Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty has a great fall.
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

Mention the name ‘Humpty Dumpty’, and most people will think of the funny little egg-shaped character sitting on a wall.  Although that may be the traditional image after it was introduced as an illustration in Lewis Carroll’s novel ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’, it has nothing at all to do with the origin of this popular nursery rhyme.  ‘Humpty Dumpty’ was definitely not a story-book character invented to amuse children.

So who, or what, was ‘Humpty Dumpty’?  And where did that now all-too-familiar name come from?

As with many nursery rhymes, such as ‘Little Jack Horner’ and ‘Mary Mary Quite Contrary’, ‘Humpty Dumpty’ has its basis in truth; and the truth in this particular rhyme dates back hundreds of years to the 1640’s and the English Civil War.

England in the 17th century was being torn apart by two opposing armies; the Royalists (Cavaliers) who were loyal to King Charles I, and the Parliamentarians (Roundheads) who supported Oliver Cromwell.  Many savage and bloody battles raged across the English countryside at the time, such as the ‘Battle of Marston Moor’ in the north, ‘Newbury’ in the south, and the famous ‘Battle of Edgehill’ in the Midlands.

One such confrontation, in Essex, was the ‘Siege of Colchester’, a former Parliamentarian stronghold.  It was during this siege that ‘Humpty Dumpty’ would emerge as the stuff of legend.

The Royalists had marched into the town of Colchester to obtain food supplies and weapons, with the intention of remaining for no more than a day or two.  However, on receiving news that the Royalists had entered the town the Parliamentarians swiftly marched on their former stronghold and surrounded the Royalists.

Previously, when Cromwell’s men had occupied Colchester, they had mounted a huge cannon on top of a fortified wall in an area known as St. Mary’s Wall Church’, which provided them with impressive fire-power.  The huge cast-iron cannon was aimed and fired, strangely enough, by a character called ‘One-eyed Jack Thompson’.  The cannon was called ‘Humpty Dumpty’!

On one particular day during the siege, when Cromwell’s forces were bombarding the Royalists within the town, a cannonball struck a wall of St. Mary’s church, smashing it to pieces.  Unfortunately for the besieged forces, it was the wall on which the huge cannon sat.  All the Royalist army could do was watch as the wall collapsed into a heap of dusty rubble and ‘Humpty Dumpty’ tumbled noisily to the ground.

In a frantic attempt to put the cannon back into action, the Royalists “all the King’s men”, with the aid of their horses, “all the King’s horses”, repeatedly tried to reinstate the cannon onto another wall, but without success.  ‘Humpty Dumpty’ was staying where he was.

On the 27th August 1648, after eleven weeks of bombardment, sickness and starvation, the Royalist forces surrendered to the Parliamentarians and the ‘Siege of Colchester’ was over.  ‘Humpty’ was silenced forever.  But, where did the unusual name for the massive cast-iron cannon come from?

Many people claim that the name is chiefly attributed to an alcoholic drink made with brandy boiled in beer.  However, at the time of the English Civil War there was a popular phrase that was applied to any person judged by their contemporaries to be obese, clumsy or overweight.  That unfortunate person was known as…a ‘Humpty Dumpty’!