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The author kicks off a Twitter storm by claiming that Humpty Dumpy was NOT an egg, but do you know what it really was?
- Author Holly Bourne has questioned why Humpty Dumpty is considered an egg
- The 19th century writer Lewis Carroll was the first to draw Humpty Dumpty as such.
- The representation has been maintained throughout the centuries, but there is no egg in the letter.
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It is a lullaby that many of us know by heart.
But one baffled author has stirred up a storm on Twitter, questioning why we think Humpty Dumpty is an egg.
In a viral post, writer Holly Bourne from London wrote: “Who decided Humpty Dumpty was an egg?”
“It’s not in the lyrics, and deciding it’s a giant egg is a pretty random leap for someone, and everyone else is like, ‘Yeah, a giant egg on a wall. Of course.'”
Humpty Dumpty (drawn here by Milo Winter) is often depicted as an egg. Lewis Caroll is believed to have been the first to do this.
The famous lyrics say, 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 back together.
Holly, who writes for adults and teens, continued: ‘Also, imagine having NO ARMY because they’re busy fixing a broken egg.
“The king sent literally EVERYONE to save the giant egg that isn’t actually an egg, leaving the kingdom wide open for attack.”
Her post drew 455,000 views, with some thanking her for bringing attention to the nonsensical nursery rhyme.
And many also highlighted what is believed to be the real Humpty Dumpty, claiming that it was in fact a cannon used in the English Civil War.
Many on Twitter thank Holly for bringing attention to the actual lyrics, with one saying there’s no point in horses trying to fix an egg.
One wrote: ‘Humpty Dumpty was a cannon that fell off a wall.’
Another wrote: ‘It was a cannon in Chichester.’
The nursery rhyme was first recorded in England in the late 18th century.
It is believed to refer to a large cannon used during the English Civil War which was fought between 1642 and 1649.
Towards the end of the war a large gun was used at Chichester to shell roundheads or Parliamentary forces in an attempt to prevent Charles I from ruling the country without consent.
The Parliamentary forces then attacked the cannon with their own fire, causing it to fall to the ground.
Then, the letter refers to the king’s men, the royalist supporters in support of King Carlos I, who cannot fix the canon.
however it is believed that the 19th century author Lewis Caroll was the first to depict Humpty Dumpty as an egg in his 1871 book Through the Looking Glass.
And since then, Humpty Dumpty as an egg has been the prevailing opinion.
On Twitter, Holly wrote that the egg was “insane non-canon stuff that we’ve blindly accepted.”
Many comment then that it did not make sense for horses to assemble an egg.
While others pointed out that there were other misleading elements in the literature, such as there being no balcony in Romeo and Juliet.
One wrote however, that it was a metaphor.
They wrote: “Eggshells are notoriously brittle and have been known to crack.”
While another wrote: ‘It always made sense to me. The egg was used as a metaphor for something that cannot be fixed.
Many of the users agreed that it didn’t make sense. But some thought the egg was a good metaphor since eggs break easily.
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