There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" (alternatively "There Was an Old Lady", "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly" and "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly") is a children's rhyme and nonsense song of a kind known as cumulative.

"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly"
Song by Burl Ives
Language	English
Released	1953
Genre	Children's rhyme, nonsense song
Label	Brunswick Records
Songwriter(s)	Rose Bonne and Alan Mills
Official audio
"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" on YouTube

Content

The song tells the nonsensical story of an old woman who swallows increasingly large animals, each to catch the previously swallowed animal, but dies after swallowing a horse. There are many variations of phrasing in the lyrics, especially for the description of swallowing each animal.

An early documentation of the story appears in English author Dorothy B. King's 1946 book Happy Recollections.

Our first Wren evening was a "knockout," in the spring of 1943. The Hall was so packed that men were even perched on the window ledges. No audience could possibly have been more enthusiastic or shown their appreciation in a greater degree. I am sorry I have not that first program. Third Officer Phillips and several of the other officers sat in the front row of the Rest Room, really the dressing room on concerts nights. One of the officers recited and I have never laughed so much as I did that night she told us about the woman who swallowed a fly and then swallowed a cat to eat that fly and a dog to eat the cat, and so on: her "swallows" each time were so realistic.

— Dorothy B. King, Happy Recollections (1946)^[1]

Shortly afterwards, the journal Hoosier Folklore published three versions of the story from different parts of the United States (Colorado, Georgia and Ohio) in its December 1947 edition. The editor calls it a "cumulative tale", and asks readers for information on its origins.^[2] All three versions begin with a lady swallowing the fly and end with her dying after swallowing a horse, but there are variations in what animals are swallowed and the rhymes for each animal.

Recording

In 1952, Rose Bonne (lyrics) and Canadian/English folk artist Alan Mills copyrighted a version of the song, respectively contributing lyrics and music. At that time it was entitled simply "I Know an Old Lady."^[3] A widely distributed version of the song was released on Brunswick Records in 1953, where it was sung by Burl Ives. Ives' rendition appears on his album, Folk Songs, Dramatic and Humorous—which debuted in late summer, 1953.^[4] According to the album liner notes, the song was "derived from an old ballad", rewritten by Alan Mills, and passed to Ives by Edith Fowke of CBC Radio.^[5] The 1961 illustrated book by Rose Bonne also indicates that the lyrics are hers, whereas the music was composed by Alan Mills.^{[6][7][non-primary source needed][8]}

Lyrics

The following is one version of the lyrics to demonstrate the song's cumulative nature:

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her;
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd to swallow a bird!
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat;
Well, fancy that, she swallowed a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady that swallowed a dog;
What a hog to swallow a dog!
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a goat;
Just opened her throat and swallowed a goat!
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a cow;
I don't know how she swallowed a cow!
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat,
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she'll die!

There was an old lady who swallowed a horse...
She's dead, of course!^[9]

In other media

• Pete Seeger released a version on the Birds Bugs and Little Fishes LP (Folkways Records FC7610) in 1955.^[10]
• In 1956, composer Alan Mills recorded a version for Scholastic Records released on his children's album Animals, Vol.1.^[11]
• In 1964, the National Film Board of Canada released the award-winning 5-minute cartoon I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, directed by Derek Lamb.^[12]
• Meredith Tax used this poetic form in her 1970 feminist poem There Was a Young Woman Who Swallowed a Lie, in which the woman finally "throws up" the lies she swallowed.^[13] Pete Seeger performed the work during a 1980 concert at the Sanders Theater in Boston.^[14]
• In 1973, illustrator Pam Adams used the song and its title as the basis of a children's book.^[15]
• Bobby Darin performed the song in duet with 8-year-old Charlene Wong on an episode of The Bobby Darin Show in March 1973.^[16][17]
• The song was performed by Judy Collins and Statler and Waldorf with shadow puppets, on a 1977 episode of The Muppet Show.^[18][19]
• San Francisco-based punk rock band Flipper included a version of "The Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly" on their 1988 compilation album Sex Bomb Baby.^[20][21]
• In 1997, the song's lyrics were used as the text of a children's book by Simms Taback.^[22] This version is narrated and sung by Cyndi Lauper. Three of the lines changed into "Imagine That! She swallowed a cat.", "She went whole hog to swallow the dog." and "She died, of course!"

See also

•  Children's literature portal

• Chad Gadya, cumulative song
• The Twelve Days of Christmas, cumulative song
• The Rattlin' Bog, cumulative song

References

1. King, Dorothy B. (1946). Happy Recollections. Dorchester, UK: Henry Ling.
2. Martin, Lee; McIntosh, Eva H.; Newcomb, Mildred (December 1947). "The Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". Hoosier Folklore. 6 (4): 153–156. JSTOR 27649913.
3. Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 6, Part 5B, No. 1, January–June 1952 (US Copyright Office), p. 86. The submission date is given as March 28, 1952. The 1954 edition relists it, providing the same date and giving Alan Mills as a pseudonym for Albert Miller.
4. Decca DL 5467, reviewed in Billboard, September 12, 1953, p. 36. The record label also indicates the Mills-Bonne credit.
5. Liner notes for Folk Songs Dramatic and Humorous, Decca DL 5467. Retrieved May 4, 2022
6. M.B.K. (November 12, 1961). "Songs with Pictures [review of I Know an Old Lady, "words by Rose Bonne; music by Alan Mills; illustrated by Abner Graboff…"]" (children's book review). Chicago Sunday Tribune, Magazine of Books (Books for Children). No. Part 4, Section 2. Chicago, IL: Chicago Tribune. p. 34, col. 3. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
7. Bonne, Rose (1961). I Know an Old Lady. Alan Mills, music; Abner Graboff, illustrations. Skokie, IL: Rand McNally.
8. For a further example remaining in print, see Adams, Pam (1973). There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly. Classic books with holes. Swindon, UK: Child's Play (International). ISBN 0859530213. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
9. >"There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly". allnurseryrhymes.com. October 26, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
10. "Birds, Beasts, Bugs and Fishes (Little and Big) - Smithsonian Folkways". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
11. "Animals, Vol.1 - Smithsonian Folkways". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
12. "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
13. "There was a young woman who swallowed a lie". Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance archives. Duke University.
14. "Pete Seeger - The Smithsonian Folkways Collection" (PDF). Smithsonian Folkways. 2019.
15. "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". BookTrust. One of the Classic Books-with-Holes that have been around for 30 years.
16. Biography for Charlene Wong at IMDb
17. "The Bobby Darin Show - March 23, 1973". bobbydarin.net
18. JUDY COLLINS - "Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly" Muppet Show 1977 on YouTube
19. Jim Henson (June 21, 2012). "6/21/1977 – 'Judy Collins (MS)'". Jim Henson's Red Book.
20. "Flipper - Sex Bomb Baby!". Discogs. 1987. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
21. Raggett, Ned. "Flipper - Sex Bomb Baby!". AllMusic. Netaktion LLC. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
22. "1998 Caldecott Medal and Honor Books". American Library Association. November 30, 1999.

External links

• Childrens Songs and Stories with the Muppets (1985) at IMDb  . Compilation containing the Judy Collins 1977 episode of The Muppet Show.^{[verification needed]}