St Ives
As I was going to St Ives
I met a man with seven wives
Said he, “I think it’s much more fun
Than getting stuck with only one”
By Roald Dahl
The original riddles earliest traceable publication date is 1730 and it was this:
As I was going to St. Ives
I met a man with seven wives,
Each wife had seven sacks, each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits: kits, cats, sacks and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?