The origins of most nursery rhymes reflect events in history [...] Two examples of these types of nursery rhyme origins are 'Ring a Ring o Rosies' which refers to the Bubonic plague and 'Remember Remember' nursery rhymes which allude to Guy Fawkes' foiled attempt to blow up the English Houses of Parliament. Many of the words and nursery rhymes lyrics were used to parody the royal and political events of the day, direct dissent would often be punishable by death. 'Humpty Dumpty' was in reality a large canon. It was used during the English Civil War (1642 - 1649) in the Siege of Colchester (Jun 1648 - Aug 1648). Colchester was strongly fortified by the Royalists and was laid to siege by the Parliamentarians (Roundheads). In 1648 the town of Colchester was a walled town with a castle and several churches and was protected by the city wall. Standing immediately adjacent the city wall, was St Mary's Church. A huge canon, colloquially called 'Humpty Dumpty,' was strategically placed on the wall next to St Mary's Church. A shot from a Parliamentary canon succeeded in damaging the wall beneath 'Humpty Dumpty' which caused the canon to tumble to the ground. The Royalists, or Cavaliers (all the King's men), attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall. However, because the canon ('Humpty Dumpty') was so heavy, "All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty together again!" This had a drastic consequence for the Royalists as the strategically important town of Colchester fell to the Parliamentarians after a siege lasting eleven weeks. The words and lyrics to the 'Rock a-Bye Baby' rhyme are reputed to reflect the observations of a young pilgrim boy in America who had seen Native Indian mothers suspend a birch bark cradle from the branches of a tree. Thus enabling the wind to rock the cradle and the child to sleep. This rhyme is also known as 'Hush a-Bye Baby' which is the correct title. [source: http://www.rhymes.org.uk/]