Note: The last line in the 1794 edition: “She whipp’d all their bums, and sent them to bed.”
The 1901 edition changed the verse to “kissing” rather than “whipping” as a nod to more positive parenting methods, perhaps? Here is the classic story to accompany this rhyme, The little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.
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 with plenty of bread,
She kissed them all fondly and sent them to bed.
