Does anyone know the story or origin of the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty"?

Answer 1

I found a few theories. Take your pick:

From the East Anglia Tourist Board in England:

"Humpty Dumpty was a powerful cannon during the English Civil War (1642-49). It was mounted on top of the St Marys at the Wall Church in Colchester defending the city against seige in the summer of 1648. (Although Colchester was a Parliamentarian stronghold, it had been captured by the Royalists and they held it for 11 weeks.) The church tower was hit by the enemy and the top of the tower was blown off, sending "Humpty" tumbling to the ground. Naturally the King's men* tried to mend him but in vain."

* NB: The "men" would have been infantry, and "horses" the cavalry troops.

"Humpty Dumpty" referred to King Richard III, the hunchbacked monarch. At the Battle of Bosworth Field, he fell from his steed, a horse he had named "Wall" (as dramatically rendered in Shakespeare's play "Richard III": "A horse! A horse! My Kingdom for a Horse!") Richard was surrounded by enemy troops in the battle, and was butchered right there, his body being hacked to pieces. Hence the final part of the rhyme: "All the King's Horses and All the King's men couldn't put Humpty together again!"

Humpty Dumpty refers to the British use of a machine called a Testudo (an ancient Roman engine of war). The Romans often used this predecessor to the modern tank to cross moats and climb over castle walls. As the story goes, the British army was trying to conquer a castle with a moat, but they had no way to get over the wall, so decide to construct a Testudo. During the night, while the British army was working, the opposing army widened the moat. The next morning when the British attacked, their valuable machine plummeted from the wall into the moat. This failure is why the Testudo was the only Roman warfare technology not widely used by the British Empire. Humpty Dumpty refers to both the look of the machine (it gets its name because it looks like a tortoise) and also to the noise the wheels make as the machine moves forward. 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. The rhyme works perfectly. There is an older version of the rhyme that fits even better, but I can't remember it. The whole egg reference only dates back as far as Lewis Carol's Alice in Wonderland.

Answer 2

Humpty Dumpty: the lyrics

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!

Who was Humpty Dumpty?

Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme: origins & history

Humpty Dumpty was a colloquial term used in 15th century England to describe someone who was fat or obese - giving rise to lots of theories pertaining to the identity of Humpty Dumpty. However, in this case the question should be not Who was Humpty Dumpty but What was Humpty Dumpty? Humpty Dumpty was in fact an unusually large canon which was mounted on the protective wall of "St. Mary's Wall Church" in Colchester, England. It was intended to protect the Parliamentarian stronghold of Colchester which was in the temporarily in control of the Royalists during the period of English history, described as the English Civil War ( 1642 - 1649). A shot from a Parliamentary canon succeeded in damaging the wall underneath Humpty Dumpty causing the canon to fall to the ground. The Royalists 'all the King's men' attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall but even with the help of ' all the King's horses' failed in their task and Colchester fell to the Parliamentarians after a siege lasting eleven weeks.

Love & Blessings
Milly

Answer 3

Actually, there are words BEFORE that. Here they are: In Sixteen Hundred and Forty-Eight When England suffered the pains of state The Roundheads lay siege to Colchester town Where the king's men still fought for the crown There One-Eyed Thompson stood on the wall A gunner of deadliest aim of all From St. Mary's Tower his cannon he fired Humpty-Dumpty was its name Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the king’s horses and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again. I found this by googling "all versus of humpty dumpty." Think how quickly you could have found your own answer if you had just used a search engine.

Answer 4

Who was Humpty Dumpty?
Humpty Dumpty was a colloquial term used in 15th century England to describe someone who was fat or obese - giving rise to lots of theories pertaining to the identity of Humpty Dumpty. However, in this case the question should be not Who was Humpty Dumpty but What was Humpty Dumpty? Humpty Dumpty was in fact an unusually large canon which was mounted on the protective wall of "St. Mary's Wall Church" in Colchester, England. It was intended to protect the Parliamentarian stronghold of Colchester which was in the temporarily in control of the Royalists during the period of English history, described as the English Civil War ( 1642 - 1649). A shot from a Parliamentary canon succeeded in damaging the wall underneath Humpty Dumpty causing the canon to fall to the ground. The Royalists 'all the King's men' attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall but even with the help of ' all the King's horses' failed in their task and Colchester fell to the Parliamentarians after a siege lasting eleven weeks

Answer 5

Humpty Dumpty was a powerful cannon during the English Civil War (1642-49). 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 Parliamentarian stronghold, it was captured by the Royalists who held it for 11 weeks.) The church tower was hit by the enemy and the top of the tower was blown off, sending "Humpty" tumbling to the ground. Naturally the King's men* tried to mend him but in vain.
* The "men" would have been infantry, and "horses" the cavalry troops.

Answer 6

East Anglica Tourist board made that up!
The wikipedia version is not confirmed.

It was a siege tower called Humpty Dumpty in medievil times that collapsed when attacking a castle, dont know where though.

I read it in a book somewhere

Answer 7

It was a big fat gun sat on a wall during the English Civil War. If you read it knowing this, it all makes sense.

Answer 8

It's a cover-up to the conspiracy of one of the queen's prick sons pushing a commoner off the wall.

They cared so little, that they tried to let the horse's fix his cracked skull, but alas, he died.

So she created a story to make the little $hits remember their actions.

Answer 9

Don't Know, but Methinks he was pushed.

Answer 10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpty_Dumpty