DGR wrote several versions of this limerick, the first in 1871 when the controversy over Buchanan's hostile review of DGR's 1870 Poems was published. Another very different version, which WMR called “unpublishable”, was dashed off some years later.
A general commentary on DGR's limericks and their context is available.
WMR was the first to publish the limerick, in his 1911 edition: see 1911 (page 275).
This collection contains 3 texts and images, including:
British Library manuscript
Scholarly Commentary
Introduction
DGR wrote several versions of this limerick, the first in 1871 when the controversy over Buchanan's hostile review of DGR's 1870 Poems was published. Another very different version, which WMR called “unpublishable”, was dashed off some years later.
A general commentary on DGR's limericks and their context is available.
Printing History
WMR was the first to publish the limerick, in his 1911 edition: see 1911 (page 275).