Damn the healthy living. I'd give my right arm for a pint of Caledonian Sixty Shilling ale and the house ham sandwich in the Old Ship Inn in Perth. It has to be tasted to be believed. To assuage the craving I'll quote a Robert Burns poem instead.I know you're a great man for the limericks too, so I thought you might like this. I've never been clear on the link between Limerick rhymes & the city of Limerick, but apparently there is a case to be made. Críostóir O'Flynn explains in his book, "Irish Humorous Poetry"*, that the name comes from the practice of composing extemporaneous verses, at the end of each of which the audience would sing "Will You Come Up To Limerick." O'Flynn then argues that the typical AABBA limerick verse form existed in Irish before Lear ever set pen to paper. In Irish though, the limerick has only four lines..[snip A Man's a Man for A' That]
Seán Ó Tuama (1708-1775) complains about non-paying customers:
Luimneach
Seán Ó Tuama
Irish Humorous Poetry
edited by
Críostóir O'Flynn
New York:
Hippocrene Books, 1999
Limerick -
translation
by Críostóir O'Flynn
Is duine mé dhíolas leann, lá
is chuireas mo bhuíon chun rangcáis
Muna mbeidh duine ar mo chuideachta dhíolfas
Mise bheas thíos leis in antráth
Limerick
Seán Ó Tuama
I'm a person who daily sells drinks
And my company sets to high jinks
But I say, by the way,
if some one fails to pay
it's O'Flynn's loss when the account sinks
... and Aindréas Mac Craith (1710-1795) responds
