There Was An Old Lady

First conscious thought upon awakening: "I don't know why I killed the fly". I thought it was from a song or a poem but couldn't remember the next line. That was because I wasn't remembering it exactly right, the old lady swallowed, not killed, the fly, though I suppose the fly did die. I had to Google what I was thinking to get to the correct wording. 

And when I got there I found that it was both a poem and a song. After reading it I remembered that it was on a silly songs album my children listened to or a childrens' book I read to them - maybe both. 

The first three stanzas are:

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;
Fancy that! She swallowed a cat!

It is a cumulative song with each swallowed animal getting bigger and bigger until she finally swallows a horse and ends with: "she's dead, of course!"

I probably should retitle this post to a "Silly Sunday Song".  😄