Humpty Dumpty!

I bet most of you know the Traditional Nursery Rhyme Humpty Dumpty.

You know, the one that goes...

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!

Some of you may even know that the nursery rhyme was first printed, over 200 years ago, in

Lewis Caroll's book, 'Alice Through the Looking Glass', where Humpty Dumpty is shown as an

egg. This was in the year 1810.

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However, this very old Traditional Nursery rhyme and goes back much earlier than this.

Now, before I tell you about the real Humpty Dumpty, you should know that Humpty Dumpty

was a common "nickname", used in 15th century England, to describe large heavy people.

So let me tell you about the real Humpty Dumpty.

Contents 1 The real Humpty Dumpty ................................................................................................................................................ 3

2 St Mary's by the Wall ...................................................................................................................................................... 4

3 Tumbling down ............................................................................................................................................................... 5

4 Surrender and end of Civil War ....................................................................................................................................... 6

5 Is this all true? ................................................................................................................................................................. 7

6 YouTube: Watch the Video ............................................................................................................................................. 8

John Dalziel Humpty Dumpty! 11/09/2014

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1 The real Humpty Dumpty

First of all we need to go back many, many years, to a time when here in England, there was a

Civil War.

It was between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers.

At this time, 1648, Colchester, where I was a teacher for sixteen years, was an important city,

with...

a Roman Castle and several churches

...all protected by the city wall, built by the Romans.

It was a city that supported the King so was on the side of the Cavaliers.

During the siege of Colchester, the 15th century tower of the church known as 'St Mary's by

the Wall' was badly damaged.

Why?

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2 St Mary's by the Wall

Well, on June 15th 1648, the church was strengthened against attack from the Roundheads,

by putting a huge heavy cannon on the roof.

Cannons, at this time, were very heavy and moving them, even the smallest ones, took many

men.

That's probably why they called it...

yes you guessed it, Humpty Dumpty.

The cavalier gunner known as 'One-Eyed Jack Thompson' fired the cannon and, by doing this,

he caused a lot of damage to Lord Fairfax's attacking Roundhead troops.

One-Eyed Jack Thompson's success made many of the Roundheads fire at the church roof and,

guess what happened...

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3 Tumbling down

Sometime during the 15th of July, Thompson and Humpty Dumpty, his gun, came tumbling

down.

Humpty Dumpty, the cannon, was damaged so much that it could not be put back onto the

Church again. No matter how hard the King's men, the Cavaliers, tried.

This wasn't good for the King's men

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4 Surrender and end of Civil War

On August 28th 1648, the Royalists lay down their weapons, opened the gates of Colchester

and surrendered to the Parliamentarians, the Roundheads.

Not long after, the Roundheads won the war and Charles the first was, as you can see here,

executed.

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5 Is this all true?

Well, whether this legend is true or not, the idea of Humpty Dumpty as a large cannon makes

a great story.

I don't think anyone knows exactly who or what Humpty Dumpty was.

But the Traditional Nursery Rhyme is past on from person to person...

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!

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John Dalziel Humpty Dumpty! 11/09/2014

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6 YouTube: Watch the Video

Go to... https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tsh3dtsgeEg

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