"Jack Monroe", also known as "Jack Munro," "Jackie Monroe," "Jack-A-Roe," "Jackaroe," "Jackaro," "Jackie Frazier," "Jack the Sailor," "Jack Went A-Sailing," "The Love of Polly and Jack Monroe," among other titles, is a traditional ballad of uncertain (though presumably British) origin.

The version "Jack The Sailor" collected in Cecil Sharp's English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachians is frequently cited.

Dianne Dugaw's Warrior Women and Popular Balladry, 1650-1850 gives a 1934 version of "Jack Monroe" collected in Missouri, and also notes the existence of a version "on an 1830s Boston broadside in American Antiquarian Society, Uncatalogued Ballads."

The song is a staple of the folk rock repertoire and has been performed by Joan Baez

Joan Baez

Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....

, Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

, and more commonly, The Grateful Dead (as Jack-A-Roe). In 1931, Florence Reece

Florence Reece

Florence Reece was an American social activist, poet, and folksong writer. Born in Sharps Chapel, Tennessee, the daughter and wife of coal miners, she is best known for the song, "Which Side Are You On?" written in 1931 during a strike by the United Mine Workers of America in which her husband,...

 used this tune for her song "Which Side Are You On?

Which Side Are You On?

"Which Side Are You On?" is a song written by Florence Reece in 1931. Reece was the wife of Sam Reece, a union organizer for the United Mine Workers in Harlan County, Kentucky. In 1931, the miners of that region were locked in a bitter and violent struggle with the mine owners. In an attempt to...

". Also performed by Melora Creager

Melora Creager

Melora Creager, formerly Melora Mather, is an American cellist and singer-songwriter best known for her role as lead singer and chief composer of the cello rock trio Rasputina....

 of Rasputina on Ancient Cross-Dressing Songs

Ancient Cross-Dressing Songs

-Album details:*Original Release Date: 2009*Label: none*Recording Mode: Stereo*Recording Type: Studio*Producer: Melora Creager*Distributor: self-distributed*Rasputina: Melora Creager...

.

External links

• "Jack Monroe" in The Ballad Index
• "Jack the Sailor"
• "Jack-A-Roe"
• "Jackie Frazier" lyrics and score
• "English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians"