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There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe (Nursery Rhyme)

Summary


"There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" is a beloved nursery rhyme about an overwhelmed old woman raising so many children that she hardly knows how to cope. With no bread to spare and a firm bedtime routine, she feeds her brood thin broth and sends them off with a sound whipping. The rhyme's absurd, larger-than-life household captures the chaos and exhaustion of caring for a crowd in just four memorable lines.

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There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread;
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

An old woman stands in the doorway of a giant shoe home surrounded by many young children, illustrating the nursery rhyme.
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Credits

Ririro presents this well-known English nursery rhyme, which has been passed down through oral tradition for centuries. It was first recorded in print in 1794 in "Gammer Gurton's Garland," a collection of English nursery rhymes. Its origins and the identity of any real-world inspiration remain a subject of playful debate among folklore enthusiasts.