WHAT’S IN A NAME ?

Barnaby Barnaby hated his name,

For the first and the last were exactly the same,

And in the middle was stuck a big “B”,

Which stood for, (you guessed it), one more "Barnaby"!

His father was Arthur, his mother was Nell -

But neither two parents could spell very well,

So when their first child came, they gave their surname

As first, middle and last … yes, each one the same.

It wouldn’t have mattered if there’d been no others,

But after him came 23 baby brothers

And all of them also were named, just as he,

Yes, two dozen brothers, all named Barnaby.

It was “Barnaby!” this, and “Oh, Barnaby!” that,

And nobody knew who was called or for what,

So when nobody answered, and nobody came,

ALL would get punished … but which was to blame?

Finally all twenty four went insane,

From the simple abuse of a singular name!

The doctor, in treating them though, was quite clever,

He’d call them by number, by “Barnaby” never,

And in the end they recovered quite well,

But see what can happen when people can’t spell?

(So, what’s in a name?
If you ask Barnaby

I’m sure he would say
“Quite a lot, actually!”)