"I Love Little Pussy", alternatively called "I Love Little Kitty",
[Googlebooks](_blank)
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English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
nursery rhyme
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes.
Fr ...
about a person who loves their pet cat. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...
number of 12824.
Lyrics and melody
The most common modern version is:
I love little pussy,
Her coat is so warm,
And if I don't hurt her,
She'll do me no harm.
So I'll not pull her tail,
Nor drive her away,
But pussy and I,
Very gently will play.[I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), 1st edn. pp. 356-7, 2nd edn. p.423.]
Additional lines include:
She shall sit by my side
And I'll give her some food;
And pussy will love me
Because I am good.
I'll pat pretty pussy,
And then she will purr;
And thus show her thanks
For my kindness to her.
I'll not pinch her ears,
Nor tread on her paw,
Lest I should provoke her
To use her sharp claw.
I never will vex her
Nor make her displeased:
For pussy can't bear
To be worried and teased.
The melody commonly associated with the rhyme was first recorded by the composer and nursery rhyme collector James William Elliott
James William Elliott (1833–1915), usually cited as J. W. Elliott, was an English collector of nursery rhymes. Together with engravers George and Edward Dalziel
The Brothers Dalziel (pronounced ) was a prolific wood-engraving business in Victor ...
in his ''National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs'' (1870).
Origins
The poem is first recorded in ''The Child's Song Book'' published in 1830. It has been attributed to Jane Taylor (1783–1824), as it conforms to her style. However, there is no corroborative evidence to support this case.[
]
Controversy
Usage of the word "pussy" as a vulgar slang term for the vagina
In mammals and other animals, the vagina (: vaginas or vaginae) is the elastic, muscular sex organ, reproductive organ of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vulval vestibule to the cervix (neck of the uterus). The #Vag ...
is documented since the late 17th century. The rhyme's title and lyrics have been changed by some publications to replace the word "pussy" with the word " kitty",Sue Townsend
Susan Lillian Townsend (; 2 April 194610 April 2014) was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing in secret from the a ...
.["]Pandora
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god cooperated by giving her unique gifts. Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground '' ky ...
's Little Pussy", page 33 of 1994 Mandarin paperback edition
References
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1830 songs
Cats in literature
English nursery rhymes
English folk songs
Songs about cats
English children's songs
Traditional children's songs