Thanks Renfield.
Posted on 08/11/2013 10:31:09 AM PDT by Renfield
Established in 1247, the notorious Bethlem (“Bedlam”) Royal Hospital was the first dedicated psychiatric institution in Europe and possibly the most famous specialist facility for care and control of the insane, so much so that the word ‘bedlam’ has long been synonymous with madness and chaos. Now, in a spectacular discovery, archaeologists have uncovered the asylum’s ancient graveyard right in the heart of London, revealing as many as 20,000 skeletons.
The 500-year-old graveyard was found during excavations to create a 13-mile high speed tunnel under Central London. Modern-day residents and visitors going about their busy daily lives have been oblivious to the fact that below them, under what is now Liverpool Street Station, the remains of thousands of Londoners including many patients from the Bedlam asylum were laid to rest.
“Everyone's been running around in Liverpool Street for years and not thinking that they've been walking around on bodies from one of the densest burial grounds in London,” said Nick Elsden, a Museum of London archaeologist.
The 16th-century burial ground was built on the original site of the Bethlem Hospital and as well as serving the hospital itself, it was also used to relieve the pressure from overcrowded cemeteries throughout London. It was particularly associated with religious non-conformists, as it was not attached to a church. One of the more famous individuals thought to be buried there is Robert Lockyer, a member of the radical Leveller movement, who was executed by firing squad at St Paul's Cathedral after leading an army mutiny in 1649. Archaeologists are hoping to find his remains amongst the 20,000 other individuals buried there.
The remains of around 4,000 people will have to be disinterred, and will be studied for clues about their lifestyle before being reburied elsewhere.
But thousands of bodies are not the only items to have been recovered from the dig. Incredibly, archaeologists have found everything from reindeer and mammoth bones dating back 68,000 years to a Mesolithic tool-making facility, numerous 2,000-year-old horseshoes, an entire stretch of Roman road, the remains of a Tudor manor house, medieval ice skates, an 800-year-old piece of a ship, and rare Roman coins.
'This site is a rare, perhaps unprecedented opportunity,' Mr Elsden said. 'This is a major roadway outside one of London's busiest railway stations. You don't get to dig that up normally.'
How do you examine a 750-yr.-old skeleton and determine he/she was a mental patient?
Ah! The writer has had his comma removed! Hope it wasn’t a painful operation, and I pray that he makes a complete recovery!
That would probably be an improvement. Can we make that happen in D.C. too.
“20,000 skeletons discovered under London”
Suddenly I can’t get the sound of multiple xylophones with really fast hammering on ‘dem chimes, out of my head.
Bedlam was moved to a new building in Moorfields in 1676.
While touring the Imperial War Museum, I couldn't help thing of the poor devils who spent time there.
For to see my Tom of Bedlam, 10,000 miles I’d travel
Mad Maudlin goes on dirty toes, to save her shoes from gravel.
Still I sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys,
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live by the air,
And they want no drink nor money.
I went down to Satin’s kitchen, for to beg me food one morning
There I got souls piping hot, all on the spit a turning.
There I picked up a cauldron, Where boiled 10,000 harlots
Though full of flame I drank the same, to the health of all such varlets.
My staff has murdered giants, my bag a long knife carries
For to cut mince pies from children’s thighs, with which to feed the fairies.
Spirits white as lightning, shall on my travels guide me
The moon would quake and the stars would shake, when’ ere they espied me.
No gypsy slut nor doxy, shall win my Mad Tom from me
I’ll weep all night, the stars I’ll fight, the fray will well become me.
It’s when next I have murdered, the Man-In-The-Moon to powder
His staff I’ll break, his dog I’ll bake, they’ll howl no demon louder.
So drink to Tom of Bedlam, he’ll fill the seas in barrels
I’ll drink it all, all brewed with gall, with Mad Maudlin I will travel.
Thanks Renfield.
I have sung that song many times, as my Morris side gathered over pints of ale.
Read the article. It says you can't determine mental illness in a skeleton. As well there's no burial records.
“...to create a 13-mile, high-speed tunnel under Central London.”
See my post #22
Oh! Beaten to the punch again. Sigh... Thanks.
Wake me up when they find a Dairy Queen.
NBD! 8^)
As long as they aren't digging near Hobbs End.
Extra points to the first to cite the reference...
I'm a bit slow on the uptake today, and was envisioning somebody drinking ale while Morris dancing. I did eventually figure out that you were just talking about part of your family. May you and your "Morris side" sing forever, with glasses full. Cheers Renfield!
Darn you.
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