Humpty Dumpty
Colchester is a widely credited source of the rhyme Humpty Dumpty. During the siege of Colchester in the Civil War, a Royalist sniper known as One-Eyed Thompson sat in the belfry of the church of St Mary-at-the-Walls ("Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall") and was given the nickname Humpty Dumpty, most likely because of his size, "Humpty Dumpty" being a common insult for the overweight. Thompson was shot down ("Humpty Dumpty had a great fall") and, shortly after, the town was lost to the Parliamentarians ("all the king's horses and all the king's men / couldn't put Humpty together again.") Another version says that Humpty Dumpty was a cannon on the top of the church. The church of St Mary-at-the-Walls still retains its Norman tower until the top few feet, which are a Georgian repair.