Modern Myths

The Siege of Gloucester has generated a range of stories and myths which have become generally and incorrectly accepted as fact.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall! This is one of the recent myths associated with the siege, following a 1950s publication which linked the traditional nursery rhyme with the siege engines constructed by the royalists during the siege. In reality there is no recorded reference to the rhyme before 1800 and no connection to Gloucester until 1956.

The pig that saved the city is also retold- a pig was carried round inside the walls, and tormented to make it squeal. This was designed to suggest that the citizens had plenty of food. This is a common story from sieges, but there is no evidence of it for Gloucester. The citizens had plenty of food, but there is a record of a pig being struck dead by a cannon ball.