There was a mad man he had a mad wife,
And they lived in a mad town;
And they had children three at birth,
And mad they were every one
The father was mad, the mother was mad,
And the children mad beside;
And they all got on a mad horse,
And madly they did ride.
They rode by night and they rode by day,
Yet never a one of them fell;
They rode so madly all the way,
Till they came to the gates of hell.
Old Nick was glad to see them so mad,
And he gladly let them in:
But he soon grew sorry to see them so merry
And he let them out again.
