Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the King's horses
And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again
It's an age old, well known nursery rhyme sung to children around the world. But did you know, that along with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Ole King Cole, Humpty Dumpty is rumoured to have its legendary origins from Colchester?
Following on from my post yesterday on the obelisk commemorating two captains of the Civil War, Humpty Dumpty also appears to have its origins from that time period, but is a very different character indeed. In fact, Humpty Dumpty has two characters - one as a cannon, and one as sniper 'One Eye Jack' Thompson, who was in charge of looking after an enormous cannon mounted on the walls of St Mary's Church. 'Humpty Dumpty' is variously accredited as referring either to the cannon, or to the weight of Thompson, and debate still rages as to whether the nursery rhyme even refers to them at all.
Taking the view that Humpty refers to the cannon, the story goes that it was a large Royalist weapon mounted in the upper storeys of St Mary's (now better known as Colchester Arts Centre), and managing to achieve significant damage to the besieging Parliamentarian forces in the summer of 1648. Tired of being battered by the cannon, the Parliamentarian's turned their attention solely to St Marys, and used their own guns to blast an enormous hole in the side of the church. With the floor going underneath it, both Humpty Dumpties fell off the wall, tumbled to the ground and smashed. All of the King's troops (ie.; the Royalists) were unable to repair or remount Humpty, leading the loss of their most powerful weapon, and eventually their downfall and surrender to the Roundheads.
Different readings of the rhyme also credit the Royalist troops as trying to hoist the fallen cannon onto another part of the wall, causing an interesting split as to whether the cannon actually broke on its fall, or stayed intact and operational. A 2008 article in the Daily Gazette actually raises the question as to whether segments of the broken Humpty may even be buried in the area surrounding St Mary's, but as of this post, no archeological excavations have yet taken place to provide conclusive proof one way or the other.
The earliest traceable reference to Humpty seems to be a reference in 1803 to cannons being mounted 'from St Mary's fort', manned by a 'gunner possessing but one eye'. A further publication of 'History and Description' in 1826 also refers to the one eyed gunner, but adds in that one of the cannons he was sentinel of was a 'brass saker which, flanking their trench, did them much injury.' No further contemporary records seem to refer to either this one eyed gunner or any cannons he was guarding, but St Mary's certainly sits on top of a suitably high vantage point, part of the original Roman Wall circling Colchester, which would have made a good defensive point for the Royalists. Whether a great big cannon was also part of the strategy there, and whether the Parliamentarians shot it off, is up for debate, but I expect at least some battery would be a plausible plan.
Either way, Humpty Dumpty remains a strong part of Colchester literature, and the town has taken the rhyme to heart. It seems unlikely that the rumour of it's origins will die off any time soon, and it remains an interesting part of the Colchester Siege legends.
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