Tiny Tim

I had a little puppy / His name was Tiny Tim…

I had a little puppy
His name was Tiny Tim
I put him in the bathtub, to see if he could swim
He drank all the water, he ate a bar of soap
The next thing you know he had a bubble in his throat.
In came the doctor,
In came the nurse,
In came the lady with the alligator purse
Out went the doctor
Out went the nurse
Out went the lady with the alligator purse

How to play

A new skipper jumps in on each "In came" line and jumps out again on each "Out went" line.

Where this rhyme comes from

Earliest record: c. 1920s
Sung in: US, UK

This belongs to the 'Miss Lucy had a baby' family. The Opies (The Singing Game, 1985) found it as a joke in the 1920s and as a children's song in New York in 1938. The 'doctor, nurse and lady with the alligator purse' lines are part of that tradition. The turtle or puppy called Tiny Tim is a later variant (the name goes back to Dickens's 'A Christmas Carol', 1843).

Sources: Opie, The Singing Game (1985), as cited by Wikipedia 'Miss Lucy had a baby'.

Do you know an older version, or where this rhyme comes from? Teachers can tell us with the feedback button below.

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