<P> The earliest known printed version comes from a reprint of John Newbery's Mother Goose's Melody, thought to have been first published in London around 1765 . The rhyming of "water" with "after" was taken by Iona and Peter Opie to suggest that the first verse may date from the first half of the 17th century . A musical arrangement by Charles Burney was published in 1777 . </P> <P> Several theories have been advanced to explain its origins and to suggest meanings for the lyrics . </P> <P> The game has traditionally been seen as a nonsense verse, particularly as the couple go up a hill to find water, which is often thought to be found at the bottom of hills . Vinegar and brown paper were a home cure used as a method to draw out bruises on the body . </P> <P> Jack is the most common name used in English - language nursery rhymes and represented an archetypal Everyman hero by the 18th century, while Jill or Gill had come to mean a young girl or a sweetheart by the end of the Middle Ages . </P>

Jack & jill went up the hill poem