There Was a Man and He Was Mad

DESCRIPTION: The madman spends his life jumping into things -- pudding bag, bottle of wine, bottle of beer, notched stick, etc. Finding each one unsatisfactory, he moves on to the next. Finally he winds up in a situation he cannot handle, and quits/dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1846 (Halliwell)
KEYWORDS: humorous talltale
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Eddy-BalladsAndSongsFromOhio 99, "There Was a Man and He was Mad" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes 321, "There was a man, he went mad" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #178, p. 128, "(There was a man, he went mad)"
ADDITIONAL: J. C. Reid, _A Book of New Zealand_ (Collins National Anthologies), Collins, 1964, p. 333, "Children's Games" ("There was a man and he went mad") (1 text)
ST E099 (Full)
Roud #5336
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "There Was a Man and He Was Mad" (on PeteSeeger03, PeteSeegerCD03)
File: E099

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