There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

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"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" ("There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly", "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly") is a children's song with a cumulative structure.

There are many variations of phrasing in the lyrics, especially for the description of swallowing each animal. Some add a "She opened her throat and swallowed a goat" between the dog and cow.

[edit] Lyrics

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.

I don't know why she swallowed that fly—

Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,

That wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

I don't know why she swallowed that 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 wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

I don't know why she swallowed that fly—

Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat.

Imagine that, she swallowed a cat.

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird ...

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider

That wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

I don't know why she swallowed that fly—

Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who 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 wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

I don't know why she swallowed that 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 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 wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

I don't know why she swallowed that fly—

Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a horse—

She's dead, of course.

(for sensitive audiences, one may substitute "She's still alive, of course" or a similar line)

[edit] In other media

The song's lyrics were used as the text of a book by Simms Taback
The song's title is shared with a book by children's illustrator Pam Adams (ISBN 0-85953-727-7)
The animals who the woman in the song swallowed are illustrated in a t-shirt sold on the website Threadless, titled I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly.