There once was a man from Nantucket

"There once was a man from Nantucket" is the first line in many limericks. This is usually because the word "Nantucket" is easy to rhyme with. The limerick where the line is from was first written for the Princeton Tiger in 1902.[1]

There once was a man from Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
    But his daughter, named Nan,
    Ran away with a man
And as for the bucket, Nantucket (Nan took it). SIGMA

Many other newspapers made limericks about the man and the bucket.[2]

But he followed the pair to Pawtucket,
The man and the girl with the bucket;
    And he said to the man,
    You're welcome to Nan,
But as for the bucket, Pawtucket.

Then the pair followed Pa to Manhasset,
Where he still held the cash as an asset,
    But Nan and the man
    Stole the money and ran,
And as for the bucket, Manhasset.

Sexual versions of the limerick have made it popular.[3] One of these versions comes from 1927 in the book Immortalia.[4][5]

There was a young man from Nantucket
Whose dick was so long he could suck it.
    He said with a grin
    As he wiped (semen) off his chin,
"If my ear was a cunt I would fuck it."

References

  1. ↑ "Nan's Adventures Up to Date". Life. Vol. 41. March 26, 1903. p. 274. Retrieved March 6, 2012 – via Google Books.
  2. ↑ Adams, Cecil (March 8, 1985). "How does the limerick 'There was an old man of Nantucket ...' conclude?". The Straight Dope. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  3. ↑ Moran, Lee (November 17, 2021). "Ted Cruz's Dirty Limerick About Joe Biden Turns Him Into A Twitter Laughingstock". HuffPost. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  4. ↑ Anonymous (1927). Immortalia: An Anthology of American Ballads, Sailors' Songs, Cowboy Songs, College Songs, Parodies, Limericks, and Other Humorous Verses and Doggerel. Library of Alexandria. Limericks XXI. ISBN 978-1-4655-3313-5.
  5. ↑ Adams, Cecil (March 8, 1985). "How does the limerick 'There was an old man of Nantucket ...' conclude?". The Straight Dope. Retrieved March 6, 2012.