classic33
Leg End Member
"Colchester, of course, knows better as, the legend has it, Humpty Dumpty was a large cannon used during the English Civil War in the Siege of Colchester in 1648. It is said that the cannon was placed on the wall next to St Mary's Church but a month into the siege the Royalist fort inside the walls was blown to pieces and Humpty Dumpty was destroyed (had a great fall). Attempts by the Kings men to resurrect the cannon failed because it was so heavy.
Unfortunately, these rather unromantic origina do not feature in the pantomime but, selecting a suitable "baddie" also became a matter of local consideration. It seemed a role prefectly suited to the Grand Old Duke of York.
One version of the story goes that the eponymous Duke of York in the rhyme was marching his men uphill from the Ipswich barracks. The exact location of the hill is a metter of debate. Some say it is Woodbridge Road hill, others that it might be Berner's Street hill. Others say that the soldiers were in Woodbridge. What we cennot be sure of is the Duke's motive for marching them up and down in the first place.
Yer more others have mooted that it originates from the Battle of Wakefield in the Wars of the Roses but, for the purposes of this pantomime, all accents are local and historical content means nothing. This is just as well as two centuries seperate the Wars of the Roses and the English Civil War!"
