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8 letters "Take you out, put me in and a horse appears in this happy person!"

Bernard Cornwell author of the Sharpe novels has never stated who the father of Richard Sharpe (his most famous character) is. The character himself has no knowledge either. Bernard Cornwell the author gave out that riddle about 10 years ago saying that the solution is the name of Sharpe's father.

Cornwall has said that he "knows" who Sharpe's father is, that he is not a historical figure which would imply he's a character from one of his books or possibly a famous fictional character that could have had a son circa 1777 in London.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

This mystery has been running since 2010 and still no answer as yet

a barrel of la(u)ghs?

BC has always said, I think until now, that, in his mind, Sharpe's father was a Frenchman "on the razzle" in England, but he thought it should remain a mystery ?

I appreciate this has been a mystery since 2010 which for me is all the more reason to solve it. Having done some more digging Cornwell confirms it's not a real person nor one of his characters.

The best theory I've seen is the father is a smuggler

Take you (u) out, put me (I) in and a horse (gg) appears in this happy person (Smiler)

and BC's reply was "not far off, but no cigar !"

How about the happy person being "giggler" ?
That contains me (i) and a horse (gg) so if you put back "you" or "u" you may get an answer .....