“Humpty Dumpty”
Description
"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Threescore men and threescore more Cannot place Humpty Dumpty as he was before." (Or, ... All the kings horses And all the king's men Couldn't put Humpty together again.)
Notes
These days, we all know this from Lewis Carroll -- though, interestingly, we don't use his last line ("Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his place again," which Alice correctly notes doesn't scan). It's found in the chapter "Humpty Dumpty" in _Through the Looking Glass_. But the first form quoted here is that found in _Gammer Gurton's Garland_, which according to the Baring-Goulds is the first appearance of the rhyme in print.
They claim, however, that the rhyme is much older as a riddle (presumably it ended with a question asking who Humpty was, the answer being "an egg"). - RBW
References
- Opie-Oxford2 233, "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall" (1 text)
- Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #670, pp. 268-269, "(Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall)"
- Roud #13026
- BI, BGMG670