Reference > Brewer’s Dictionary > Jack o’ the Clock.

 Jack o’ both Sides.Jack of Dover. 
CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
 
Jack o’ the Clock.
 
The figure which comes out to strike the hours on the bell of a clock. A contraction of Jaquemart (q.v.).   1
       
“King Richard. Well, but what’s o’clock?
Buckingham. Upon the stroke of ten.
K. R. Well, let it strike.
B. Why let it strike?
K. R. Because that, like a jack, thou keep’st the stroke
Betwixt thy begging and my meditation.”
       
Shakespeare: Richard III., iv. 2.
 


 Jack o’ both Sides.Jack of Dover. 

 
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