Description of the characters
Story of the siege The folktale Humpty Dumpty and the fall of Colchester began back in the 17 th century while the English civil war was going on. The parliamentarians (Roundheads) and the royalists (Cavaliers) who were faithful to the king had fought a countless amount of ferocious battles across the towns and countryside. Colchester happened to be one of these towns. In 1648 the royalist army had attacked, taking the city under control by the order of King Charles. The royalist forces had an enormous cannon nicknamed ‘ Humpty Dumpty ’, anthropomorphised (humanised) egg in the nursery rhyme/folk tale. One - Eyed Jack Thompson of Colchester owned Humpty Dumpty. The reason this war had begun was because Charles I wanted to rule the kingdom independently but the parliamentarians wanted more power and wished to be involved. When Charles ignored their commands, the parliamentarians were furious.
Charles I
In this folktale, King Charles I is one of the main characters. Charles was born on the 19 th of November 1600. Even though Charles ’ personality wasn ’ t the most cooperative he had self - belief and was a strong - willed leader. This had helped him get crowned king on the 27 th of March 1625. Charles had black shoulder length hair with a lighter brown/ ginger beard. He had become heir apparent of the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland around 1612 upon the death of his brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. This helped him prepare for his political dream to be a King. Charles I was defeated in a civil war, was found guilty of treason by the Parliamentarians (his enemies) and was executed by beheading on January 30, 1649.
During the siege of Colchester, the parliamentarians ended up shooting one big shot into St. Mary ’ s Church making Humpty Dumpty tumble to the ground, unable to be resurrected. The royalists tried their hardest to hoist the cannon back on to the wall but there was no point, it was too heavy. A year later, King Charles I was executed for his behaviour.
Humpty - Dumpty
Another main character is Humpty - Dumpty. In history it was a cannon used in the siege of Colchester but in the nursery rhyme Humpty - Dumpty is represented as an egg. Humpty - Dumpty actually represents King Charles. The reason why he is known as King Charles is because Charles thought he could win the siege of Colchester all on his own and hold on to his kingdom. He was not as strong as he thought. Charles was arrogant and overconfident and didn ’ t realise how fragile he was, which shows when Humpty - Dumpty “ has a great fall ” and tumbles to the ground and breaks.
Humpty - Dumpty the ancient cannon
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