by Edward Lear (1812 - 1888), as Derry Down Derry
There was an old man of the Isles
Language: English
There was an old man of the Isles, Whose face was pervaded with smiles; He sang "High dum diddle", And played on the fiddle, That amiable man of the Isles.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Lear (1812 - 1888), as Derry Down Derry, no title, appears in A Book of Nonsense, first published 1846 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "There was an old man of the Isles", 1970, rev. 1974 [2-part chorus of treble voices, strings, descant recorder, trumpet, percussion, and piano], from "There was..." (A Little Festival of Lear Limericks) [text not verified]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), as Karel Drofnatski, "The Compleat Virtuoso", op. 366, published 1960 [voice and piano], from Nonsense Rhymes, no. 10. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 5
Word count: 30