On
a Recent visit to London, I went to the London Dungeon. Not because I had
done anything criminal - I mean, I went to see the exhibition in the Dungeon.
It's all about the more gory and terrible times of London history, as you
will see in the following pictures I brought back.
Let's
start with something a bit easier on the eye. Not that guillotines are in any
way nice, or harmless. But this one doesn't have anything lying under it just
now, so that's pretty harmless judging by Dungeon standards. As you will find
out soon.
This
poor little beggar has been thrown into jail (or back then, the Dungeon) probably
for stealing something pretty small. Back then, they were quite brutal with
their torture methods. As you can see, he's got his head, arms and legs strapped
in one of those torture instruments. This one's harmless, though, compared to
some other techniques. I guess he's in there for the rest of his life, judging
by the skeleton hanging from the wall, or maybe that's just another way of torture.
The
head on this stake belongs to one Douglas Tong, Highwayman by profession. He
was somewhat (in)famous, as the poster makes out. Anyway, he was captured, executed,
and then his body was torn to bits and the pieces scattered among the crowd.
Everyone wanted a piece. It was like buying a souvenir these days, I guess.
Only a bit more ruthless.
Sometimes
they put criminals (or innocents, if the mood called for it) in these cages,
which they hung from the ceilings, or bridges, or anywhere else. Sometimes they
lowered them into the river and drowned whoever was inside. Sometimes they just
left them hanging in there, for the rest of their life - which wasn't going
to last for much longer anyway.
