There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

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.

The earliest reference in the British Newspaper Archive to a song about a woman who swallowed a fly comes in an 1872 report in the Era about a show called Britannia's Picture Gallery at the Polytechnic. "A new comic extravaganza is here sung by Mr Buckland, being the story of 'Mrs Somebody', who might be anybody, and whose doleful fate it was to swallow a fly."^[1] It credits the lyrics to Frank W. Green and the music to Alfred Lee.

The song appears to have been a hit on the stage of the London music halls. In 1873, at Berner's Hall, in Islington, a Mr W Freeman "caused much mirth and won cordial applause" for a recital of "Poor Mrs Somebody" who swallowed a fly.^[2] The Era, in 1879, says a Mr Howard Baker sang a song at Crowder's called "Poor Mrs Somebody" who swallowed a fly.^[3]

A report from 1887 in the Walthamstow and Leyton Guardian of a musical evening at Walthamstow Art School, says a recital by a Mr Blenham "fairly convulsed the audience."^[4] The Indian Daily News in 1896 also recounts how a Colonel Chatterton "convulsed the assembled infants and most of the grown-ups with an inimitable song about a lady who 'swallowed a fly'."^[5]

Dorothy B. King tells of a recital in 1943.

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.

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.^[7] 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 origins of the song are uncertain. It's possible it was inspired by an anecdote about the London surgeon John Abernethy which was widely reported on his death in 1831. A young woman came to seek medical help after swallowing a spider. "Mr Abernethy dextrously caught a blue-bottle fly as it fled by him, and told the patient to put it in her mouth and if she spit it out in a few moments the spider would come out with it."^[8] By the start of the 20th century, the story had mutated. According to the Glasgow Observer's telling of the "celebrated case", Abernethy suggested he should send a spider down into her lungs to catch the fly. She "declared that she felt the spider walking down her throat when Abernethy was only tickling it with a feather, and declared herself completely cured when Abernethy showed her both fly and spider in a test tube."^[9]

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."^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12] The 1961 illustrated book by Rose Bonne also indicates that the lyrics are hers, whereas the music was composed by Alan Mills.^{[13][14][non-primary source needed][15]}

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!^[16]

• Pete Seeger released a version on the Birds Bugs and Little Fishes LP (Folkways Records FC7610) in 1955.^[17]
• In 1956, composer Alan Mills recorded a version for Scholastic Records released on his children's album Animals, Vol.1.^[18]
• 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.^[19]
• 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.^[20] Pete Seeger performed the work during a 1980 concert at the Sanders Theater in Boston.^[21]
• In 1973, illustrator Pam Adams used the song and its title as the basis of a children's book.^[22]
• Bobby Darin performed the song in duet with 8-year-old Charlene Wong on an episode of The Bobby Darin Show in March 1973.^[23][24]
• The song was performed by Judy Collins and Statler and Waldorf with shadow puppets, on a 1977 episode of The Muppet Show.^[25][26]
• San Francisco-based punk rock band Flipper included a version of "The Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly" as the b-side of their 1982 "Get Away" single, and subsequently on their 1988 compilation album Sex Bomb Baby.^[27][28]
• In 1997, the song's lyrics were used as the text of a children's book by Simms Taback.^[29] This version is narrated and sung by Cyndi Lauper.

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