Colchester, the Essex port, home to the members of the band Blur, is also the oldest recorded town in Britain (dating back to AD 43). Formally Camulodunum, the town was the capital of Roman Britain, and during the English Civil War (1642 – 1651), possibly introduced the world to Humpty Dumpty.
Colchester had a defensive castle, many churches and of course an impressive city wall. The Royalist defenders of the city, supporters of Charles I, were besieged by the Parliamentary troops in 1648 in what became known as the Siege of Colchester.
For 11 weeks, One-Eyed Thompson, the gunner of the large cannon, playfully called Humpty Dumpty, managed to defend the city from the tower of the church of St Mary-at-the-Wall. (‘Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall’)
Sadly, a Parliamentary cannon damaged the wall beneath Humpty Dumpty, and in a dramatic turn of events, the cannon tumbled to the ground outside city walls. (‘Humpty Dumpty had a great fall’)
The Royalist cavalry, (‘All the King’s horses…’) and the infantry (‘..and all the King’s men’) did all they could to recover the cannon from the marshland outside of the city walls, but because the cannon was so heavy, it was all in vein. (‘…couldn’t put Humpty together again.’)
So where does the ‘egg’ come from?
In 1871 Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass gave the world the famous illustration (by John Tenniel) of Alice talking to an egg-shaped Humpty sitting on a high wall.
And this just stuck….
Dawn Denton©
www.traveltrales.wordpress.com
Image Sources: www.etsy.com & www.albertjack.com
May 29, 2012 at 12:08 pm
I love it Dawn! They are so engaging, you are going to have to put these together in a book some day soon. The tales are really quite charming and engaging, even more’ish! Mxx
May 29, 2012 at 12:13 pm
Thank you Maitland. I do love this side of history….the ‘colour’ of these stories have me hooked too. I can’t stop reading and finding the ones that are really appealing. Yes, a Legends of London book is in the development stage…I have numbered the pages 🙂 !
May 29, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Dan & I have some other ideas for Travel Trales…..a book yes, but with a slightly different angle. All very exciting!
May 29, 2012 at 12:53 pm
Fantastic! I like things with a different take. Perfect!
May 29, 2012 at 12:55 pm
By the way, I hated history at school – it was so boring – but this sort of thing and your Legends of London bring it alive.
May 30, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Colchester is also associated with Old King Cole and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star nursery rhymes.
June 4, 2012 at 12:57 pm
That’s awesome Alex! I will research that. Thanx so much!