This is the real humpty dumpty (not an egg)

#AbsoluteHistory

[abbycross]

You thought it was an egg, because that's how it was drawn in children's books.

[IamBlackToast]

Honestly? Humpty Dumpty being a cannon rather than an egg, a person, or an egg-shaped person makes the rhyme a lot less horrific.

[kimbrey]

It's interesting that a nursery rhyme is actually a war story. 😮

[samuelmelton]

Shout out to the horses who, despite their obvious limitations, attempted to repair a piece of ordnance equipment.

[bonafidehomicide]

Well, when it comes to putting Humpty Dumpty back together, it being a cannon makes a lot more sense when deciding to let the horses try... 😂

[masjuggalo]

In an unrelated thing, you see how those windows were bricked up. They used to charge taxes for certain amounts of windows so people just boarded up windows to avoid the tax

[mariahfetch]

The reason we think of an egg is because in the Lewis Carroll description it was an egg and was later turned into to the claymation cartoon, it was also an egg.

[EdgyNumber]

The castle is Norman not Roman. But Colchester was a Roman town, the initial capital of Briton.

[woooooooooooooooooooooooo]

Colchester is my hometown and I'm really glad to see people shedding light on its historical parts!!!

[angrytedtalks]

Mozart wrote the tune to Twinkle Twinkle.
Though he wrote it as 12 variations and called it "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman?" which means, "Oh, shall I tell you, Mama?"

[jp]

The cannon is only one of the theories out there and it's not definitive.

[patrickjeffers]

Fascinating article. When I was about thirteen years old I lived in the state of Connecticut and traveled to Boston where Mother goose is buried in the oldcemetary old Town cemetery near the site of ben Franklin's grave as well.
Very cool to see this.

[BenzosHelp]

My father was a marine & served in Vietnam War 1967 - 1968. He remembers when a truck full of Marines was hit by a bomb and the poor men were just laying there on this obscure dirt road in pieces screaming. My father thought of that Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme. That "all the kings horses & all the kings men couldn't put 'these men' together again"😢
He'd find it interesting that the original rhyme was about war, as well. I'll let him know.
Tragic war for both sides. Should've never happened. RIP to all who suffered in man's wars. Strength & mercy to those who endure it it still.

[Potatopatch]

There’s no proof for the cannon theory, and it didn’t appear until 1996

[Gryphon-]

Well, now I want a story about Howie, the beloved Howitzer.
Damaged by enemy fire, it was thought Howie would never fire again. However, 2 decades later, a restoration specialist managed to fix Howie, who was then bought by a civilian range in Vegas. Its blast is heard every day by range personnel and weapon enthusiasts alike, and Howie was happy.

[KrasseOdaVonBayern]

That claim was first cited not in a history book… but the Tourist website for the city of Colchester. I.e. probably fake.

The earliest known version is from the late 1700s, and in the early 1800s it was said

“William Carey Richards (1818–1892) quoted the poem in 1843, commenting, "when we were five years old ... the following parallel lines... were propounded as a riddle ... Humpty-dumpty, reader, is the Dutch or something else for an egg".”

So it was indeed probably always an egg.

Additionally, the oldest known version was written by Samuel Arnold in 1797, a Londoner, not a Colchestrian.

Additionally, part 2, the only cited source on Wikipedia that the original was a Colchestrian cannon… is an article saying it definitely wasn’t a Colchestrian cannon.

[chickenfarmer]

That still doesn't explain why they let the horses try, though.

[patricksanders]

The egg reference in the artwork refers to the obvious fact that an broken egg is impossible to fix. Consider that in their day, if anything broke, you didnt replace it, you fixed it. And you cant fix a broken egg.

[kelleren]

Humpty Dumpty is unironically probably the most metal name I've ever heard for an artillery piece lolol

[khasidailyfact]

Just love seeing modern car around these cute old europe Houses.