Historical Hauntings - the Tower of London

Photo courtesy of the Historic Royal Palaces
Join the ghostly fun on twitter with #TowerGhost

There’s no better time for a ghost story than Hallowe’en and no better place to tell them, than at the Tower of London.  Over the centuries those ancient stone walls have witnessed murder, torture and imprisonment - and soaked up the distressed spirits of those who died there. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, there are compelling accounts, frequently by Yeoman Warders, of sights so terrifying that one witness even died of fright two days later. Of the ten ghostly apparitions associated with the Tower of London, here are my two favourites.

Portrait of a woman thought to be
Margaret Pole.

Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury

By all accounts Margaret Pole was a feisty character, but she needed to be with King Henry VIII amongst her enemies. Margaret was an unusual woman for a number of reasons: firstly, because she was a peeress in her own right (rather than being married to a nobleman) and secondly, because she reached the age of 70 – which was quite an achievement in Tudor England.

However, Henry VIII was not a fan mainly because Margaret was a Plantagenet (a rival line of accession to England’s throne)  and her son, Reginald, was a vocal critic of Henry’s religious and marital policies. Knowing Henry had charged him with treason Reginald fled abroad, but not so Margaret – who Henry arrested, put through a farcical trial and sentenced to death.

The Martin Tower at the Tower of London
Find out more at #TowerGhosts

On 27^th May 1541, Margaret Pole was marched onto Tower Green at the Tower of London, where a crowd of 150 spectators had assembled to witness her execution. Margaret, however, was having none of it. She defiantly told the executioner that she refused to kneel at the block and if he wanted to cut her head off, he’d have to do it where she stood. You can almost feel sorry for the man – caught between a strident old woman and the orders of his king. In the end, the executioner took a swipe at Lady Pole, missed her neck and badly cut her shoulder. Bleeding heavily, Margaret's white hair stained red, she took to her heels and ran. Eventually, it took 11 blows to fell the countess in what was more butchery than execution.

And so the story goes that on the anniversary of her death, May 27^th, her ghost re-enacts her brutal end in a macabre dance around Tower Green....

 

Anne Boleyn

Queen Anne Boleyn

Another of Henry’s victims was his second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn. Once again Tower Green provides the backdrop for a grizzly scene with a French swordsman smiting Anne’s head from her shoulders on her husband’s command. Her body was removed, placed in an empty arrow chest for a coffin and buried beneath the floor in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. But it seems the lady lies uneasy for in Victorian times a Captain of the Guard noticed a light burning in the locked chapel. Suspicious of what was going on he placed a ladder against the chapel window to inside. What he saw is described in this excerpt from Ghostly London, London 1882.

“Slowly down the aisle moved a stately procession of Knights and Ladies, attired in ancient costumes; and in front walked an elegant female whose face was averted from him, but whose figure greatly resembled the one he had seen in reputed portraits of Anne Boleyn. After having repeatedly paced the chapel, the entire procession together with the light disappeared.”

 

The elegant memorial to those executed on Tower Green
(author's own picture)

In 1864 a sentry of the King's Royal Rifle Corps was patrolling the grounds when he came upon an misty apparition of a woman in Tudor dress, wearing a French hood – but lacking a face! He challenged her to stop but she kept advancing so he thrust at the figure with his bayonet. Apparently, as the bayonet passed through the mist he received an electric shock. The sentry was court-marshalled for sleeping whilst on duty – but a fellow officer came forward and said that whilst he was in the Bloody Tower, he heard the man shout out a challenge and was in time to witness the shadowy figure pass through the bayonet and then the guard himself!

  

Click for link

Those clever people at the Historic Royal Palaces have created a special hour long tour of ‘Ten Historical Hotspots’ within the Tower of London. If you are in London this Hallowe’en and want to find out more visit here:  

http://bit.ly/TowerGhosts

This blog post is part of the Trick or Treat Hallowe'en Blog Hop.
See links below for the participating blogs. 

Bizarre Tudor Deaths ( Part 2 of 2.)

 

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Midweek, I posted about the work of Dr Gunn, a historian from Oxford University. Dr Gunn had the genius idea of reading Coroners’ Reports from the Tudor period, to find out about how people lived…and died…back then.

