As I was going to St. Ives Rhyme

The riddle of the poem "As I was going to St. Ives"

Only one assumption can be made in the Nursery Rhyme "As I was going to St. Ives" and that  is that one person was definitely going there - or was it? It , of course would depend on the direction of the people that were encountered on the way! This type of conundrum is now referred to as a logic problem in lateral thinking designed to improve the logic and deductive skills of children, and indeed, adults! (As I was going to St. Ives refers to the name of a quaint old village in
Cornwall, England) Earliest traceable publication date is 1730.

The Answer to the Riddle
Only one man was going to St.Ives!
 He met the following who were
going the other way:
A man (1) with 7 wives
7 x 7 (49) sacks
7x7x7 (343) cats
7x7x7x7 (2,401) kits
A Total of  2,801 wives, sacks
 cats and kits!

Poem - As I was going to St. Ives

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? 

Poem - As I was going to St. Ives