There was an Old Man of El Hums*,
Who lived upon nothing but Crumbs,
Which he picked off the ground, with the other birds round,
In the roads and the lanes of El Hums.
-Edward Lear: “More Nonsense, Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc.” (1872), ‘Twenty-Six Nonsense Rhymes and Pictures,’ page 243
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the next article, or click or tap on these words to read Birds Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.
*‘El Hums’ is the fictional setting of a limerick poem by Edward Lear. The first line of the poem reads, “There was an Old Man of El Hums.” The poem is from his book, “More Nonsense, Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc.” (1872), with an accompanying whimsical illustration by Mr. Lear, depicting a man and four birds picking crumbs from the ground. Mr. Lear's limericks were typically published in four lines, although limericks are also commonly written in five lines, with the third and fourth lines indented.
Edward Lear was born on 12 May 1812 in Halloway, England, as one of twenty-one children of a stockbroker and his wife. His spent his childhood in a comfortable home in Highgate. Because of his epilepsy and asthma, he was educated at home by his sisters Anne and Sarah. They introduced him to sketching and coloring. Through his interest and energy, though having had no formal training, he became a skilled draftsman. He traveled extensively in Egypt, India, Malta, Albania, Greece, the Holy Land, Ceylon, and Italy, and while visiting these countries, he used his talents as a watercolor painter to create pictures of birds, animals, and landscapes. He is known for his marvelous paintings of parrots and for his many whimsical illustrations made to accompany the nonsense limericks and poems he wrote, including the one shown above. Edward Lear passed on at 76 years of age on 29 January 1888 in San Remo, Italy.
Who lived upon nothing but Crumbs,
Which he picked off the ground, with the other birds round,
In the roads and the lanes of El Hums.
-Edward Lear: “More Nonsense, Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc.” (1872), ‘Twenty-Six Nonsense Rhymes and Pictures,’ page 243
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the next article, or click or tap on these words to read Birds Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.
*‘El Hums’ is the fictional setting of a limerick poem by Edward Lear. The first line of the poem reads, “There was an Old Man of El Hums.” The poem is from his book, “More Nonsense, Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc.” (1872), with an accompanying whimsical illustration by Mr. Lear, depicting a man and four birds picking crumbs from the ground. Mr. Lear's limericks were typically published in four lines, although limericks are also commonly written in five lines, with the third and fourth lines indented.
Edward Lear was born on 12 May 1812 in Halloway, England, as one of twenty-one children of a stockbroker and his wife. His spent his childhood in a comfortable home in Highgate. Because of his epilepsy and asthma, he was educated at home by his sisters Anne and Sarah. They introduced him to sketching and coloring. Through his interest and energy, though having had no formal training, he became a skilled draftsman. He traveled extensively in Egypt, India, Malta, Albania, Greece, the Holy Land, Ceylon, and Italy, and while visiting these countries, he used his talents as a watercolor painter to create pictures of birds, animals, and landscapes. He is known for his marvelous paintings of parrots and for his many whimsical illustrations made to accompany the nonsense limericks and poems he wrote, including the one shown above. Edward Lear passed on at 76 years of age on 29 January 1888 in San Remo, Italy.