His research revealed that some people met their ends in surprising and, often bizarre ways; see part 1 (posted before ‘The Treasures in My Life’).

Maypole Injuries.

It seems that even such benign objects of entertainment, such as maypoles, could kill. Thomas Alsopp of Coventry, was one such victim. On 26^th April 1558 he was standing near a church wall, when the maypole fell over. It hit the wall, knocking a stone out which tumbled and hit Thomas’ head, fracturing his skull and killing him instantly. Who’d have thought?

Keeping Clean is Not Always Healthy.

After working up a sweat, dancing round the maypole, cooling off meant a quick dip in the local pond. Coroners’ Reports unearthed by Dr Gunn reveal several workmen who died as a result of freshening up.

Thomas Staple a labourer in Kent, went to Mr Mayne’s pond on 2 June 1558, to clean up, but unfortunately feel into the deepest part, and being unable to swim, drowned.

That same summer, George Lee and John Joplyn, both drowned whilst bathing in rivers in Leicester and Cambridge respectively: one fell into a whirlpool, whilst the other got trapped by bushes and drowned.

Drowning in ….!

What was a ‘Gong Farmer’?

Answer: it was the Tudor name for someone whose occuptation was to empty sewage from cesspits.

You can guess what’s coming next…. Or, perhaps not!

A drunken baker from Cambridge, in the process of relieving his bladder took a step backwards and fell into a cesspit on 2 June 1523… and suffocated. Urgh!

Handguns.

The first recorded death by accidental shooting occurred in 1519. The victim was a woman from Welton, near Hull. She was shot by a French bookbinder (called Peter Frenchman!). Having never seen a gun before, the victim walked in front as it was fired….

From this initial accident it took less than forty years for ‘death by accidental shooting’ to over take the number of longbow related deaths.

By-Your-Own-Bow

In Part One, I mentioned death by bow and arrow – but this was at someone else’s hand. So how, exactly, do you shoot yourself in the head with your own bow?

This is exactly what happened in 1552 to Henry Pert, gentleman from Nottinghamshire. He drew his bow to the full extent with the intention of firing an arrow straight up in the air. The arrow lodged in the bow so he lowered the bow and leant over to take a look…at which point the arrow released. He died the next day.

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Bisset's 'Cat Orchestra' and other performing cats.

A modern-day cat act (Image courtesy of elisasjourneys.com)

Bisset’s ‘Cat Orchestra’ and Other Performing Cats.

I haven’t posted about cats for a while, so to put that right here is some historical trivia about performing cats.

In the mid 18^th century, Scotsman Samuel Bisset read about the success of an animal act, ‘The Thinking Horse’ and decided to have a go himself. His first foray into animal training involved a monkey who he taught to ride a pony, and dance with a dog. But Bisset astutely realised that novelty was the key to success and hit on the idea of training that least trainable of all animals – the cat!

 

A dulcimer (Image courtesy of dougberch.com)



Bisset’s ‘Amazing Cat Orchestra’ soon became the talk of London; performances of cats strumming dulcimers and singing in high pitched meouws, were held at his house, and was seemingly very popular with the public.

As the ‘Eccentric Magazine’ wrote:

‘In such a city as London, these feats could not fail of making some noise, his house was every day crowded.’

In 1758 the master showman, Pinchbeck, suggested Bisset expand and hire an exhibition room in the Haymarket. ‘The Cats’ Opera’ opened with such entertainments as…. cats strumming dulcimers and mewing, a monkey dancing with a dog and a hare that walked on his back legs whilst beating a drum. This show was also a success and earnt Mr Bisset over a thousand pounds – testament to the eccentricity of the English.

 

image courtesy of weedom.com

However not all cat acts did so well. In the following century a Danish conjurer, Pederson brought a feline act to London. The animal part of his show involved two docile cats that allowed pigeons to perch on their heads. However, the magic of the act was dispelled when Pederson naively admitted in a newspaper interview, that an important part of the act was a plentiful supply of pigeons, since his cats were no always as docile as they seemed!

