnets for the Cradle …, [1772]. (ca. 1785, Internet Archive) (ca. 1785, HathiTrust) (1791, Internet Archive) (1791, HathiTrust) (1794, HathiTrust)
Gammer Gurton’s Garland: Or, The Nursery Parnassus; A Choice Collection of Pretty Songs and Verses, for the Amusement of All Little Good Children Who Can Neither Read nor Run, part 2, 1784. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive)
Tommy Thumb’s Song Book for All Little Masters and Misses, 1788.
The Tom Tit’s Song Book, ca. 1790.
A Christmas Box, music by James Hook, ca. 1797.
“Little Jack Horner: A Favourite Duett or Trio” (musical setting), ca. 1800.
Songs for the Nursery Collected from the Works of the Most Renowned Poets, [illustration by William Marshall Craig,] 1805. (1808, Internet Archive)
Vocal Harmony, or No Song, No Supper, ca. 1806.
Pretty Tales, 1808. “With his two thumbs he took two plums.”
“Horner quidam Johannulus in angulo sedebat,” trans. Charles Lamb, Apr. 1831. Selections from the Poems and Letters of Bernard Barton, ed. Lucy Barton, (Aug.) 1849. (HathiTrust)
The Nursery Rhymes of England, Collected Principally from Oral Tradition, collected by James Halliwell‐Phillipps, 1842. (Internet Archive)
The Royal Infant Opera, Composed Expressly for His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, & Inscribed to Every British Mother, music by Olivia Buckley, [1842?]. (HathiTrust)
Mother Goose; or, National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs, music by James William Elliott, 1872. (HathiTrust)
Humorous Quartets for Men’s Voices, music and additional verse by Lee G. Kratz, 1905. (HathiTrust)
Melodic First Reader, by Frederic H. Ripley and Thomas Tapper, Natural Music Course, 1906. (Internet Archive)
Rhymes Set to Music, vol. 1, music by Herbert Hughes (d. 1937), 1913. (HathiTrust)
Songs from Mother Goose for Voice and Piano, music by Sidney Homer (op. 36), 1919. (Internet Archive)
Pleaſant Hiſtory of Jack Horner: Containing His Witty Tricks, and Pleaſant Pranks, Which He Plaid from His Youth, to His Riper Years; Right Pleaſant and Delightful Both for Winter and Summer’s Recreation, [between ca. 1711 and 1730?], earliest dated edition, 1764. ([1785,] Google Books)
Ca. 1790 edition. (Internet Archive)
The History of Jack Horner …, 1805 ed. with different illustrations. (Google Books)
1810 ed. with different illustrations. (NLS)
1811 ed. with different illustrations. (NLS)
1823 ed. with different illustrations. (NLS)
Reprinted in The Boyd Smith Mother Goose, 1919, two illustrations by E. Boyd Smith. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Collection of the Moſt Approved Entertaining Stories, [rewritten] by Solomon Winlove, 1770.
Reprinted as Little Jack Horner’s Tales and Stories: Calculated for the Inſtruction and Amuſement of All the Little Maſters and Miſſes of This Vaſt Empire, 1785. (OCLC)
“P‐rs‐n H‐tt‐n in View, or Jacky Horner Unkennelled,” The Dr—yt—n Review, or, Characteristic Sketches, pt. 1, by Yorick, 1793. (HathiTrust)
Epigram 22, The Poetical Works of the Rev. Samuel Bishop, A. M. …, vol. 2, 1796. (HathiTrust)
“The Loves of the Triangles: A Mathematical and Philosophical Poem,” canto 1, first installment, by Mr. Higgins (pseudonym of George Canning), The Anti‐Jacobin; or, Weekly Examiner, no. 23, 16 Apr. 1798. (HathiTrust)
“The Natural History of a Batchelor of Arts, an Ironical Oration, Delivered at the Commencement, by John Somers,” The Port Folio, ser. 2, vol. 4, no. 6, 8 Aug. 1807. Fans of Jack Horner. (HathiTrust)
“Plums,” Extracts from the Portfolio of a Man of Letters, by William Taylor?, The Monthly Magazine, vol. 35, no. 3, whole no. 239, Apr. 1813. Jack’s pie was supposedly filled with raisins or currants rather than plums. (HathiTrust)
Letter by Minimus, Fine Arts, The Satirist, or Monthly Meteor, vol. 2, no. 22, May 1814. Description of a (fictional) painting of Jack. (HathiTrust)
A Catalogue Raisonné of the Pictures Now Exhibiting in Pall Mall, pt. 2, item 81, 1816. Jack is apparently a sculptor who works in gingerbread. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Harlequin Horner or The Christmas Pie, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 1816.
Melincourt, ch. 39, “Mainchance Villa,” by Thomas Love Peacock, 1817. (Internet Archive)
“Critical Researches of an Antiquary,” by Quizz, The Portico, vol. 5, nos. 4–6, Apr.–June 1818. (HathiTrust)
Jack Horner’s Pretty Toy, ca. 1820.
