Ted Lear popularised limericks in his A Book of Rubbish, although tragically he failed to recognise that the way to make them work was to have a filthy last line.
LIMERICKS
There was an old man with a beard,
A funny old man with a beard,
He had a big beard,
A great big old beard,
That amusing old man with a beard.
There once was a woman whose hat,
Was a regular brute of a hat,
Oh a hat she did wear,
On the top of her hair,
And everyone said 'Look! A hat!'
There was an old man with a goat,
An amusing old man with a goat,
The man with the goat,
Was a man with a goat,
That interesting old man with a goat.
As well as writing limericks, Ted Lear has left us with some of the most enchanting nonsense verse in the language.
THE PIBBLEDY-POBBLEDY MAN
When the Yonghy Bonghy's singly fat
On the coast of the Fimbly Far,
And the beauteous Lady Jingly's hat
Looks up at the evening star.
He weeps alone on the shingly shore,
He pumpkinly goes for a walk,
Drinks his marsala through calico straws,
He haveth a runcible dork.
Rapidly numerous,
Vapidly humorous,
He mourns with a sweet guitar,
The wonderful pussy is loved by the owl
Who feels a complete galah.
When the Yonghy Bonghy has lost his way,
The birds make a nest in his beard,
He sits in the afternoon-tea tree,
And regrets it is just as he feared.