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Stories about Uncle Adam
In 1964 the Watsons spent a good part of the summer in New Hampshire with the Campbell cousins. Adam was then ambassador to Cuba, and could spend only short times with the family. I asked him "can't you stay?" and he said "Well, you know, Billy, it's not a good idea. You see last time the British Ambassador left Cuba, they had a revolution! So I better get back."
That same summer he taught us this nursery rhyme. I hear it in his Kings College English, complete with the utter delight with which he recited it:
There was an old woman who swallowed a fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly!
I think she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a spider
that wriggled and jiggled and tiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly!
I think she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a bird
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed bird to catch the spider
that wriggled and jiggled and tiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly!
I think she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed at cat
Fancy that, she swallowed a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed bird to catch the spider
that wriggled and jiggled and tiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly!
I think she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a dog
What a hog to swallow a dog
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat
Fancy that, she swallowed a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed bird to catch the spider
that wriggled and jiggled and tiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly!
I think she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a horse
She's dead of course.
It makes me laugh today, to hear Adam's voice reciting it in my mind's ear.
We don't any of us get to go on forever. But we'll miss him, all of us.
Love to the Watsons, and thanks for this site.
Bill Campbell
That same summer he taught us this nursery rhyme. I hear it in his Kings College English, complete with the utter delight with which he recited it:
There was an old woman who swallowed a fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly!
I think she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a spider
that wriggled and jiggled and tiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly!
I think she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a bird
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed bird to catch the spider
that wriggled and jiggled and tiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly!
I think she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed at cat
Fancy that, she swallowed a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed bird to catch the spider
that wriggled and jiggled and tiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly!
I think she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a dog
What a hog to swallow a dog
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat
Fancy that, she swallowed a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed bird to catch the spider
that wriggled and jiggled and tiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly
I don't know why she swallowed the fly!
I think she'll die.
There was an old woman who swallowed a horse
She's dead of course.
It makes me laugh today, to hear Adam's voice reciting it in my mind's ear.
We don't any of us get to go on forever. But we'll miss him, all of us.
Love to the Watsons, and thanks for this site.
Bill Campbell