Etymologicon universale; or, Universal Etymological Dictionary: On a New Plan; in Which It Is Shewn, That Consonants Are Alone to Be Regarded in Discovering the Affinities of Words, and That the Vowels Are to Be Wholly Rejected; That Languages Contain the Same Fundamental Idea; and That They Are Derived from the Earth, and the Operations, Accidents, and Properties Belonging to It; with Illustrations Drawn from Various Languages: the Teutonic Dialects, English, Gothic, Saxon, German, Danish, &c. &c.—Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish;—the Celtic Dialects, Galic, Irish, Welsh, Bretagne, &c. &c.—the Dialects of Sclavonic, Russian, &c. &c.—the Eastern Languages, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Sanscrit, Gipsey, Coptic, &c. &c., vol. 2, by Walter Whiter, 1822. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Don Juan, by Lord Byron, canto 11, st. 69, (Aug.) 1823. (Internet Archive)
“The Unmaskynge of Johannes Horner,” The Metropolitan Quarterly Magazine, ca. May 1826. (ad only, Internet Archive) (ad only, HathiTrust) (ad only, Google Books)
“The Unmaskynge of Johannes Horner” (query), by N. B., Notes and Queries, ser. 2, vol. 4, no. 84, 8 Aug. 1857. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (Google Books) (oclc)
The Renowned History of Little Jack Horner, [before 1829]. (Internet Archive)
The Amusing History of Little Jack Horner, [1830–32]. (Internet Archive)
Park’s Amusing History of Little Jack Horner, [1840]. (Internet Archive)
“Master Jack Horner” (rhyme), Nursery Rhymes …, [1830–49]. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (Google Books)
An Essay on the Archaiology of Popular English Phrases and Nursery Rhymes, by John Bellenden Ker Gawler, 1834. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Little Jack Horner” (song), by Fanny E. Lacy, [between 1844 and 1851]. (HathiTrust)
“Jack Horner,” Mother Goose for Grown Folks: A Christmas Reading, by Adeline Dutton Train Whitney, 1859. (Internet Archive)
Little Jack Horner, the Original Hero of the Corner; or, The Fairy Cooks of Our Christmas Pie, by William Akhurst , 1860. (synopsis, AustLit)
Harlequin Little Jack Horner, by Robert Soutar, 1864.
Harlequin Little Jack Horner, by H. T. Arden, Astley’s Amphitheatre, 1867.
Harlequin Little Jack Horner; or, The Christmas Pie, and the Fairies of the Silver Ferns, by Walter H. Cooper, 1868. (synopsis, AustLit)
“The Story of Little Boy‐Blue,” by S. B. T., The Nursery, vol. 11, no. 65, 1872. (HathiTrust)
“The True Story of Little Jack Horner,” Little Folks, vol. 2, no. 75, (July?) 1872. (HathiTrust)
Jack in the Box; or, Harlequin Little Tom Tucker and the Three Wise Men of Gotham: Grand Comic Christmas Pantomime, by Edward Litt Laman Blanchard, 1873. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Moonfolk: A True Account of the Home of the Fairy Tales, by Jane G. Austin, illustrated by W. J. Linton, 1874. Jack Horner/Knave of Hearts. (HathiTrust) (1882, Internet Archive)
Slices of Mother Goose, by Alice Parkman, illustrated by James Wells Champney, 1877. (Internet Archive)
“The Marriage of Santa Claus,” The Reading Club and Handy Speaker: Being Serious, Humorous, Pathetic, Patriotic, and Dramatic Selections in Prose and Poetry, for Readings and Recitations, no. 9, ed. George Melville Baker, 1881. (Internet Archive)
“Little Jack Horner,” by Mrs. Mary Johnson, Pollard’s Synthetic Third Reader, ed. Rebecca S. Pollard, 1890. Reprints cite previous publication in The Illustrated Home Journal, but the first issue was in 1896. (HathiTrust)
“Jack Horner,” illustration(s) (only engraved?) by J. R. Chapin, Chatterbox of Pretty Stories, [1897]. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Jack Horner (war novel), by Mary Spear Tiernan, 1890. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“The Mother Goose Carnival,” by Mrs. John D. Thayer, The Ladies’ Home Journal, vol. 9, no. 2, Jan. 1892. (HathiTrust)
“Hop‐o’‐my‐thumb and little Jack Horner” (rhyme), Sing‐Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book, by Christina Rossetti, 1893. (Internet Archive)
Yale Yarns: Sketches of Life at Yale University, by John Seymour Wood, 1895. (Internet Archive)
“Jack Horner and Tabby,” by Mrs. Mary Johnson, Chatterbox of Pretty Stories, [1897]. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Combined as one story with 1890 “Jack Horner” above in some old book, date unknown. (Instagram)
Simple Simon: A Mother Goose Extravaganza, by Robert Ayres Barnet (d. 1933), music by Alfred Baldwin Sloane (d. 1925) and George L. Tracy (d. 1921), 1897. (review, HathiTrust)
