As I Was Going To St. Ives

“As I Was Going To St. Ives” is a traditional riddle/nursey rhyme, having its origins in the 18th century England.

Although there were a number of places called St. Ives in England when the rhyme was first published (1730), it is generally thought that the rhyme refers to the old village St. Ives, in Cornwall, when it was a busy fishing port.  The origin of St. Ives is attributed in legend to the arrival of the Irish Saint la of Cornwall, in the 5th century.

( Ia went to the seashore to depart for Cornwall from her native Ireland along with other saints. Fearing that she was too young for the journey, they left her behind.  Grief-stricken she began to pray and noticed a small leaf floating on the water and touched it with a rod to see if it would sink. As she watched, it grew bigger and bigger. Trusting God, she sat upon the leaf and was carried across the Irish Sea arriving at Cornwall before the others.)

The riddle/nursery rhyme has both delighted and bewildered children for generations; still the answer to the riddle is uncertain: How many were going to St. Ives?

As I was going to St. Ives,

Upon the road I met seven wives;

Every wife had seven sacks,

Every sack had seven cats,

Every cat had seven kittens:

Kittens, cats, sacks, and wives,

How many were going to St. Ives?