Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat
Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?
I’ve been to London to look at the Queen.
Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you do there?
I frightened a little mouse, under the chair.
Where the rhyme comes from
Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat first appeared in print in Songs for the Nursery, published in London in 1805 — one of the earliest English collections gathered specifically for small children. The words have hardly changed since, which is unusual: most rhymes of that age drifted considerably from printing to printing, but this one was short, neat and easy to remember exactly.
Its shape is the oldest trick in the nursery: a question-and-answer rhyme, in which a grown-up asks and a child answers on the cat’s behalf. That call-and-response pattern is far older than the printed page, and it is very likely the rhyme was sung in kitchens and nurseries for some while before anyone thought to write it down.
What does it mean?
Most probably, it means exactly what it says. The joke is the cat’s magnificent indifference: taken all the way to a royal court, it notices nothing but a mouse. Children understand that punchline instantly, and it needs no hidden history to work.
The Elizabeth I story. A popular theory holds that the Queen of the rhyme is Elizabeth I, and that one of her ladies-in-waiting kept an old cat which wandered beneath the throne and startled the Queen by brushing her foot. It is a charming tale, but no contemporary record supports it, and it is best treated as folklore rather than history — particularly as the rhyme was not printed until some two centuries after Elizabeth’s reign.
Other royal candidates. Because the rhyme simply says “the Queen,” writers have variously proposed Queen Anne and Queen Victoria, sometimes attaching court gossip about something found under a chair. These are later guesses attached to an old rhyme; the evidence for all of them is thin, and none can be shown to predate the printed version.
Sharing it with children
This is a natural lap rhyme, because it is a conversation. Ask the two questions yourself in a warm, curious voice, and let the child answer as the cat — even very small children pick up “London” and “mouse” long before they can say the rest. Walk two fingers up an arm on the first line, then let them dart away like a startled mouse on the last.
Older toddlers enjoy swapping the ending: where else might the cat have been, and what did it do there? It is a gentle first taste of rhyme-making, and a good excuse to practise a very grand bow or curtsy to an imaginary queen.
Extra verses to sing
These verses aren’t traditional — they’re ours. Sing them if the cat has more travelling to do.
Pussy cat, pussy cat, where did you go?
I’ve been to the palace where trumpeters blow.
Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you see?
A cushion of velvet — and I sat on it, me!
Pussy cat, pussy cat, home again soon?
I’m walking back slowly by light of the moon.
Pussy cat, pussy cat, what will you do?
Curl up by the fire — and dream about you.