The nursery rhyme in which “Humpty Dumpty has a great fall” dates back to 1493 and refers to King Richard III of England.
Richard had a hump on his back and had been dumped by his mount in the thick of battle when he cried, “My kingdom for a horse” before being slain.
The last line, “Couldn’t put Humpty together again,” was originally “Couldn’t put Humpty up again,” meaning back on his horse.
The nursery rhyme has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13026.
The lyrics are as follows.
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.
As with many old sayings there are more than one explanation.
A short, large diameter Cannon mounted on the wall of Edinburgh Castle was nicknamed “Humpty Dumpty.” It was destroyed when it fell off the wall.
This is a more likely origin of the nursery rhyme, but the name might have originated from the humpback king Richard the Third, so both theories could have a part in the origin.
What is a mystery is how Humpty Dumpty came to be painted as an egg! Lewis Carroll’s illustrator may have the answer to that.