I found myself passing this wonderful chalk drawing (you'll have to zoom in to see it) on the corner of "Bear Gardens" in Southwark, however, checking it out on the interweb it looks like it isn't just a cute name for a road...a "Bear Garden", according to the "Shakespeare Quarterly" is defined as "a place originally set aside for the baiting of bears, and used for the exhibition of other rough sports"...
Pepys' Diary entry from 14 August 1666 contributes - "After dinner with my wife and Mercer to the Beare Garden...and saw some good sport of the bull's tossing of the dogs - one into the very boxes. But it is a very rude and nasty pleasure. We had a great many hectors in the box with us (and one, very fine, went into the pit and played his dog for a wager, which was a strange sport for a gentleman)"...
The OED notes that many historic theatres actually started off as "Bear Gardens"...which is interesting, as barely (sorry) 10 paces from "Bear Gardens" is a housing development that is built on top of the site of the real foundations of the original "Globe Theatre"...interesting neh? So we've learned something today... ;)
2 comments:
When I visited the globe last year there was a lot of mention of Bear fights and they mentioned one was in operation very close to the original Globe theatre...
They liked their entertainment back then!!
I think that clinches it then, ladyb! I suppose I really should get around to going and seeing something there, or at least taking the tour! ;)
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