Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English language nursery rhyme probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world.1 He is typically portrayed as an egg and has appeared or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture. The rhyme has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13026. Contents 1 Lyrics 2 Origins 3 In Through the Looking-Glass 4 Other appearances in fiction and popular culture 5 See also 6 Notes Lyrics

The most common modern text is:

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.1 Origins

The rhyme does not explicitly state that the subject is an egg because it probably was originally posed as a riddle.1 The earliest known version is in a manuscript addition to a copy of Mother Goose's Melody published in 1803 which has the modern version with a different last line: "Could not set Humpty Dumpty up again".1 It was first published in 1811 in a version of Gammer Gurton's Garland as:

Humpty Dumpty sate sic on a wall Humpti Dumpti sic had a great fall; Threescore men and threescore more Cannot place Humpty dumpty as he was before.2

According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term "humpty dumpty" referred to a drink of brandy boiled with ale in the seventeenth century.1 The riddle probably exploited for misdirection the fact that "humpty dumpty" was also eighteenth-century reduplicative slang for a short and clumsy person.3 The riddle may depend on the assumption that whereas a clumsy person falling off a wall might not be irreparably damaged an egg would be.1 The rhyme is no longer posed as a riddle since the answer is now so well known.1 Similar riddles have been recorded by folklorists in other languages such as "Boule Boule" in French or "Lille Trille" in Swedish and Norwegian; though none is as widely known as Humpty Dumpty is in English.1

There are also various theories of an original "Humpty Dumpty". The suggestion that Humpty Dumpty was a "tortoise" siege engine an armoured frame used unsuccessfully to approach the walls of the Parliamentary held city of Gloucester in 1643 during the Siege of Gloucester in the English Civil War was put forward in 1956 by Professor David Daube in The Oxford Magazine of February 16 1956 on the basis of a contemporary account of the attack but without evidence that the rhyme was connected.4 The theory part of an anonymous series of articles on the origin of nursery rhymes was widely acclaimed in academia5 but was derided by others as "ingenuity for ingenuity's sake" and declared to be a spoof.67 The link was nevertheless popularised by a children's musical first performed in 1969.8 From 1996 the website of Colchester tourist board attributed the origin of the rhyme to a cannon recorded as used from the church of St Mary-at-the-Wall by the Royalist defenders in the siege of 1648.9 In his 2008 book Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes author Albert Jack claimed that there were two other verses supporting this claim.10 Elsewhere he claimed to have found them in an "old dusty library in an even older book"11 but did not state what the book was or where it was found. It has been pointed out that the two additional verses are not in the style of the seventeenth century or the existing rhyme and that they do not fit with the earliest printed version of the rhyme which do not mention horses and men.9

Another theory advanced by Katherine Ewles Thomas12 and adopted by Robert Ripley1 posits that Humpty Dumpty is King Richard III of England depicted in Tudor histories and particularly in Shakespeare's play as humpbacked and who was defeated despite his armies at Bosworth Field in 1485. However the term humpback was not recorded until the eighteenth century and no direct evidence linking the rhyme with the historical figure has been advanced.13

