There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Pam Adams

Ives' rendition appears on his album, Folk Songs, Dramatic and Humorous-which debuted in late summer, 1953. At that time it was entitled simply 'I Know an Old Lady.' A widely distributed version of the song was released on Brunswick Records in 1953, where it was sung by Burl Ives. In 1952, Rose Bonne (lyrics) and Canadian/English folk artist Alan Mills copyrighted a version of the song, respectively contributing lyrics and music. 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. The editor calls it a 'cumulative tale', and asks readers for information on its origins. 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. 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. 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. I am sorry I have not that first program. No audience could possibly have been more enthusiastic or shown their appreciation in a greater degree. The Hall was so packed that men were even perched on the window ledges. Our first Wren evening was a 'knockout,' in the spring of 1943. There are many variations of phrasing in the lyrics, especially for the description of swallowing each animal.Īn early documentation of the story appears in English author Dorothy B. 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 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. 1953 song 'There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly'

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Pam Adams