Wannaskan Almanac for Tuesday, November 12, 2024 I've Got a Feeling for This Blog

"As I was going to St Ives" is an English-language nursery rhyme in the form of a riddle.

The most common modern version reads:

As I was going to St Ives,

I met a man with seven wives,

Each wife had seven sacks,

Each sack had seven cats,

Each cat had seven kits:

Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,

How many were there going to St Ives?

The earliest version of this riddle dates back to the early 1700's.  

As I went to St Ives

I met Nine Wives

And every Wife had nine Sacs,

And every Sac had nine Cats

And every Cat had nine Kittens

How many were going to St Ives?

The answer, of course, is one.  The narrator is the one going to St. Ives.  This was found in the September 8, 1779, issue of the Weekly Magazine in Edinburgh.  

Why the deuce do you give yourselves so much vexation,

And puzzle your brains with a long calculation

Of the number of cats, with their kittens and sacks,

Which went to St Ives, on the old women's backs,

As you seem to suppose? – Don't you see that the cunning

Old Querist went only? – The rest were all coming.

But grant the wives went too, – as sure's they were married,

Eight only could go, – for the rest were all carried.

So what...or where...is St. Ives?  It is actually a town in the southern UK.  It is famous for its' beaches, art scene, and history.  St Ives has been home to many great artists and sculptors, including JMW Turner, Barbara Hepworth, Bernard Leach, Henry Moore, Henry Irving, and Whistler.  One of Whistler's paintings is The Beach, which portrays St Ives.  

That is all I know about St. Ives...except that they did provide soap products that were often found around my house while growing up.  Why not try some yourself.  Check out their products here.