Sixteen Wonderful Old Women – Website of T. K. Finchley

Sixteen Wonderful Old Women (1820)

Below we present:

a description of the book;
a copy of the collection of limericks with the illustrations in colour;
a black and white scan of the 1822 third edition.

Sixteen Wonderful Old Women (With Colour Pictures)

Sixteen Wonderful Old Women (Black And White Scan)

Description of the book

The History of Sixteen Wonderful Old Women is the first known book of limericks. Each limerick has an accompanying colour illustration. It was first published by J. Harris & Son in London in 1820. It is not known who the author was. The full title of the book is: The History of Sixteen Wonderful Old Women, Illustrated by as many Engravings; Exhibiting their Principal Eccentricities and Amusements. Much credit is due to our Artist, I ween; For such Pictures as these can seldom be seen.

The book was popular and ran through many editions. After the first edition in 1820, there was a second edition in 1821, a third edition in 1822, and a fourth undated edition was brought out in the 1830s (page 58, [Moon (1987)]).

The Hockliffe Collection has a copy of the first edition from 1820, as well as a copy of the third edition from 1822.

The limerick may have been a popular verse form in oral culture, but no printed collection seems to have appeared prior to the publication of Sixteen Wonderful Old Women in 1820. The impact of this book was quickly felt. The rival publisher of children’s books, John Marshall, very soon published two new limerick collections, namely Anecdotes and Adventures of Fifteen Gentleman circa 1821 and Anecdotes and Adventures of Fifteen Young Ladies circa 1822.

In the limericks in Sixteen Wonderful Old Women, the final line always ends with the same word as the first line. The limericks in Anecdotes and Adventures of Fifteen Gentleman and Anecdotes and Adventures of Fifteen Young Ladies represented a step forward in the development of the limerick, in that at least some of their limericks used different but rhyming words to end the first and last lines. According to his own account, it was Anecdotes and Adventures of Fifteen Gentleman that inspired Edward Lear to produce his celebrated Book of Nonsense in 1846.

The limericks in Sixteen Wonderful Old Women all possess a main character, a woman, all but one of whom is associated with a particular place; for example, the opening line of one of the limericks is There was an Old Woman of Leeds. Each limerick tells a little story. Frequently, the main character has an eccentric habit, and sometimes minor misfortunes befall them. Whilst it could be argued that some of the limericks offer a cautionary tale, the limericks are more often ridiculous than cautionary, so it seems clear that their only real purpose is to amuse. These chief features of the limericks — an eccentric main character from a given place, minor misfortune, ridiculousness, and humour — have remained chief features of limericks to the present day.

REFERENCES

M. Moon, John Harris’s books for youth, 1801–1843, revised edition, Winchester, 1987.

Sixteen Wonderful Old Women
(With Colour Illustrations)

MISTRESS TOWL

There was an Old Woman named Towl
Who went out to Sea with her Owl,
But the Owl was Sea-sick
And scream’d for Physic;
Which sadly annoy’d Mistress Towl.

OLD WOMAN OF GLOSTER

There was an Old Woman at Gloster,
Whose parrot two guineas it cost her;
But his tongue never ceasing,
Was vastly displeasing
To that talkative Woman of Gloster.

OLD WOMAN OF EALING

There was an old woman of Ealing,
She jump’d till her head touch’d the ceiling;
When 2 1 6 4
Was announc’d at her door,
As a prize to th’Old Woman of Ealing.

OLD WOMAN OF NORWICH

There was an Old Woman of Norwich,
Who liv’d on nothing but porridge,
Parading the town,
She turned cloak into gown,
That thrifty Old Woman of Norwich.

OLD WOMAN OF HARROW

There was an Old Woman of Harrow,
Who visited in a Wheel barrow,
And her servant before,
Knock’d loud at each door;
To announce the Old Woman of Harrow.

OLD WOMAN OF CROYDON

There was an Old Woman of Croydon,
To look young she affected the Hoyden,
And would jump and would skip,
Till she put out her hip;
Alas poor Old Woman of Croydon.

OLD WOMAN OF GOSPORT

There was an Old woman of Gosport,
And she was one of the cross sort,
While she dress’d for the ball,
Her wig was too small;
Which enrag’d this Old Lady of Gosport.

OLD WOMAN OF LEITH

There was an Old Woman of Leith,
Who had a sad pain in her Teeth,
But the Blacksmith uncouth,
Scar’d the pain from her tooth;
Which rejoic’d the Old Woman of Leith.

OLD WOMAN OF FRANCE

There came an Old Woman from France,
Who taught grown up Children to dance,
But they were so stiff,
She sent them home in a miff,
This sprightly Old Woman from France.

OLD WOMAN OF SURREY

There was an Old Woman of Surrey,
Who was morn noon and night, in a hurry,
Call’d her husband a Fool,
Drove her children to school;
The worrying Old Woman of Surrey.

OLD WOMAN OF EXETER

There dwelt an Old Woman of Exeter,
When visitors came it sore vexed her,
So for fear they should eat,
She lock’d up all the meat;
This stingy Old Woman of Exeter.

OLD WOMAN OF BATH

There was an Old woman of Bath,
And she was as thin as a Lath,
She was brown as a berry,
With a Nose like a Cherry;
This skinny Old Woman of Bath.

OLD WOMAN OF SPAIN

There was an Old Woman in Spain,
To be civil went much ‘gainst the grain,
Yet she danc’d a fandango,
With General Fernando;
This whimsical Woman of Spain.

OLD WOMAN OF LEEDS

There was an Old Woman of Leeds,
Who spent all her life in Good Deeds,
She work’d for the poor,
Till her fingers were sore,
This pious Old Woman of Leeds.

OLD WOMAN OF DEVON

There was an Old Woman of Devon,
Who rose every morning at seven,
For her house to provide,
And to warm her inside;
This provident Woman of Devon.

OLD WOMAN OF LYNN

There liv’d an Old Woman at Lynn,
Whose Nose very near touch’d her chin,
You may easy suppose,
She had plenty of Beaux;
This charming Old Woman of Lynn.