Yesterday Priceless Joy commented that doggerels sound like fun and how right she is.

Many famous writers have from time to time dabbled in doggerel and Lewis Carroll, famous for his marvellous works, Alice in Wonderland, Alice through the Looking Glass and The Hunting of the Snark was one of the great masters.

Try as I might, I’ve never been able to memorise examples of his doggerel, with one exception. After you’ve read this short little extract from Chapter 1 of Alice through the looking Glass I’m sure you will understand:

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves, did gyre and gamble in the wabe, all mimsy were the borogoves, and the more rates outgrabe.’

‘Beware the Jabberwocky, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!’

And as in uffish thought he stood, the Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, came whiffling through the bulgy wood, and burbled as it came!

Now, just for fun, try reading it out loud two or three times, it’s quite a hoot. Don’t even bother with pronunciation.Then try committing it to memory. I kid you not, it’s pretty difficult to accomplish.

The one I can remember is from Carroll’s ‘The Hunting of the Snark’ described, I once read as ‘An agony in eight fits’.

Anyway, here we go:

He would joke with hyenas, returning their stare with an upwardly wag of the head and he once went a walk hand in hand with a bear just to keep up its spirits he said.

These days writers seem to have become terribly serious in their work and I haven’t come across too many examples of doggerel since I had the pleasure of reading some of the scripts from the old BBC production of the Goon Show.  Spike Milligan was masters of the art.

I’m certain if you dig around you will find lots of doggerel to keep you amused and you might even write some yourself.

Hoo roo for now.