American actor George L. Fox helped to popularize the character in 19th century stage productions of pantomime music and rhyme.14 In Through the Looking-Glass Humpty Dumpty and Alice. From Through the Looking-Glass. Illustration by John Tenniel. Humpty appears in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (1872) where he discusses semantics and pragmatics with Alice.     I dont know what you mean by glory  Alice said.     Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. Of course you donttill I tell you. I meant theres a nice knock-down argument for you!      But glory doesnt mean a nice knock-down argument Alice objected.     When I use a word Humpty Dumpty said in a rather a scornful tone it means just what I choose it to meanneither more nor less.     The question is said Alice whether you can make words mean so many different things.     The question is said Humpty Dumpty which is to be master      thats all.     Alice was too much puzzled to say anything so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. Theyve a temper some of themparticularly verbs theyre the proudestadjectives you can do anything with but not verbshowever I can manage the whole lot! Impenetrability! Thats what I say!15 This passage was used in Britain by Lord Atkin and in his dissenting judgement in the seminal case Liversidge v. Anderson (1942) where he protested about the distortion of a statute by the majority of the House of Lords.16 It also became a popular citation in United States legal opinions appearing in 250 judicial decisions in the Westlaw database as of April 19 2008 including two Supreme Court cases (TVA v. Hill and Zschernig v. Miller).17 It has been suggested that Carroll's Humpty Dumpty had prosopagnosia on the basis of his description of his finding faces hard to recognize.     The face is what one goes by generally Alice remarked in a thoughtful tone.     Thats just what I complain of said Humpty Dumpty. Your face is the same as everybody hasthe two eyes so       (marking their places in the air with his thumb) nose in the middle mouth under. Its always the same. Now if you had the two eyes on the same side of the nose for instanceor the mouth at the topthat would be some help.18 Other appearances in fiction and popular culture Humpty Dumpty shown as a riddle with answer in a 1902 Mother Goose story book by William Wallace Denslow In addition to his appearance in Through the Looking-Glass as a character Humpty Dumpty has been used in a large range of literary works including L. Frank Baum's Mother Goose in Prose (1901) where the rhyming riddle is devised by the daughter of the king having witnessed Humpty's "death" and her father's soldiers' efforts to save him.19 Robert Rankin used Humpty Dumpty as one victim of a serial fairy-tale character murderer in The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse (2002).20 Jasper Fforde included Humpty Dumpty in two of his novels The Well of Lost Plots (2003)21 and The Big Over Easy (2005)22 which use him respectively as a ringleader of dissatisfied nursery rhyme characters threatening to strike and as the victim of a murder. The rhyme has also been used as a reference in more serious literary works including Robert Penn Warren's 1946 American novel All the King's Men the story of populist politician Willie Stark's rise to the position of governor and eventual fall based on the career of the corrupt Louisiana Senator Huey Long which won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize and was made into a film All the King's Men and which won the 1949 Academy Award for best motion picture.23 This was echoed in Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's book All the President's Men about the Watergate scandal referring to the failure of the President's staff to repair the damage once the scandal had leaked out. It was filmed as All the President's Men in 1976 starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman.24 The rhyme is also referenced multiple times in James Joyce's 1939 novel Finnegans Wake in reference to the "fall" of protagonist Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker (HCE). It has also been used as a common motif in popular music including Hank Thompson's "Humpty Dumpty Heart" (1948).25 Travis' The Humpty Dumpty Love Song26 The Monkees' "All the King's Horses" and Aretha Franklin's "All the King's Horses" (1972).27 In jazz Ornette Coleman and Chick Corea wrote different compositions both incidentally titled Humpty Dumpty (in Corea's case however it is a part of a concept album inspired by Lewis Carroll called "The Mad Hatter").2829 In comic books there is a villain called Humphrey Dumpler also referred to as Humpty Dumpty an obvious play on his name who has an obsession with disassembling things and then reassembling them. according to REAL BATMAN CHRONOLOGY PROJECT Humpty "disassembled" his abusive grandmother and then attempted to reassemble her. See also Children's literature portal Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Humpty Dumpty All the King's Horses All the King's Men Un Petit d'un Petit a homophonic translation into faux French Notes a b c d e f g h i I. Opie and P. Opie The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1951 2nd edn. 1997) ISBN 0-19-869111-4 pp. 213-5. Joseph Ritson Gammer Gurton's Garland: or the Nursery Parnassus; a Choice Collection of Pretty Songs and Verses for the Amusement of All Little Good Children Who Can Neither Read Nor Run (London: Harding and Wright 1810) p. 36. E. Partridge and P. Beale Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (Routledge 8th edn. 2002) ISBN 0415291895 p. 582. "Nursery Rhymes and History" The Oxford Magazine volume 74 1956 pages 230-232 272-274 and 310-312; reprinted in: Calum M. Carmichael (editor) Collected Works of David Daube Volume 4 Ethics and Other Writings Robbins Collection Berkeley California 2009 pages 365-366. ISBN 978-1882239153. Alan Rodger. "Obituary: Professor David Daube". The Independent March 5 1999. I. Opie 'Playground rhymes and the oral tradition' in P. Hunt S. G. Bannister Ray International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature (London: Routledge 2004) ISBN 0203168127 p. 76. Iona and Peter Opie (editors ). The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes. Oxford University Press 1997. p. 254. ISBN 978-0198600886. Carmichael C. M. (2004). Ideas and the Man: remembering David Daube. Studien zur europischen Rechtsgeschichte. 177. Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann. pp. 103104. ISBN 3465033639.  a b "Putting the 'dump' in Humpty Dumpty" The BS Historian. Retrieved 22 February 2010. A. Jack Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes (London: Allen Lane 2008) ISBN 1846141443. "The Real Story of Humpty Dumpty by Albert Jack" Penguin.com (USA). Retrieved 24 February 2010. E. Commins Lessons from Mother Goose (Lack Worth Fl: Humanics 1988) ISBN 089334110X p. 23. J. T. Shipley The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots (JHU Press 2001) ISBN 0801867843 p. 127. The Age and Stage of George L. Fox 1825-1877 c.1988 by Laurence Senelick L. Carroll Through the Looking-Glass (Raleigh NC: Hayes Barton Press 1872) ISBN 1593772165 p. 72. G. Lewis Lord Atkin (London: Butterworths 1999) ISBN 1-84113-057-5 p. 138. Westlaw search (ALLCASES database) April 19 2008. A. J. Larner "Lewis Carroll's Humpty Dumpty: an early report of prosopagnosia" Journal of Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 75 (7) (1998). L. Frank Baum Mother Goose in Prose (Mineola NY: Courier Dover 2002) ISBN 0486420868 pp. 207-20. R. Rankin The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse (London: Gollancz 2009) ISBN 0575085436. J. Fforde Well of Lost Plots (London: Viking 2004) ISBN 0670032891. J. Fforde The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime (London: Penguin 2006) ISBN 0143037234. G. L. Cronin and B. Siegel eds Conversations With Robert Penn Warren (Jackson MS: University Press of Mississippi 2005) ISBN 1578067340 p. 84. M. Feeney Nixon at the Movies: a Book About Belief (Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press 2004) ISBN 0226239683 p. 256. R. Kienzle Southwest Shuffle: Pioneers of Honky Tonk Western Swing and Country Jazz (London: Routledge 2003) ISBN 0415941032 p. 134. "Invisible band track #12". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002V7TL00/refdmspalbieUTF8&qid1299347108&sr8-1. Retrieved March 5 2011.  B. L. Cooper Popular Music Perspectives: Ideas Themes and Patterns in Contemporary Lyrics (London: Popular Press 1991) ISBN 0879725052 p. 160. "Ornette Coleman Humpty Dumpty (LP Version)". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00123M3J0. Retrieved July 6 2010.  "Chick Corea The Mad Hatter". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000046QX. Retrieved July 6 2010.  v d eLewis Carroll's Alice Source texts Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  Through the Looking-Glass  The Nursery "Alice"  "The Hunting of the Snark" Authors Lewis Carroll  Anna Matlack Richards  Saki  Gilbert Adair  Frank Beddor Illustrators John Tenniel  Arthur Rackham  Blanche McManus  Peter Newell  Fanny Y. Cory  Bessie Pease Gutmann  Charles Robinson  Harry Rountree  Harry Furniss  Mabel Lucie Attwell  Milo Winter  Oliver Herford  Uriel Birnbaum  Jessie Wilcox Smith  Charles Folkard  Mervyn Peake  Alex Blum  Leonard Weisgard  Walt Disney  Marjorie Torrey  Tove Jansson  Ralph Steadman  Frank Bolle  Charles Blackman  Barry Moser  Michael Hague  Anthony Browne  Willy Pogany  Marie Laurencin  Salvador Dali  Greg Hildebrandt  Gavin O'Keefe  Tony Ross  Angel Dominguez  Helen Oxenbury  Lisbeth Zwerger  Oleg Lipchenko  Franciszka Themerson Characters Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Alice  The White Rabbit  The Mouse  The Dodo  The Duck  The Lory  Eaglet  Bill the Lizard  The Caterpillar  The Duchess  The Cheshire Cat  The March Hare  The Hatter  The Dormouse  The Queen of Hearts  The King of Hearts  The Knave of Hearts  The Gryphon  The Mock Turtle  Pat  The Cook Through the Looking-Glass Alice  The Red Queen  The White Queen  The Red King  The White King  The White Knight  Tweedledum and Tweedledee  The Sheep  Humpty Dumpty  Haigha  Hatta  The Lion and the Unicorn  Bandersnatch  Jubjub Bird Poems "How Doth the Little Crocodile"  "The Mouse's Tale"  "Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat"  "You Are Old Father William"  "'Tis the Voice of the Lobster"  "Jabberwocky"  "The Walrus and the Carpenter"  "Haddocks' Eyes"  "They told me you had been to her..."  "The Mock Turtle's Song"  "The Hunting of the Snark" Related topics Alice Liddell  Alice's Shop  The Annotated Alice  Works based on Alice in Wonderland  Translations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  Translations of Through the Looking-Glass Adaptations Sequels A New Alice in the Old Wonderland (1895)  New Adventures of Alice (1917)  Alice Through the Needle's Eye (1982)  Wonderland Revisited and the Games Alice Played There (2009) Retellings Alice's Adventures in Wonderland retold in words of one syllable (1905)  Alice in Verse: The Lost Rhymes of Wonderland (2010) Parodies The Westminster Alice (1902)  Clara in Blunderland (1902)  Lost in Blunderland (1903)  John Bull's Adventures in the Fiscal Wonderland (1904)  Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream (1904) Imitations Mopsa the Fairy (1869)  Davy and the Goblin (1884)  The Admiral's Caravan (1891)  Gladys in Grammarland (1896)  A New Wonderland (1898)  Rollo in Emblemland (1902)  Justnowland (1912)  Alice in Orchestralia (1925) Reimagining Adventures in Wonderland (1991)  American McGee's Alice (2000)  The Looking Glass Wars (2006)  Alice (2009)  Malice in Wonderland (2009)  Alice: Madness Returns (2011) Film 1903  1910  1915  1931  1933  1949  1951  1966  1972  1976  1982  1985  1987   1988 (Czech)  1988 (Australian)  1995  1999  2010 Book:Alice in Wonderland   Category:Alice in Wonderland   Portal:Children's literature