The Owl and the Pussycat

Today marks 200 years since Edward Lear was born. He was an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily
for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his
limericks, a form that he popularised.  

Almost everyone knows his nonsense poem  "The Owl and the Pussycat"                                                                     

The Owl

 and the Pussycat

 went to sea

In a beautiful pea-green boat,

They took some honey,

and plenty of money,

                                          Wrapped up in a five pound note.

                                     The Owl looked up to the stars above,




                                                           And sang to a small guitar,

‘O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,

What a beautiful Pussy you are,

You are,

You are!

What a beautiful Pussy you are!’

II

Pussy said to the Owl, ‘You elegant fowl!

How charmingly sweet you sing!

O let us be married! too long we have tarried:

But what shall we do for a ring?’

They sailed away, for a year and a day,

To the land where the Bong-tree grows

And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood

With a ring at the end of his nose,

His nose,

His nose,

With a ring at the end of his nose.

III

‘Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling

Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’

So they took it away, and were married next day

By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

They danced by the light of the moon,

The moon,

The moon,

They danced by the light of the moon.

Now it is confession time!   I did not tat the owl, Jane did and I borrowed it from her many years ago on the understanding that I would tat one myself and hand it back to her. I will one day, promise! But in the meantime here is the pattern.  Just looked at the top scan and think I got his beak folded under!

I did tat the cat (gosh that rhymes!) and it is taken from a book called Tatted Animals by Inga Madsen.  I have owned the book for a very long time and remember starting the elephant and then getting completely lost so gave up and have never had the bravery to go back to the book, until last week.  Now I am really looking forward to tatting some more animals from Inga's book.