Anonymous British

Ding Dong Bell

Ding dong bell, The cat is in the well. Who put her in? Little Johnny Green. What a naughty boy was that, To drown poor Pussy cat. Who never did any harm, And kill'd the mice in his father's barn. Composition date is unknown - the above date represents the first publication date. The lyrical form of this poem is couplets. 1. "Nursery rhyme reformers have recently taken particular objection to `Ding, dong, bell', claiming that children have been known to throw cats into ponds through the direct influence of this rhyme. " The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, ed. Iona and Peter Opie (1951\; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966), no. 134, p. 149. Perhaps the standard version today, rendered by the Opies as follows, mitigates the crime by adding a rescuer: Ding, dong, bell, Pussy's in the well. Who put her in? Little Johnny Green. Who pulled her out? Little Tommy Stout. What a naughty boy was that, To try to drown poor pussy cat, Who never did him any harm, And killed the mice in his father's barn.