Old Mistress McShuttle Lyrics
Old Mistress McShuttle lives in a coal-scuttle with her dog and cat, and nobody ever grew fat on what they ate.
Old Mistress McShuttle
Old mistress McShuttle
Lived in a coal-scuttle,
Along with her dog and her cat;
What they ate I can't tell,
But 'tis known very well,
That none of the party were fat.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/old-mistress-mcshuttle/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken with a twinkle, the joke saved for the end
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Lived in a coal-scuttle | Curl up small as if squeezed into a bucket. |
| Along with her dog and her cat | Pat the air on one side, then the other. |
| None of the party were fat | Pull your tummy in and shake your head. |
What Does Old Mistress McShuttle Mean?
A coal-scuttle is a metal bucket kept by a fireplace to hold coal. It would be a very small home, and Old Mistress McShuttle shares hers with a dog and a cat. What they ate nobody can say, but it is very well known that none of them was fat.
The joke is that so tiny a household cannot have had much to eat. The rhyme is built on its sounds: McShuttle and coal-scuttle make a chiming pair, and so do cat and fat, and tell and well.
History and Origin
Old Mistress McShuttle is one of the verses gathered in the Boston book of 1833 called The Only True Mother Goose Melodies.
Learning Activities
- Squeeze in: see how many soft toys fit into a bucket or a box, then say the rhyme.
- Rhyme hunt: find the three pairs of end sounds in the six lines.
- Tiny home: draw the inside of a coal-scuttle with a bed for the dog and the cat.