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I wonder if humpty starts some of these 'rumours' himself??

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I agree it's unlikely to be Humphrey himself - but it is strange where the rumours come from and the effect it has to confuse us. I suppose there's only two possibilities
1) Conspiracy theory - somebody working for him is cleverly orchestrating lots of misinformation
2) C*ck up theory - in the absense of any accurate information people just make it up, conflate, exaggerate etc
By nature I'd love to believe 1) but experience shows 2) is more likely!