Little Jack Horner?

The nursery rhyme says:

Little Jack Horner sat in the corner

Eating his Christmas pie,

He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum

And said "What a good boy am I!"

This nursery rhyme that was taught to young children and we learned it by rote. But we never knew what it meant. But with the aid of local historian Terry Cliss we are getting to the bottom of this pie. 

Who was Little Jack Horner?
Jack Horner Esquire was Steward to The Bishop of Glastonbury, Richard Whiting 1461 – 1539. The job of Steward was an executive position, very few men would be trusted to do this job. Jack Horner was privileged to run the household of the Bishop, administer the accounts of the Abbey and collect rents, taxes and fees from tenants, peasants and others connected within the manor of Glastonbury.

This vast estate had escaped King Henry VIII's army of demolition experts and pillagers but knowing that it was the very last religious property remaining in Somerset he had to accept that his days were numbered and he needed to act fast,it was only a matter of time before his entire livelihood would be harshly taken away.

Henry Vlll

He knew Henry VIII didn't mind a bribe or two so the Bishop took the decision to take full advantage of the shady side of King Henry. He made a plan and confided in one man that he could really trust, Jack Horner.

He tasked Horner with delivering a very special gift to the king, it was to be a very large top quality pie filled with nothing less than twelve title deeds relating to an assortment of English manorial estates owned that were owned by the Bishop.



Why use a pie to hide the documents?
Thieves and vagabonds were abundant and it was all too common for travellers to be very creative in hiding their valuable goods to thwart robbers. Whether a pie would really divert the attention of starving criminals, I doubt it!


Jack Horner was no fool and did not believe that King Henry would even dream of accepting twelve title deeds for small properties instead of the entire Abbey and all that land including the twelve properties. There was also a threat that King Henry could turn on the messenger in revenge for the shear audacity.

He had to think fast, he couldn't refuse do undertake the errand, nor could he argue with the Bishop, so he simply stole the title deeds of the manor of Mells. It was prime land and certainly considered to be the real 'plum' of those twelve manors that were secreted in the pie.

Henry did reject the pie just as Jack Horner predicted but for self preservation he had to protect himself. He chose to hand over The Bishop to Henry VIII and was arrested, charged and convicted of treason, the crime he was accused of committing was that he acted against the crown by remaining loyal to Rome.

What Happened to Jack Horner?
Little Jack Horner was appointed as one of the jury in the trial of The Bishop of Glastonbury, he was to become one of the 'twelve good men and true' and he sat on the jury. Bishop Whiting was found guilty. He was sentenced to death. It was a quick execution by any means, he was hung, drawn and quartered on Glastonbury Tor.

Horner retained his deeds, he legally owned the property and indeed moved into the Manor of Mells it remained in the Horner family right up until the 20th century,

King Henry sent his men to destroy the Abbey.

Glastonbury Tor

The Manor at Mells, Somerset, England, was built in the 16th century for Edward Horner, altered in the 17th century, partially demolished around 1780, and restored by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the 20th century.

Pictures of Mells and it's Manor.