Three Little Kittens

There were three little kittens,
Put on their mittens,
To eat some christmas pie,
Miaow, miaow, miaow, miaow.

These three little kittens,
They lost their mittens,
And all began to cry,
Miaow, miaow, miaow, miaow.

Go, go, naughty kittens,
And find your mittens,
Or you shan’t have any pie,
Miaow, miaow, miaow, miaow.

These three little kittens
They found their mittens,
And joyfully they did cry,
Miaow, miaow, miaow, miaow.

O Granny dear,
Our mittens are here,
Make haste and cut up te pie,
Purrrr, purrr, purrr, purrrr.

This lovely little song is much less well known, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it sung anywhere, which is a shame because its so quaint. I will definitely try and work it into my song lists for christmas this year with the reception class I sing with. It has a rather dickensian feel to it with its moralising story. I found it in the Baby’s Bouquet, arranged and decorated by Walter Crane, of whom more later.

The text is attributed to Eliza Lee Cabot Follen, an American poet, though it may well have its roots in English nursery rhymes, more on that at Wikipedia. And having been published first in the mid 1800s, there is no surprise it fits a rather moralising victorian tone.