The English Civil War lasted from 1642 until 1651 and was a series of three armed conflicts between the Royalists, called Cavaliers, and the Parliamentarians, called Roundheads. A few of many consequences of the wars were the executions of King Charles I and his son, Charles II and the establishment of the Protestant Ascendency, which opposed the Church of England, in Ireland.
Feature Article
The Anthropomorphic Egg and the English Civil War
An•thro•po•mor•phic adjective \ˌan(t)-thrə-pə-ˈmȯr-fik\
1: Described or thought of as having a human form or human
attributes <anthropomorphic deities>
2: Ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things
<anthropomorphic supernaturalism>
My interest in the topic of Humpty Dumpty and his place in world history
was, believe it or not, begun when my daughter asked where the idea that
the star of this children's
rhyme was an egg came from. In fact, her exact words were: "Why is
Humpty Dumpty depicted as an egg? No where in the rhyme does it tell us
that he is some weird Egg-Man."
So, I ended up at the website for the town of Colchester,
England,
which played a part in the Second English Civil War in 1648.
Since this was the town involved, I take it to be the most historically
correct, or at least the most accepted.
The original rhyme was a political
story written during the English Civil War. The "egg" in the rhyme was a
personification -- or really, an eggification, I guess -- of a huge cannon
which was on top of a church
which was set there to defend Colchester against invasion in 1648.
According to the site, the cannon was called -- for whatever reason --
"Humpty Dumpty" by the townspeople.
The city was occupied by the royalists and twelve weeks into the
occupation, the tower was hit and the whole top of the tower crumbled,
taking the cannon with it. The occupying royalists -- both the cavalry and
the infantry, which would be the king's horses
and the king's men -- could not fix the cannon.
According to the story, the original rhyme was this:
Humpty dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty dumpty had a great fall.;
Threescore men and threescore more,
Could not place Humpty as he was before.
"So," I wrote to my daughter, "if we fast-forward to the 1970s, you might
remember sitting on my lap night after night while I lovingly read you
"Alice Through the Looking Glass."
"Or probably, you read it yourself.
"But in that book, Alice meets Humpty Dumpty, and he is an anthropomorphic
egg in the illustration
there. Perhaps that is the answer to your question."
Significant -- or not -- is a further connection between children's
rhymes, Lewis Carroll stories, and Colchester exists.
The lyrics to the English lullaby, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" was
written by English poet Jane Taylor, who lived in Colchester. Her poem
was called "The Star," and it was a couplet first published in 1806. It
was set to music to the tune of a French melody that was arranged by the classical
composer Mozart.
Variants of the melody were also used for the "Alphabet Song," which
nearly all English-speaking children learn early on, and "Baa, Baa, Black
Sheep."
But more importantly to our discussion here, a parody of the lullaby,
entitled "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat" was recited by the Mad Hatter at
the mad tea party in Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
The words to that parody,
only four lines and two words of which are actually in the story before
the Mad Hatter is interrupted, are:
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea tray in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle...
"The Bat" in the story was the nickname of one of Carroll's former Oxford
professors.
Colchester has a couple of other literary significances.
In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston Smith, the protagonist,
ponders his childhood memories of war,
with this sentence, "Perhaps it was the time when the atomic bomb had
fallen on Colchester."
So there you have the rambling story of the English Civil War, a large egg
with a face, a stuttering mathematician-cum-author with an obsession with
the young daughter of his dean named Alice, and a city in United
Kingdom.
Recommended Resources
The English Civil War of the mid-17th century was part of a larger series of conflicts that spanned the British Isles, involving Scotland, Ireland, England, and Wales. A historical timeline, biographical data, the military, church and state are outlined.
http://bcw-project.org/
British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate
Offers time lines and an account of the British Civil Wars, biographical profiles of those who were instrumental in the fighting, and a military history of the era.
http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/
Contains sections about the war including religion and the Scottish question, Oliver Cromwell, and the Restoration, as well as a list of supplemental readings, books, and articles.
http://europeanhistory.boisestate.edu/westciv/
omment, resources and discussion about the conflict in England between 1642 and 1649 is the chief focus of topics here, including a timeline of events, battles and sieges, and significant people. Books and other media, reenactments, interactive maps, and courses on the subject are included.
http://www.englishcivilwar.org/
History Guide: The English Civil War
This is a lecture within a series of lectures on early modern European history, and it focuses on the English Civil War, including its causes, the political situation leading up to it, and the war itself.
http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/lecture7c.html
Highlighting the role played by Sir Richard Molyneux, a chief player during the English Civil War, including his military career, ancestry, and regiment. Historical information and a bibliography are included, along with an online shopping area.
http://www.molyneuxs.com/
Reporting the English Civil War
In blog format, the history of the English Civil War is told in day-to-day blog posts, as if they had been entered in during the time period. Other resources include an index of people and places, the text of the London City Petition of 1643, and Mercurius Civicus: Volume I.
http://reportingtheenglishcivilwar.wordpress.com/
Sir John Owens Regiment of Foote
Sir John Owens Regiment of Foote were raised in North Wales, but men from Cheshire and Shropshire were included in its ranks. A history of the regiment and its role in the English Civil War is put forward.
http://www.englishcivilwar.com/
The Causes of the English Civil War
Delves into the long-term as well as short-term causes and effects of the English Civil War in simple terms.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/english_civil-war.htm
Born in 1599, Oliver Cromwell was a key figure in the English Civil War. His life, ambitions, motives and actions are investigated, including a brief biography, historical timeline, and an overview of the role that he played in the Wars. The association is also highlighted, and a members only area is included.
http://www.olivercromwell.org/
The ECWS seeks to bring 17th century history to life through reenactments of the English Civil War. Its membership policies, registration, and a schedule of events are presented, along with historical resources, video, and photographs.
http://ecws.org.uk/
Intended as an educational resource, the site introduces the reader to the history of the English Civil War, including the technologies used at the time, specific battles and tactics, as well as the people involved. A schedule of reenactments is also presented.
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~crossby/ECW/
