The was an old lady who swallowed a fly (nursery rhyme)

 There Was Once an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" (alt: "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly"', "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly" or "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly") is a children's song with a cumulative structure. The tune was written by Alan Mills, and the lyrics were written by Rose Bonne. The best-known popular version of the song was released on Brunswick Records in 1953, and sung by Burl Ives.


 * 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 the 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 the fly,
 * Perhaps she'll die.


 * There was an old lady who swallowed a cat,
 * Imagine that! to swallow 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 the 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 wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
 * She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
 * I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
 * Perhaps she'll die.


 * There was an old lady who swallowed a goat,
 * Just opened her throat! to swallow 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 the 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 the fly,
 * Perhaps she'll die.


 * There was an old lady who swallowed a horse,
 * She's dead—of course!