Stuff You Should Know - Short Stuff: Humpty Dumpty

Episode Date: August 11, 2021

Humpty Dumpty is not a good nursery rhyme. And what was Humpty anyway? Listen in to find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey friends when you're staying at an Airbnb you might be like me wondering could my place be an Airbnb and if it could what could it earn? So I was pretty surprised to hear about Lisa in Manitoba who got the idea to Airbnb the backyard guest house over childhood home now The extra income helps pay her mortgage. So yeah, you might not realize it But you might have an Airbnb to find out what your place could be earning at air bnb.ca slash host Hey and welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh. There's Chuck This is short stuff as I said and that means we're going to start now to talk about Humpty-Hump Do the Humpty-Hump Dumpty RIP

What he passed away recently. I didn't I definitely did not know that no, that's sad Well shock G. Is that right? I thought his name was Humpty It's not Humpty. Yeah, I mean, I think he died just Like within the past couple of months even well, yeah, he died in he died in April man. That is very sad Yeah, and I gotta say too just very quickly That's a great song But digital underground was awesome like yeah, that was their big MTV hit But they and it was kind of jokey and fun, but they had they were really really good. Yeah, he was like on this one song

This I should say track I guess to sound hip with a rapper named Mers called risky business And like you get a really good view of what like Humpty was all about. It's pretty cool. So yeah, if you liked The Humpty dance and you want to learn more I would start there RIP shock G. So Humpty Dumpty expecting that Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Do you know you need a minute? Are you good? You just go on I'll gather myself while you're talking 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 and

The whole point of this Episode is to sort of talk about why do we think this thing is an egg? when it's doesn't say it's an egg anywhere, right and And what are some of the theories about how this whole thing came about to begin with? Well supposedly and I found this very confusing in the article The the rhyme you just said is actually a riddle. It's meant to be a riddle and somewhere along the way The riddle was answered for us and now we don't even think of this as a riddle But that's one thing to bear in mind when the the nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty first came out

It was meant to apparently there was some line like what is it and you're supposed to go an egg and Then that was the the delight that you found in it Yeah, and it's also something that's been rewritten in different forms over the years I think the first time the rhyme itself was in a book was in 1797 in juvenile amusement by Samuel Arnold and The third line instead of all the King's horses and all the King's men It said four score men and four score more So all of a sudden it's not rhyming Right

Unless it's four score men and four score more couldn't help get Humpty restored or something like that Sure That's what I'm going with. I like that But the first the first rhyme did you say it was back in 1797 when it first appeared? Yeah, and so from the from the get-go. I think everybody was like, what is what is everybody talking about here? There's got to be something to this so people started thinking that there were there were there was more to the Humpty nursery rhyme because it is so bizarre like it gives you Almost no context whatsoever. It's really dumb. It's a little dumb You know not a lot happens and the thing that does happen is very unsatisfying

Very so I think people after the people who understood what this was all about had died off and failed to pass along what what they meant Those people started wondering exactly what was behind all this and so this some theories started developing Yeah, one of it is that Humpty Dumpty was supposed to be Richard the third king of England In Shakespeare about Richard the third he's depicted as a poisonous humpback toad And that's basically how history came to see him. Thanks to Shakespeare's depiction Right, but King Richard was only in an office ruled for a couple of years about 26 months and supposedly like you know fought for the common man and was against you know

Corruption and bribery and enacted a bunch of laws to fight that stuff. Mm-hmm So not fair to King Richard No, and for some reason some little part of my brain is being tickled right now Like we talked about King Richard as if he was and I think the Robin was there a Robin Hood episode Isn't King Richard like the bad guy in that maybe like he was like a Just a lion who just wanted his pudding or something weird like that. I don't remember But yeah, apparently he wasn't a bad king, but it was basically Shakespeare who did that But the point is is Richard the third was the last English king to die in battle. He died at the battle of

Boswell Bosworth Bosworth Bosley difference. Yeah I've been watching a lot of Charlie's Angels lately, and I wanted to say Bosley at first. Are you really watching a lot of Charlie's Angels? Yeah, remember they keep re-showing that one where Sammy Davis, Jr. plays two versions of himself. That got you hooked But yeah, King Richard had a horse named wall and supposedly fell off of the horse and was bludgeoned so you know fell off Sat on a wall and fell off the wall. So that's sort of where that connection comes in couldn't be saved You know all the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put them back together again. So do it This is where my money is. I just want everyone to know that that is where I think that's what I think umpty-dumpty is all about

All right. Well, let's take our break and we'll come back and talk about Lewis Carroll Kind of gumming up the works and some other theories right after this Hey friends when you're staying at an Airbnb You might be like me wondering could my place be an Airbnb and if it could what could it earn? So I was pretty surprised to hear about Lisa in Manitoba who got the idea to Airbnb the backyard guest house over childhood home Now the extra income helps pay her mortgage. So yeah, you might not realize it But you might have an Airbnb to find out what your place could be earning at air bnb.ca Slash host hey, I'm Lance Bass host of the new I hard podcast frosted tips with Lance Bass

