Bigger Wiggers

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Ivan
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Joined: 23 Aug 2012, 19:10

Bigger Wiggers

Post by Ivan »

I am a librarian and wondered if someone on this forum could help with a query that came up the other day. One of our regular users remembers a poem he learned at school which goes like this:

Two Bigger Wiggers lived
Upon a mountain top
They ran about all day
Because they could not stop

Feet grew upon their legs
They had not any toes
Hair grew upon their heads
...They had not any clothes

And as they daily breakfasted
On shoshiges 'n' tam
Saying "thank you" to each other
When the other passed the pam

????????????????????????
They always went to bed
Beneath an new silk eiderdown
Painted a greenish red

For years he's thought it to be by Edward Lear but it doesn't read like Lear to me and doesn't appear in any of the Lear collections we have. I've discovered that Enid Blyton wrote a book called "Brer Rabbit and theBigger Wiggers" and wondered if it might come from there. Our library user would also like to know how well he's remembered the poem (from schooldays about 60 years ago) and what the missing line in the final verse could be.

Does it ring a bell with anyone?
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Loony the Dog
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Re: Bigger Wiggers

Post by Loony the Dog »

Hi Ivan, :D

I searched the Enid Blyton 'Cave of Books' for the poem and only the short story you mentioned came up. I also searched Google but there is no results. I don't have the book in my collection so can't help. Hopefully somebody maybe can.
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Bigger Wiggers

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I've got a copy of 'Brer Rabbit and the Bigger-Wigger' and it doesn't contain any poems, I'm afraid. In Enid Blyton's story the supposed "Bigger-Wigger" bangs at the door, saying that it's hungry and that it eats foxes, bears, wolves and lions.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

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Ivan
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Re: Bigger Wiggers

Post by Ivan »

Thank you both very much for looking into this. Googling the poem I've managed to find one on line reference which quotes the first verse (only dfference is Bigger Wigger is spelled Bigga Wigga) once again attributing it to Edward Lear. This does seem to prove that the poem does indeed exist and the gentleman's recollection of it isn't too far off the mark. I'll mention the consumption of foxes, bears, wolves and lions to him to see if that rings a bell. From what you say of the 'supposed' Bigger Wigger am I to take it it's all bravado and he's a distant relative of the Gruffalo?
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Bigger Wiggers

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Let's just say that the "Bigger-Wigger" is not all he claims to be!
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Nonsuch
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Joined: 14 Dec 2012, 14:32

Re: Bigga Wiggers

Post by Nonsuch »

The Bigga Wiggers

Two Bigga Wiggers lived upon a mountain top
They ran about all day, because they could not stop
Hair grew upon their heads, they had not any nose
Feet grew upon their legs, they had not any toes

In spite of these advantages their misery was great
For though they ran about all day and sometimes stayed out late
No Quagga Wagga could they find to come and share their lot

They found a cat high up a tree who spat and swore a bit
They found a white and woolly chog who fiercely growled and bit
They found a turtle 'neath a stone who said 'just mind my eggs'
If you're not very careful friends, I'll break your thin old legs

They hurriedly departed then and sadly went to bed
Beneath a new spring eiderdown painted a greenish red

This is from my 87 year old uncle - how he remembers it from 80 years ago. Says it's Edward Lear.
Ivan
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Joined: 23 Aug 2012, 19:10

Re: Bigger Wiggers

Post by Ivan »

Sorry for not replying sooner Nonesuch. I haven't logged onto this site really since last year but was showing it to someone today who'd visited the library and expressed an interest in Enid Blyton.

I think the verse you have is better quality than the one I'd been given and will check our Lear books to see if it, or anything similar, is in them.

Thank you very much for responding to this enquiry. It's amazing isn't it how these old poems stick in the memory.
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