I Love Little Kitty

About this arrangement

A gentle rhyme about being kind to a cat, with the tune James William Elliott wrote for it in 1870. It is in 6/8 and starts with a pickup: two quick semiquavers (sixteenth notes) slurred together on the word “I”. The tune moves about: bar 1 reaches up to the C above middle C, bar 2 drops down to D, and bar 7 climbs to the E above, where the pause sign means hold “me” a little longer. Most bars are even quavers (eighth notes), so keep them steady. The left hand plays a bass note and a chord on each big beat, using C, F and G7.

Practice tip: Find the hand moves before you start: up for bar 1, down for bar 2, up again for bar 7. Play it softly; the words ask you to be gentle.

The words

I love little pussy, her coat is so warm, And if I don't hurt her, she'll do me no harm. I'll sit by the fire and give her some food, And pussy will love me, because I am good.

A short history

This rhyme was first printed as I Love Little Pussy, and under that title it is number 12824 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Its earliest known appearance is in The Child’s Song Book of 1830. It is often credited to Jane Taylor, who wrote “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, because it sounds like her work, but there is no evidence that she wrote it.

The poem was written to teach children to treat animals kindly. In the longer version the child also promises not to pull the cat’s tail or drive her away, but to play with her gently. It is often retitled I Love Little Kitty, as here; the words printed with the music are the original ones, as Elliott set them.

The tune is by James William Elliott, a London organist, who wrote it for his National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs in 1870. It was still being printed nearly sixty years later, in The Everyday Song Book (Chicago, 1927).

Quick facts

Tune

James William Elliott, 1870

Words

Anonymous (printed c. 1830)

Key

C major

Time signature

6/8

Length

8 bars and a pickup

Tempo

Gently, dotted crotchet = 56

Difficulty

Level 5: A wider range (piece 164 of 201)

Type

Nursery rhyme

Hands

Both: melody in the right hand, chords in the left

Copyright

Public domain tune; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal and classroom use

Questions and answers