“What Jack Horner Did,” Mother Goose in Prose, by L. Frank Baum, 1897. (Internet Archive)
“Christmas Eve at Mother Hubbard’s (A Christmas Play for School or Parlor Entertainment),” by S. J. D., St. Nicholas, vol. 25, no. 3, Jan. 1898. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
The Rhymes of Father Goosie Gander: A Companion and Sequel to Mother Goose Melodies, by Blanche Carpenter Huleatt and Belle Carpenter Sabin, illustrated by Blanche Carpenter Huleatt, 1898. (Internet Archive) (UF)
“The Pleasant Tale of Jack Horner,” The Crock of Gold, by Sabine Baring‐Gould, 1899. (Internet Archive)
“The Discouraging Discovery of Little Jack Horner,” Mother Goose for Grown‐Ups, by Guy Wetmore Carryl, 1900. (Internet Archive)
“Little Jap Horner” (rhyme and political cartoon), by Bob Satterfield, Newspaper Enterprise Association, The Tacoma Times, vol. 1, no. 81, 23 Mar. 1904. (Library of Congress)
“A Message to Mother Goose,” by Ellen Manly, St. Nicholas, vol. 32, no. 2, Dec. 1904. (Internet Archive)
Boy Blue and His Friends, by Etta Austin Blaisdell and Mary Frances Blaisdell, 1906. (Internet Archive)
“Little Jack Horner / Stood on the corner” (rhyme), Mrs. Goose: Her Book, by Maurice Switzer, 1906. (HathiTrust) (with illustration)
“A Dream of Mother Goose,” by J. C. Marchant and S. J. Mayhew, and “A Mother Goose Party,” by G. B. Bartlett, A Dream of Mother Goose and Other Entertainments, 1908. (HathiTrust)
“The Horner Brothers,” by Elizabeth Raymond Woodward, illustrated by A. D. Blashfield, St. Nicholas, vol. 36, no. 2, Dec. 1908. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Mother Goose and What Happened Next, by Anna Marion Smith, illustrated by Reginald Bathurst Birch, 1909. Likely a reprint. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Little Bo‐Peep and Her Sheep,” Rimes and Stories, by Lura Mary Eyestone, 1910. (HathiTrust)
Young King Cole (play), by Clementia (pseudonym of Mary E. Feehan), (Nov.) 1911. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“The Christmas Conspiracy: A Christmas Play for Boys and Girls,” by Elizabeth Woodbridge, St. Nicholas, vol. 39, no. 2, Dec. 1911. (Internet Archive)
“Vangoulderbilt Horner sat in a corner” (rhyme), The Bull Moose Mother Goose, by Sallie Macrum Cubbage, 1912. (HathiTrust)
“Boys of Mother Goose Land” (play), by Stanley Schell, Boy Impersonations, Werner’s Readings and Recitations, no. 52, 1913. (HathiTrust)
The Marriage of Jack and Jill: A Mother Goose Entertainment in Two Scenes, by Lilian Clisby Bridgham, 1913. (Internet Archive)
Miss Muffet Lost and Found: A Mother Goose Play, by Katharine C. Baker, 1915. (HathiTrust)
The New Woman in Mother Goose Land: A Play for Children, by Edyth M. Wormwood, 1915. Noteworthy for not associating Jack in any way with plums or pies. (Internet Archive)
The Modern Mother Goose: A Play in Three Acts, by Helen Hamilton, 1916. (Internet Archive)
“The Story Book Ball” (song), by George Perry, music by Billie Montgomery, cover illustration by William Austin Starmer (d. 1955) or Frederick Waite Starmer (d. 1962), 1917. (Johns Hopkins U.)
The Luck of Santa Claus: A Play for Young People, by B. C. Porter, 1918. (Internet Archive)
Mother Goose Comes to Portland, by Frederic W. Freeman, 1918. (Internet Archive)
“Little Jack Horner stood on the corner,” The Siren, vol. 7, no. 6, Mar. 1920. (HathiTrust)
The Doll Shop, by Helen Langhanke and Lois Cool Morstrom, (Nov.) 1920. (Internet Archive)
“There Was a Boy Who Lived on Pudding Lane: A True Account, If Only You Believe It, of the Life and Ways of Santa, Eldest Son of Mr. and Mrs. Claus,” by Sarah Addington, The Ladies’ Home Journal, vol. 38, no. 12, Dec. 1921. (HathiTrust)
“Sing a Song of Sleepy Head: A Play for Grownups and Children,” Sing a Song of Sleepy Head: Being Readable Rhymes for Curious Children, by James W. Foley, 1922. (HathiTrust)
The Strike Mother Goose Settled, by Evelyn Hoxie, 1922. (Internet Archive)
Uncle Wiggily and Old Mother Hubbard: Adventures of the Rabbit Gentleman with the Mother Goose Characters, by Howard R. Garis, illustrated by Edward Bloomfield and Lansing Campbell, 1922. (upenn)
The Children Who Followed the Piper, by Padraic Colum (d. 1972), illustrated by Dugald Stewart Walker (d. 1937), (Sept.) 1922. Appears to have been first published in the US. (1937, Internet Archive) (rev. ed., 1933, HathiTrust)
The Real Personages of Mother Goose, ch. 3, by Katherine Elwes Thomas, 1930. (HathiTrust)
Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols, by Gertrude Jobes, 1961. (HathiTrust)