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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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limerick
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The most popular verse form in Britain for improvised humorous poetry and also the main vehicle for risqué rhymes. It was a medium for comic verse from the early 19C, though the name has not been found in print before the 1890s – by which time people were already perplexed as to its origin (no convincing explanation has been found). The rhythm (tittytum tittytum tittytum) and the rhyme scheme (aabba) make the limerick instantly recognizable.
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Its wide popularity must derive to some extent from Edward *Lear. He used it for every poem in his first published work (A Book of Nonsense 1846), from which a typical example is: There was an Old Man in a tree,
Who was horribly bored by a Bee;
When they said, 'Does it buzz?'
He replied, 'Yes, it does!
It's a regular brute of a Bee!'
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