And the new town is Shepton Mallet which used to boast an amateur American Football team called the Shepton Mallet Wombats. It was my favourite sports team name.

I didn't consider it before because of familiarity-blindness but perhaps a guide to pronunciation is in order...

shep as in SHEPherd
ton as in TON
mal as in MALevolent
let as in walLET

And the good news is that it rhymes with at least one word - or two if you consider the guy I went to school with - a chap called Hallet.

Wow. These are just getting easier and easier.

Well, even though I complained about this one, I came up with something that I sent Bob. To be honest, it was kind of fun to be so challenged. Mine is, let's say, a bit out of the ordinary.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard English:
And the good news is that it rhymes with at least one word - or two if you consider the guy I went to school with - a chap called Hallet.

I lay claim! That's my mother's maiden name.

So far I have six from four contributors. (Plus my own) Are there any more.
Sorry this has dragged on but I've had a stinking cold all week and haven't felt like paying much attention to the internet.

Any more?

Aw, sorry, Bob. Drink your fluids and take plenty of vitamin C. We're patient, aren't we Wordcrafters?

I'm afraid I've been rather slow with this, but here, at long last, are the Shepton Mallet entries.

First of all we have from jerry, riffing on the idea of the Shepton Mallet Wombats

A Wombat from old Shepton Mallet
Carried his cash in his wallet
And as for the rest
Of the wealth he possessed
There was only his whatchamacallit.

Sadly to the British ear none of the A-rhymes actually rhyme but I'll judge by local standards.

Next up from bethree5 there is

A true fan of dance named Hallet
Went sightseeing in Shepton Mallet.
A hole in the Swallet
Swallowed his wallet
Now he can’t buy a billet for ballet.

Odd rhyme in L5 there bethree. Isn't that last word pronounced bal-lay?

Richard has give us a trio this week (complete with hiw own editorial notes) with

A bold gal from near Shepton Mallet
Had surely a strange kind of palate.
Her tastes weren't for food --
It was something more lewd --
Men's parts were what this sexy gal ate.

Pronunciation note: Where I come from "ate" can be pronounced as it is written or as "ett".

My sports-mad old school-friend Dave Hallet --
Has retired and lives near Shepton Mallet.
He watches the combats
Of their team, "The Wombats"
Though "real" football more suits his palate.

Note. I did really go to school with Dave Hallett and he was sports mad. When I last heard of him he was the football columnist for the Surrey Mirror - although that was many years ago and I have no idea where he now lives.

The Somerset town, Shepton Mallet
Is quiet with no trains or canal. It
Seem strange then to say
That just 3 miles away
Glastonbury will cause ear canal hit.

And finally in the competition entries Kalleh has provided

This Kalleh is not so adept in
Writing this lim'rick; she wept 'n
Groused on the chat,
Saying, "Please don't do that!
I can't write on this Mallet of Shepton!"

And not competing, my own brace of limericks comprises

When a fellow from near Shepton Mallet
Was out courting one day with his gal, it
Was, "Our romance was meant,
but our parents' consent?
That shalln't concern us much, shall it?"

and

A llama farm near Shepton Mallet
Had a llama hat jumped the canal, it
Escaped down the lane
But was brought back agaian
When they managed at last to corral it.

And the winner – solely on the grounds that it forces her to choose the next word – is Kalleh.

Congratulations to Kalleh. My mind is already working on possible rhymes for Winnetka...

While we wait .....
Contemporary public figures felt free to poke fun at Beecher. One was Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes who penned this classic limerick:


"Said the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher
'The hen is an elegant creature.'
The hen pleased with that
Laid an egg in his hat.
And thus did the hen reward Beecher."

If Justice Holmes had asked me to "workshop" his limerick I might have suggested that the first line be .... "Said a prominent Protestant preacher, ...... " ... mainly for the alliteration.

Wasn't there a prominent Polish preacher named Sczinettka ?

Thank you, Bob. It sounds as though the squeaky wheel won.

tsk, tsk, didn't like "ballet[te]", huh? Just having a little fun with the British wont to pronounce foreign words á l'anglaise...

How about a few "Illinois" limericks now? So far I have exactly zero!