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Digerie, digerie, doge.
La souris ascend l'horloge.
L'horloge frappe
La souris s'échappe,
Digerie, digerie, doge.
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Langford Reed quoted this 'limerick' in My Limerick Book (London
and Edinburgh, Nelson, 1937) as proof of a French origin of the form.
He also used it to support his view of the origin of the name:
The name 'Limerick' is indirectly connected with the Treaty of Limerick
(1691) which brought peace between England and Ireland and released
many thousands of trained Irish soldiers for service as mercenaries
in 'The Irish Brigade' in France ... To cut a long story short, the
form of the rhyme which had been so popular in France, became equally
popular among her Irish Allies ... and ... when ... this form of verse
became so popular in England as to require a general title, the one
already used in Ireland was adopted. And that's how the Limerick got
its name.
(L. Reed, The Complete Limerick Book, London, Jarrods, 1924,
p. 18; cited in Bibby, p. 33)
Reed also mentioned another French limerick he found in a footnote to
Boswell's Life of Johnson:
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On s'étonne ici que Caliste
Ait pris l'habite de Moliniste.
Puisque cette jeune beauté
Ote à chacun sa liberté,
N'est-ce pas une Janseniste?
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See also The Pentatette, XV.12, September 1996, p. 1.
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