Colchester
Colchester was "a staunch supporter of Parliament during the First English Civil War".
However, Royalist forces were besiegned there in 1648.
Humpy Dumpty
Humpy Dumpty is a childrens nursery rhyme and is associated with Colchester and the Civil War.
One theory (there are several) is that Humpty Dumpty was a powerful cannon that sat on Colchester’s fortified walls.
The cannon was knocked off the wall in 1648 when Parliamentary forces (the Roundheads) attacked the Royalist (Cavaliers)
stronghold during the English Civil War (1642–1651).
In the attack the Roundheads destroyed the wall which supported the cannon. The Cavaliers (with the help of all the king’s horses
and all the king’s men) attempted to move the cannon to another part of the wall, and failed. The end result was that the city
fell to the Roundheads when Colchester surrendered on 27th August 1648.
While this is only a theory, for Essex, it is a good one, and one that we support. So next time a child asks what the rhyme
means you can tell them the story of the English civil war and the battle at Colchester.
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