2006-12-22 02:33:45 · 25 answers · asked by Chloelouise 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
Humpty Dumpty was a powerful cannon during the English Civil War. It was mounted on top of the St Mary's at the Wall Church in Colchester defending the city against siege in the summer of 1648. Although Colchester was a Royalist stronghold, it was besieged by the Roundheads for 11 weeks before finally falling. The church tower was hit by enemy cannon fire and the top of the tower was blown off, sending "Humpty" tumbling to the ground. Naturally all the King's horses and all the King's men (Royalist cavalry and infantry respectively) tried to mend "him" but in vain.
2006-12-22 02:41:08 · answer #1 · answered by M M 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Humpty dumpty was originally a rude name for someone with a hunched back. It was the nickname of a heavy field gun used during the Napoleonic wars, and the nursery rhyme refers to an unfortunate incident when it fell and exploded.
In Alice through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carol has an incident involving Humpty Dumpty - presumably referring to the nursery rhyme rather than the gun or the physical impairment. When the book was illustrated (I believe by Tenniel) he was drawn as an egg.
2006-12-22 02:39:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That Humpty Dumpty is an egg is not actually stated in the rhyme. In its first printed form, in 1810, it is a riddle, and exploits for misdirection the fact that "humpty dumpty" was 18th-Century reduplicative slang for a short, clumsy person. Whereas a clumsy person falling off a wall would not be irreparably damaged, an egg would be. The rhyme is no longer posed as a riddle, since the answer is now so well known. Similar riddles have been recorded by folklorists in other languages, such as Boule Boule in French, or Lille Trille in Swedish; though none is as widely known as Humpty Dumpty is in English.
2006-12-22 02:36:15 · answer #3 · answered by Melli 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well said by MM. the cavs couldn't put humpty together again after it was blown off its moorings during the anglo civil war
in more recent times we have the lyrics: do the humpty dance, come on and do the humpty dance, uhh
2006-12-22 03:49:55 · answer #4 · answered by Super G 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
HUMPTY DUMPTY WAS AN EGG ARE THE FIRST FOUR WORDS OF THE FIRST LINE OF THE FIRST STANZA OF THE FIRST POEM ABOUT HUMPTY BY LEWIS CARROLL, HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN BIOGRAPHER.
2006-12-25 09:03:44 · answer #5 · answered by andrew795459 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it wasn't it was a cannon that fell off the wall of parliment and all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put humpty back together again
2006-12-22 20:14:30 · answer #6 · answered by william_callen 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Listen to the Beastie Boys
2006-12-23 13:21:30 · answer #7 · answered by ssyrah 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
M M is correct. It was an English Civil War cannon.
2006-12-22 02:45:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
He wasn't, it is just that illustrators depicted an egg to represent somthing that can't be put back together again.
2006-12-24 11:08:59 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
all the kings horses and all the kings men testified at the trial but it was really the queen that had the final word.
2006-12-22 02:36:13 · answer #10 · answered by goddess 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