Image courtesy of slurpy.org

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 Review:
> I honestly have to say that this story surprised me on nearly every turn. Just when I thought I had the storyline predicted that I knew what was going to happen next, Ms. Elliot changed it up on me, and it was wonderful! At first glance, this is a story that has been written a thousand times. Dissolute wastrel reformed by an innocent, spirited girl, skeletons in the closet keeping them from their ultimate happiness, but the bravery of our reformed hero saves the day. This story starts on that track, but then avoids predictability by doing the unexpected. I loved it!
> Celeste and Ranulf were excellent characters. Ranulf is your typical society rake with a secret talent. On the surface, he is totally fixated on the fairer sex, but he is burdened with issues that truly show the depth of his character behind the mask. However, as we get to know him better, we are given glimpses into his past, and elements in his private life that show him to be a truly noble hero, even willing to sacrifice his own life to save the woman he loves. Celeste was his perfect match, a woman who was not afraid to take life by the horns and live it for all it was worth, but who had her own issues to deal with. Already burned by one society rake, she is reluctant to trust Ranulf or her attraction to him.
> Our villain in this story also avoids the trap of predictability. On first glance, it seems to be a case of been there, read that, but surprise! It isn’t that way at all! Without giving away all the good parts, it was wonderful to read a story where the heroine tried to save the hero, but was sensible about it.
> Will Celeste and Ranulf be able to work through their issues, or will the danger hovering in the background swallow their new love? Will Celeste realize that she can trust Ranulf with everything, even her tender heart? You will have fun finding out!

Whistler's Poodle and the Eminent Surgeon.

'Whistler's Mother.'

American born, British based artist, James Abbott Whistler (1834 - 1903) famed for paintings such as ‘Arrangement in Grey and Black, the Artist’s Mother’ (yes, the picture in the first Mr. Bean movie!) and Old Battersea Bridge, was an animal lover. Whistler owned a tortoiseshell cat, but his favorite pet was actually his French poodle.

            One day the poodle was taken ill and in a panic Whistler called out an eminent ENT surgeon of the day. Arriving at Whistler’s address, the distinguished doctor was horrified to find the patient wasn’t human but canine! Begrudgingly he examined the animal and prescribed a course of treatment.

            But the next day the doctor got his revenge when he sent Whistler an urgent summons. Thinking it was news of his favorite dog’s condition the great artist dropped everything and hurried over. He was greeted warmly by the doctor with the words;

            ‘Ah good morning Mr. Whistler, so good of you to call so promptly. I needed to see you urgently about the repainting my front door.’

'Study in White' by Whistler

           

Why Cats Have Nine Lives.

As a veterinarian I’m constantly surprised by the resilience of the feline species. This week alone a 17 year old cat with kidney failure successfully underwent major dental attention, a stray cat lost a leg but was eating the same night and a kitten fell 40 feet with barely a scratch to show for it! Its no wonder cats have a reputation for having nine lives - which set me wondering about where the saying originated.

Research into this fable led me to ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians believed in 9 ‘great gods’ or ENNEAD, which sounds as if we are getting close to the spot! So who or what is the Ennead and where did they come from?

In the beginning there was ATUM-RA – or ‘Cat god of the setting sun.’

Now Atum-Ra begat:

Shu (Air) and Tefrut (Moisture)

Who in turn begat:

Earth and Nut (Sky)

Who in turn begat:

Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys.

In total with Atum-Ra this makes 9 gods.

A religious text dated between 945 – 715 BC records;

“I am one becomes two,

I am two who becomes four

I am four who becomes eight,

And I am one more besides.”

The text is alluding to Atum-Ra being the embodiment of nine gods, or one creator who has nine lives. Indeed, it is now thought some of the multitude of cat statues found in excavations from ancient Egypt, are not representations of pet cats or the cat goddess Bastet, but of Atum-Ra. Several of these statues show a cat bearing a sun disk on their head, or bearing a scarab beetle (the symbol for the sun), consistent with Atum-Ra.

Fascinating isn’t it that the culture of an ancient civilization can be so firmly embedded in our own world today?

Do you have a story of a cat surviving against the odds? Why not share it here?