What is the meaning of the expression "Reach in my thumb, and pull out a plum"?

Question

I've heard the expression "Reach in my thumb, and pull out a plum" before, but never understood what it means.

Answer 1

It's from an old Nursery Rhyme

Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner
Eating his Christmas pie
He put in his thumb
And pulled out a plum
And said" What a good boy am I!"

Now, having said that I couldn't begin to tell you if it has any underlying meaning!

Here's a link to a theory on the "back story"
http://www.rooneydesign.com/JackHorner.html

And here's yet another link:

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/little_jack_horner.htm

And finally dear old wikipedia has a bunch of alternative rhymes that are quite amusing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Jack_Horner

Answer 2

Jack was actually Thomas Horner, steward to Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury. Legend has it that, prior to the Abbey's destruction during the Dissolution of the Monasteries commanded by Henry VIII, the Abbot tried to avoid the event by sending Horner to London with a huge Christmas pie that had the deeds of a dozen manors hidden in it.

During the journey Horner opened the pie and extracted the deeds of the Manor of Mells in Somerset. 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.

Answer 3

There were so many plums in the pie, no matter where he poked it, he found a plum.

Answer 4

I always thought it meant you are lucky. It comes from a fairy tale for kids.