The hardest thing can be knowing who to turn to when questions arise or times get tough or you're at the end of the road Okay, see what you're doing. Do you ever think to yourself? What advice would Lance Bass and my favorite boy bands give me in this situation? If you do you've come to the right place because I'm here to help this I promise you Oh, God, seriously, I swear and you won't have to send an SOS because I'll be there for you Oh, man, and so my husband Michael. Um, hey, that's me. Yep We know that Michael and a different hot sexy teen crush boy bander each week to guide you through life step-by-step Oh, not another one kids relationships life in general can get messy

You may be thinking this is the story of my life. Just stop now if so tell everybody yeah, everybody About my new podcast and make sure to listen so we'll never ever have to say bye bye bye Listen to frosted tips with the Lance Bass on the iHeart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts All right Chuck 1797 is where it first starts We've we see him again a few years later in a book called mother Goose's melody from 1803, right? Yeah, and that one Was like a little little tubby kid because the last line is couldn't set Humpty up again I guess just couldn't get him up, right kind of like an Augustus gloop type character. Yeah, and

supposedly the British satire punch The weekly magazine said that Humpty was a symbol for Cardinal Wolsey And other people said that that might be right too So that's another theory that one to me. So Cardinal Wolsey was the guy who couldn't get Couldn't get a divorce from the Pope for Henry VIII So he kind of went down an infamy is not a great advisor or helper to the king, right? That's a little Politically nuanced for me because remember this is a nursery rhyme

So I don't see kids like singing a nursery rhyme about you know Cardinal Wolsey falling from favor with Henry VIII. I do see them singing a nursery rhyme about the death of King Richard though Yeah I'm with you so far. I mean Adults don't say like hey kids. I got a nursery rhyme for you. Here it is Don't adults just like write down nursery rhymes that they hear kids saying and then that's how they become widespread and popularized But they're ultimately Created by kids. I think that's a deal. So yeah, all the more reason I got my money on Richard the third

All right. Well then Lewis Carroll comes in through Alice I'm sorry through the looking glass in 1871 one of the more spectacularly seemingly drug-fueled Tomes to ever be written and the Eggman has a chapter in this dedicated to him Wherein Alice says she clearly saw that it was Humpty Dumpty Himself, it can't be anybody else. I'm as certain of it as if his name were written all over his face I know pretty great and You know if you've ever read that or even parts of it

It's it's really out there. So the idea of a walking talking egg person Human hybrid is not like far off the mark right And so like that was the whole thing where like you and me and everybody else breathing today thinks of Humpty Dumpty as an egg Thanks to that book. Thanks to that chapter on him. Thanks to the fact that he was just out and out of egg There was no riddle at this point any longer. It was just Humpty Dumpty is an egg and the illustrator for that first edition John Tenniel or Tenniel his illustration of Humpty Dumpty is like an egg with pants on and a face and

You know arms and legs and all that stuff That's that's where like the idea of Humpty Dumpty that we have today finds its roots almost, you know visually and through our Imagination From that book That's right. That's the first time it was like look. It's a definitely an egg. Let's just let's just cut to the chase face it Cut to the chase and there was also That was printed differently in that book to the actual rhyme the final line is Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his place again

So the there wasn't even an egg breaking in that version which I found kind of sweet nice sure why not So there's one more theory. There's a few more theories. Some are literally not even worth mentioning but There's an idea that a Humpty Dumpty was actually the name of a drink Right, and this is a boy. This doesn't sound good to me, but you never know and in the old does this sound good to you? Yes, so Beer boiled with brandy. Okay, not the boiled part. Did you check out the recipe that was revived by? By bartenders today. Oh, you mean the modern version. Yes. No, I'm sure they made that taste good. Yeah. Yeah, okay

I'm talking about the original version ale boiled with brandy was called and this is the first time that The the rhyme wasn't there, but the words Humpty Dumpty ever appeared in print was in 1690 and a slang dictionary and it was ale boiled with brandy and the connection there is that Really that really strong beer is what's called hum and so Humpty Dumpty hum. There you have it So, I mean, I feel like we should give the recipe for the Humpty Dumpty, don't you sure and I think it sounds delicious So you take one ounce of brandy one and a half ounces of ale. I would go with pale ale fire you a quarter ounce of lemon juice a dash of Angostura and

You put it in a mixing glass with some ice stir 15 seconds and strain into a glass without the ice Garnish with the lemon peel and raise a glass to your friend Humpty Dumpty and Choc G apparently It's a great great callback you got anything else for a great emcee I got nothing else Well Since Chuck said he has nothing else I can attest I have nothing else that means we have nothing else to share with you in This episode of short stuff, which means short stuff is out Stuff you should know is a production of iHeartRadio for more podcasts my heart radio visit the iHeartRadio app

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