42 Quotes by Catharine Arnold

Hanging had been introduced by the Anglo-Saxons during the fifth century as a punishment for murder, theft and treason.

Children were the primary victims of these filthy conditions and there were numerous anecdotes of undertakers temporarily storing the bodies of newborn infants in their own premises until there were enough dead babies to make it worthwhile giving them a decent burial.

In fact, the tunnel curves between Knightsbridge and South Kensington stations because it was impossible to drill through the mass of skeletal remains buried in Hyde Park.

Only Mary Queen of Scots challenged the prevailing orthodoxy when she wore white to mourn the death of Lord Darnley in 1567, earning the title of ‘The White Queen’.

Burton makes it quite clear that the ‘distinguished’ nature of melancholy makes it superior to other forms of madness, as evidence of a refined nature. It is melancholy, after all, which afflicts scholars and poets: ‘Melancholy men of all others are most witty.’32 Despite the drawbacks of the condition, his ambivalent attitude prefigures that of many modern depressives, who regard the disease as an essential component of their character, even their creativity.

In 1666, an Act designed to promote the wool industry came into force, insisting that everyone should be buried in a woollen shroud. Other fibres, such as silk or linen, were banned.

A shortage of coffins was one thing, but then London began running out of graves.

But Turner was not without his peccadilloes: a magistrate, he considered it his civic duty to witness every prostitute he sentenced being flogged at Bridewell, moving one commentator to observe: ‘Oh, Bridewell! What a shame thy walls reproaches. Poor Molls are whipp’d, while rich ones ride in coaches!

If a woman possessed the unfortunate combination of delicate skin, thin eyebrows, a curving spine and a ‘sharp tongue’, it would be almost impossible for a man to refrain from beating her.