Ding Dong Bell
Ding Dong Bell
Nursery Rhyme
Ding Dong Bell,
Pussy's in the well.
Who put her in?
Little Tommy Lin.
Who pulled her out?
Little Tommy Trout.
What a naughty boy was that,
To drown poor little Pussy cat,
Who never did him any harm,
But killed the mice in his father's barn.
Notes
The following is a variation of this rhyme from A History of Nursery Rhymes (1899) by Percy B. Green. Notice the play on names...
Ding dong bell, pussy's in the well.
Who put her in? Little Tommy Thin.
Who pulled her out? Little Johnny Stout.
What a naughty boy was that
To drown poor pussy cat!"
Or:
What a naughty trick was that to drown my granny's pussy cat,
Who never did any harm, but caught the mice in father's barn.
Here's a version from The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897):
DING, dong, bell,
Pussy's in the well!
Who put her in?
Little Tommy Lin.
Who pulled her out?
Dog with long snout.
What a naughty boy was that
To drown poor pussy-cat,
Who never did any harm,
But kill'd the mice in his father's barn.
Below is the version from The Little Mother Goose (1912), illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith. This version has a "Moral" at the end:
Ding, dong, bell,
The cat is in the well!
Who put her in?
Little Johnny Green;
What a naughty boy was that
To try to drown poor pussy cat,
Who never did any harm,
And killed the mice in his father's barn.
MORAL:
He that injures one threatens a hundred.
Here's the version from Young Canada's Nursery Rhymes:
Ding, dong, bell; Pussy's in the well.
Who put her in? Little Tommy Green.
Who pulled her out? Little Tommy Trout.
What a naughty boy was that,
To drown poor Pussy Cat.
Performed by 17 talented university student musicians who were sisters in the Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity for Women at California State University-Stanislaus in 2007. The musical score the recording is based on comes from Our Old Nursery Rhymes (1911) arranged by Alfred Moffat.
You can find the following version recited below...
Ding, dong, bell, Pussy's in the well.
Who put her in? Little Tommy Green.
Who pulled her out? Little Tommy Trout.
What a naughty boy was that,
Thus to drown poor Pussy Cat.
Read by Emma Rose.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
The 1st illustration comes from The National Nursery Book. The first version of the rhyme can be found in The Real Mother Goose (1916), illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright. The 2nd illustration is from The Little Mother Goose (1912), illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith. 3rd illustration by H. Willebeck Le Mair from Our Old Nursery Rhymes (1911), arranged by Alfred Moffat. The score and midi tune are from The Baby's Opera by Walter Crane.
