The Old Woman of Harrow Lyrics
Most people visit their friends on foot or by carriage. This old woman goes calling in a wheelbarrow, with her servant running ahead to knock on the doors.
The Old Woman of Harrow
There was an old woman of Harrow,
Who visited in a wheelbarrow;
And her servant before,
Knocked loud at each door,
To announce the old woman of Harrow.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-old-woman-of-harrow/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
What Does The Old Woman of Harrow Mean?
The old woman pays visits to her neighbors riding in a wheelbarrow, the one-wheeled cart used in gardens. Her servant goes ahead, knocking loudly at each door to announce her arrival, as if she were someone grand. The joke is the grand manners and the very ordinary transport.
History and Origin
The rhyme is a limerick printed in The Real Mother Goose (1916). Harrow is a district in north-west London, best known for Harrow School, which was founded in 1572. Limericks about old women from particular towns were a popular joke in the 1800s.
Learning Activities
- Wheelbarrow ride: give a teddy a ride in a toy wheelbarrow or box and announce its arrival.
- Knock knock: one child is the servant who knocks, another opens the door.
- Limerick rhythm: clap along: two long lines, two short lines and a long one.