Origin
Humpty Dumpty is an English nursery rhyme that has been sung and recited by countless children over the years. Its’ origin is disputed, since it was a nickname for a famous cannon, brandy, and a big person. The cannon story was folklore from England that originated from the siege of Colchester in 1648. Once the great cannon fell, it could not be set back up on the castle wall due to the large amount of manpower required to move it. It’s also possible the first use was for brandy, which lead to those who drank it being called the same. The idea was, once a man fell in his drunken stupor, no one could help him get back up again. This is evidenced by the Oxford English Dictionary, which says it was the name for brandy mixed with ale in the 17th century. The idea of it being a big person, comes from the difficulty of getting a big person back up after falling down. However, this option seems to be the least evidence based, making it the most unlikely.
The First Version
The rhyme was first published in Samuel Arnold’s Juvenile Amusements in 1797. The original went, “Humpti Dumpti sate on a wall, Humpti Dumpti had a great fall; threescore men and threescore more, cannot place Humpti Dumpti as he was before”. When recited in an older English accent, every stanza of this version rhymed. There is no mention of putting him back together in the original, meaning the idea of an egg man is probably a product of the book, “Alice in the Looking Glass”. The story included different children’s poems, but wasn’t the origin of any of them. Some argue the original rhyme was a riddle that intended to have an egg man, but in light of the other possibilities, that seems unlikely. The nature of older English and German tales was dark and adult. These stories had their darker parts removed, making them less serious. They were often dark because they were either adult observations or cautionary tales Ring around the Rosy is a good example of a rhyme with very little change from its’ original form. It basically describes methods of preventing the black plague, as well as the result of catching it.
Modern Version
Humpty Dumpty is considered one of the easiest nursery rhymes to memorize and recite. For some students, it’s the first one they learned. Despite the content of the original, Private and Public schools use the modern version to warn kids about the dangers of falling from great heights. They teach kids to be focused on what they’re doing by telling them his name means “a clumsy man”. This coincides with the idea of it referring to a drunk. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter which version of the rhyme is used, as long as the reciter becomes skilled in orating while learning a moral lesson.