I heard Eddie from The Courtship of Eddies Father chanting this while on a hike. Googleing around I found a water rat is another name for a muskrat and Eddie was saying
“Fat fat the water rat, fifty bullets in your hat.” So I’m assuming you kill a muskrat and make a hat out him?
Anyone know for sure
No, its just a kids chant with no real thought behind it but it rhymes.
Like fat fat crazy bat.
The only place I’ve ever seen “fat, fat, water rat” was in the Herbie comics. Wiki entry
See this looks to be referenced in Family Afffair but I’d bet origin is quite a bit older as it seems to be a popular schoolyard rhyme prior to the show using it.
Interesting how The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (where I heard it) and Family Affair (where another poster heard of it) were both late 60s / early 70s shows.
I wonder if they had the same writers or anything. Odd both shows would feature that chant. I don’t think The Courtship of Eddie’s Father was set in NYC like Family Affair so it can’t be a local rhyme.
I think I heard it in a “Flip Wilson” sketch, which would be the same time frame as “Courtship” and “Family Affair.”