According to Edward Lear, who went to sea in a sieve?
Edward Lear including an International Owl and Pussycat Day on his birth anniversary. In 1846 Lear published "," a volume of limericks which went through three editions and helped popularize the form and the genre of literary nonsense. In 1871 he published "Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets", which included his most famous nonsense song, "The Owl and the Pussycat," which he wrote for the children of his patron Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby. Many other works followed. Lear's nonsense books were quite popular during his lifetime, but a rumour developed that "Edward Lear" was merely a pseudonym, and the books'
Edward Lear were required to leave the family home, Bowmans Lodge, and live together when he was aged four. Ann doted on Edward and continued to act as a mother for him until her death, when he was almost 50 years of age. Lear suffered from lifelong health afflictions. From the age of six he suffered frequent "grand mal" epileptic seizures, and bronchitis, asthma, and during later life, partial blindness. Lear experienced his first seizure at a fair near Highgate with his father. The event scared and embarrassed him. Lear felt lifelong guilt and shame for his epileptic condition. His adult diaries