What is the real story behind Humpty Dumpty?
Zita Hammes
2025-06-18 14:49:04
Count answers: 1
Incredibly, the original Humpty Dumpty wasn’t an egg. He was probably a cannon. The original story pre-dates Carroll’s take on the character. According to a number of military historians, Humpty Dumpty was the name of a cannon used by the Royalists during the English Civil War. The conflict raged from 1642 to 1649, and in June of 1648, Humpty Dumpty was stationed on the walls of Colchester. The next month, however, the Parliamentary forces heavily damaged the walls beneath Humpty Dumpty with their own artillery. You can guess where this is going: Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, and broke into pieces. As for that business with all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, it seems those lines can be taken literally. The Royalists, or Cavaliers, were very much the king’s men, fighting in support of King Charles I—who would go on to lose the war and his head, pathing the way for Oliver Cromwell’s brief stint as Lord Protector.
Wilfred Littel
2025-06-12 03:35:26
Count answers: 2
The main character of the little song, or nursery rhyme, is an egg named Humpty Dumpty. The song, which has origins in England, most likely began as a riddle. Others have suggested that Humpty Dumpty is, in fact, a reference to King Richard III of England who was depicted as a humpback in several places, including in Shakespeare’s play. Others have suggested Humpty was a reference to a Cardinal or even a tortoise. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, in the 17th century, the term “humpty dumpty” referred to a drink made of brandy boiled with ale. The term also was an 18th-century bit of slang for a short and clumsy person. Perhaps it’s a metaphor for things breaking, once an egg is shattered this is no putting it back together, not for you, not for the king’s men. Or, maybe, more than a metaphor for a shattered vase, it’s a reference to a fallen king or monarch, once a leader falls, there is no going back. Another theory is that a “Humpty Dumpty” was a slang term for a cannon that was managed to get atop a tower wall and fire down below.
Piper Kshlerin
2025-06-01 07:28:29
Count answers: 2
The most well-known form of the nursery rhyme goes like this:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
However, it is quite likely that the story behind this innocent little rhyme is a lot different than what most people picture when they hear Humpty Dumpty.
Not only was Humpty not an egg, but according to many historians, he was likely a military cannon.
To get the story behind this, we have to go back to 1648 when the English Civil War was nearing its end.
In an attempt to try and hold off the Parliamentary army, King Charles I had his men stationed several cannons along the walls of Colchester.
Not surprisingly, one of these cannons happened to be nicknamed Humpty Dumpty.
As the nursery rhyme alludes to, Humpty Dumpty experienced a vast amount of artillery fire on his section of the wall, making it unable to support the weight of the canon any longer.
As a result, Humpty came tumbling to the ground and was instantly smashed into several pieces.
Try as they might, none of the King’s men would be able to fix such a level of destruction caused to the cannon.
Therefore, Humpty Dumpty remained inoperable and the King’s army would proceed to lose the war the following year.
While this story has never been completely confirmed as being the true inspiration behind Humpty Dumpty, it among the most prevalent origin stories for the rhyme.
Yes, your child’s favorite nursery rhyme is likely really about an ancient military weapon.
Lindsey Legros
2025-05-27 04:28:10
Count answers: 2
When you hear the name “Humpty Dumpty,” a whimsical egg-shaped character sitting on a wall likely comes to mind. But this nursery rhyme is borrowed straight from military history. As it turns out, Humpty Dumpty was a gigantic siege cannon. Royalists employed it during the English Civil War in 1648. They set the cannon up at the top of the St. Mary-at-the-Walls church tower, where it remained until enemy forces blew up the building and Humpty took his infamous fall.
Herminia Abernathy
2025-05-16 04:59:39
Count answers: 1
Humpty Dumpty is the protagonist of the English nursery rhyme, ‘Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall’. Perhaps due to his fragility revealed in the fall, he has often been portrayed as an egg – including by actor George L. Fox in his Broadway pantomime Humpty Dumpty, and by Lewis Caroll in his weird and wonderful Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Some historians believe Humpty Dumpty was simply a device for a riddle around breakable things. Others have suggested that Humpty Dumpty is King Richard III of England, who is supposed to have been humpbacked and who was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. We could assume Humpty Dumpty is the King, the wall is his reign and fight to preserve power, the fall is his defeat, and ‘All the king’s horses and all the king’s men’ the army that failed to prevail. Another theory is that Humpty is actually a cannon. During the English Civil War, history says, a one-eyed gunner named Thompson managed to get a cannon – colloquially called ‘Humpty Dumpty’, to the top of the tower of St Mary at the Walls church and wreak untold destruction on the forces below, before return cannon fire dislodged the pair of them. A professor David Daube once had a fourth theory to add, in 1956, he posited that ‘Humpty Dumpty’ might have been reference to an armoured siege engine that was deployed unsuccessfully in the 1643 Siege of Gloucester during the English Civil War. Francis Grose’s Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue from 1785 defines ‘Humpty Dumpty’ as “a short clumsy person of either sex; also ale boiled with brandy”, so the rhyme could have derived from either meaning.
Read also
- What rides have been removed from Blackpool Pleasure Beach?
- What is the oldest ride at Blackpool?
- What happened to the wild mouse at Blackpool?
- What rides are closed Blackpool?
- Do they still do donkey rides in Blackpool?
- Is the gold mine still at Blackpool Pleasure Beach?
- What happened to the three blind mice?
- When did the log flume close at Blackpool?
- Why is Valhalla closed Blackpool?
- What is happening to the big one in Blackpool?
- Why did Space Invader close?
- What is the darkest nursery rhyme?
- Why are 3 blind mice banned?
- Why is Valhalla closed in Blackpool?
- Why is Ice Blast Blackpool closed?
- Why did Valhalla change?
- What happened to Bling at Blackpool Pleasure Beach?
- What is the dark meaning of baa baa black sheep?
- Is the mousetrap based on Three Blind Mice?