Hastings man's new book investigates origins of nursery rhymes, including that ‘Little Bo-Peep’ came from St Leonards-on-Sea

Little Bo-Peep were customs men, according to the book by Tim Devlin, titled ‘Cracking Humpty Dumpty’: an investigative trail of favourite nursery rhymes.

He claims the well-known nursery rhyme originated in St Leonards which houses the Bo-Peep Pub in Grosvenor Crescent – mentioned in a guide to Hastings in 1794.

Tim said he thinks the rhyme dates from around that time when there was an army barracks situated just off the coast (known as Bo-Peep Cove), not far from the pub.

Sometime around 1800 Captain John Durrant, an accomplished watercolour artist, painted a picture called ‘Bo-Peep – near Hastings, a barrack for a Company of Soldiers’.

The barracks were built as part of Britain’s defences against Napoleon, and about 200 soldiers were stationed there to look out for smugglers as well as French warships.

The book supports the theory, which was put forward by The Hastings and St Leonard’s Observer five years ago, that the rhyme derived its name from ‘the hide-and-seek proceedings of smugglers who were very active in the then very thinly populated district’ known as Bo-Peep. Tim said it was not about a shepherdess, the misfortunes of Mary Queen of Scots, or Charles I’s taxes on whiskey, as others have claimed.

The book investigates the origins of 11 other rhymes including: Humpty Dumpty, Baa Baa Black Sheep and Hey Diddle Diddle.

The idea for ‘Cracking Humpty Dumpty’ came to Tim during the Covid 19 lockdown and has been about two years in the making.

It debunks many of the myths surrounding nursery rhymes including the idea that Ring-a-Ring o’ Roses is about the plague or that Jack and Jill is about a heterosexual pair of lovers.

Speaking about what led him to write it, he said: “I was wondering what on Earth I was going to do being at home, not being able to go out. I heard about the people singing ‘Ring-a-Ring o’ Roses’ while they were washing their hands, so I thought ‘I’ll check on that’.

"A very simple check just about the nursery rhyme showed me the idea that the idea about ‘Ring-a-Ring o’ Roses’ was first put forward in 1951, whereas the Great Plague was in 1665. A further search showed me the rhyme probably originated in either America or Germany, and didn’t come to Britain until about 1881, and when it did come to Britain there was nothing about sneezing and falling down.

“So, I thought, if that’s wrong, then what about the other ones?”

Once restrictions were lifted, Tim was able to extend his search from browsing information online to tracking down the original texts at a number of libraries.

‘Cracking Humpty Dumpty ’is available at two Hastings bookshops: Hare and Hawthorn in George Street and Bookbuster Bookshop in Queens Road.

It can also be purchased on the official website for £15.

For more information about the book, or to purchase a copy, visit: www.humptycracked.com.