There Was a Crooked Man

There Was a Crooked Man

There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile.

He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

Written: Unknown 

Published: c.1842

The origin of this poem comes from the Stuart era of English history of King Charles I. 

The "crooked man" in this poem is generally regarded to be the Scottish General Sir Alexander Leslie who signed a Covenant (c.1638) securing both religious and political freedom for Scotland. 

The "crooked stile" referred to in the poem alluded to the border between England and Scotland.

And finally the line: "They all lived together in a little crooked house" refers to the fact the English and the Scots had finally come to an agreement.

The words of this poem reflect a time in history when there was great animosity between the English and the Scots. 

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the King’s horses, and all the King’s Men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again

Written:          Unknown

Published:        1797

In fifteenth century England “humpty dumpty” was a slang term to describe someone who was obese.

In the seventeenth century - according to the Oxford English Dictionary - the term "humpty dumpty" referred to a drink of brandy boiled with ale.

And in the eighteenth century "humpty dumpty" was slang for a short and clumsy person.

There are various theories of what and who "Humpty Dumpty" was and they are as follows:

·         One suggestion was that Humpty Dumpty was a "tortoise" siege engine (a siege engine was a device that was designed to break down city walls in a time of warfare initially made of wood however with time and new inventions came to be an armoured frame). It was suggested that a “tortoise” was used unsuccessfully to approach the walls of the Parliamentary held city of Gloucester in 1643 during the Siege of Gloucester during the English Civil War. This suggestion was put forward in 1956 by Professor David Daube in The Oxford Magazine on 16^th February 1956. Academics acclaimed this theory however this theory was derided by others and declared to be a spoof.

·         A second (most discussed / plausible and believable) theory claims that “Humpty Dumpty” was a cannon – the theory goes as follows: The cannon was used during the English Civil War (1642-1649) in the Siege of Colchester 13^th June 1648-27^th August 1648) when the Roundheads (Parliamentarians) laid siege to the town against the Cavaliers (Royalists). In 1648 Colchester was a walled town with a castle and several churches and was protected by the city wall. A huge cannon – known locally as “Humpty Dumpty” was strategically placed on the city wall. A shot from a Parliamentary cannon succeeded in damaging the wall beneath “Humpty Dumpty” which caused the cannon to fall to the ground. The Cavaliers (Royalists - 'all the King's men') attempted to raise “Humpty Dumpty” on to another part of the wall but because the cannon was so heavy 'All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty together again.' This had severe consequences for the Cavaliers (Royalists) as the tactically important town of Colchester fell to the Roundheads (Parliamentarians) after a siege that had lasted for eleven weeks.

·         Another theory – put forward by Katherine Ewles Thomas claims that “Humpty Dumpty” was King Richard III of England depicted in Tudor history and in particular in Shakespeare's play: Richard III. He was portrayed as a humpbacked King who was defeated - despite his armies – at Bosworth Field in 1485.

However for clarification purposes the term humpback was not recorded until the eighteenth century and to date there is no direct evidence linking the rhyme “Humpty Dumpty” with the historical figure.

Written by: Andria Owen

Jack Sprat

Jack Sprat

Jack Sprat could eat no fat
His wife could eat no lean
And so betwixt the two of them
They licked the platter clean

Jack ate all the lean,
Joan ate all the fat.
The bone they picked it clean,
Then gave it to the cat

Jack Sprat was wheeling,
His wife by the ditch.
The barrow turned over,
And in she did pitch.

Says Jack, "She'll be drowned!"
But Joan did reply,
"I don't think I shall,
For the ditch is quite dry.".

Written by:        Unknown

Published:          1639

The name Jack Sprat was commonly used for people of small stature in the sixteenth century however the source of the nursery rhyme Jack Sprat can be found in British History!

The Jack Sprat alluded to in this English poem is alleged to be King Charles I (1625-1649) and his Queen Henrietta Maria (1609-1669). Apparently when King Charles I (Jack Sprat) declared war on Spain Parliament refused to finance this for him (therefore leaving him lean) and so his wife imposed an illegal war tax (to get some fat) after which the angered King Charles (Jack Sprat) dissolved Parliament.

Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England / King of Scotland and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until he was executed in 1649. King Charles I engaged in a struggle for power with Parliament in an attempt to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament looked to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles I believed was his absolute right. Many of his English subjects opposed his actions especially with his interference in both the English and Scottish Churches and the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent which grew to be seen by all as the act of a tyrannical absolute monarch

On 11 May 1625 - Charles was married by proxy (Charles was not in Paris at the time of the marriage and therefore someone stood in for him) to Henrietta Maria in front of the doors of the Notre Dame de Paris before his first Parliament could meet to forbid the banns. Many members of Parliament were opposed to a Protestant King marrying a Roman Catholic – their concerns being that Charles would lift restrictions previously placed on Roman Catholics and undermine the official establishment of Protestantism. Although he stated to Parliament that he would not relax restrictions relating to recusants - he promised to do exactly that in a secret marriage treaty with Louis XIII of France. What is more the price of marriage to the French princess was a promise of English aid for the French crown in the suppressing of the Protestant Huguenots at La Rochelle. This totally reversed England's long held position in the French Wars of Religion. The couple were finally married in person on 13 June 1625 in Canterbury. Charles was crowned on 2 February 1626 at Westminster Abbey but without his wife at his side due to the controversy. Charles and Henrietta had seven children with three sons and three daughters surviving infancy.

Charles' continued advancement of his father's failed policies and his wife's Catholic friends divided the kingdom and caused civil war with opposing forces – those being Cavaliers (supporters of the monarchy) and Roundheads (supporters of Parliament). Other than the resulting civil war religious and economic issues were prevalent during the reign of Charles I and added to the differences between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads. The support for the Cavaliers came from peasants and the nobility of Episcopalian roots while support for the Roundheads came from the emerging middle classes and tradesmen of the Puritanical movement.

Geographically it was the northern and western counties that aided the Cavaliers with the more financially prosperous and populated southern and eastern counties lending aid to the Roundheads therefore it was the Roundheads with deeper pockets and more population to draw from who were destined to win the battle. Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army thoroughly overcame the Cavaliers at Naseby 1645.

Barely a year later Charles I surrendered to the Scots who turned the king over to Parliament. In 1648 Charles was put on trial for treason and the court - by a vote of 68 to 67 found the king guilty and ordered his execution in 1649.

Written by: Andria Owen