Lang. There was a man and he was mad

From The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang.

This is Roud 5336.

THERE WAS A MAN AND HE WAS MAD

There was a man and he was mad,
And he jump'd into a pea-swad;

(pea-pod/ pea-swad)

The pea-swad was over-full,
So he jump'd into a roaring bull;

The roaring bull was over-fat,
So he jump'd into a gentleman's hat;

The gentleman's hat was over-fine,
So he jump'd into a bottle of wine;

The bottle of wine was over-dear,
So he jump'd into a bottle of beer;

The bottle of beer was over-thick,
So he jump'd into a club-stick;

The club-stick was over-narrow,
So he jump'd into a wheel-barrow;

The wheel-barrow began to crack,
So he jump'd on to a hay-stack;

The hay-stack began to blaze,
So he did nothing but cough and sneeze!


NOTES

swad. The pod or shell of a pea.