The Old Gumbie Cat

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind
Her name is Jennyanydots
Her coat is of the tabby kind
With tiger stripes and leopard spots
All day she sits upon the stairs
Or on the steps or on the mat
She sits and sits and sits and sits
And that's what makes a Gumbie Cat
That's what makes a Gumbie Cat

But
When the day's hustle and bustle is done
Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun
And when all the family's in bed and asleep
She tucks up her skirts to the basement to creep
She is deeply concerned with the ways of the mice

Their behavior's not good and their manners not nice

So when she has got them lined up on the matting
She teaches them

Music, crocheting, and tatting

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind
Her name is Jennyanydots
Her equal would be hard to find
She likes the warm and sunny spots
All day she sits beside the hearth
Or on the bed or my hat
She sits and sits and sits and sits
And that's what makes a Gumbie Cat
That's what makes a Gumbie Cat

But
When the day's hustle and bustle is done
Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun
As she finds that the mice will not ever keep quiet
She is sure it is due to

Irregular diet

And believing that

Nothing is done without trying

She sets right to work with her baking and frying
She makes them a mouse-cake of bread and dried peas

And a beautiful fry of lean bacon and cheese

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind
Her name is

Jennyanydots

The curtain-cord she likes to wind
And tie it into sailor-knots
She sits upon the window-sill
Or anything that's smooth and flat
She sits and sits and sits and sits
And that's what makes a Gumbie Cat
That's what makes a Gumbie Cat

But
When the day's hustle and bustle is done
Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun
She thinks that the cockroaches

Need employment

To prevent them from

Idle and wanton destroyment

So she's formed from that lot of disorderly louts
A troop of well-disciplined helpful Boy Scouts

With a purpose in life and a good deed to do

And she's even created a Beetles' Tattoo

So for Old Gumbie Cats let us now give three cheers
On whom well-ordered households depend, it appears
Three cheers, three cheers, three cheers
For she's a jolly good fellow

Thank you, my dears