"My prisoner, or my guest?" (from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale)

The Clink Prison Museum was right up my alley. I find crime and punishment really interesting. The Clink Prison Museum is in Southwark, was once the home to the Bear Gardens, where bear baiting was popular entertainment, and famous theatre during Shakespeare's time. Very near our hotel, we passed the Clink Prison Museum several times in our wanderings and I have been excited about our upcoming visit. It's on this really unique street; it's winding, narrow, and cobblestoned. It reminded me of Diagon Alley in Harry Potter.

We learned all about the Clink Prison's history from the Museum Director, James. Poor James was quite sick with the flu, but he hung in there for us. I bet you won't even be able to tell the man was ill when you watch the video. James really knew his stuff. But his knowledge far exceeded the history of the Prison, he also knew an incredible amount about crime and punishment during the time of Shakespeare.

James took me through this small, yet fascinating, museum, while telling us all the grisly details of what happened inside the prison. He even demonstrated where the term, "sitting on the edge of your seat" comes from. The saying comes from the awful torture chair that I got to try out. Funny how that term evolved into a good thing.

It was shocking to hear how many people were imprisoned for religious reasons or for being recusants. In fact, religion and reading could save your life, for if you could read a passage from the bible you would be tried in the church where there was no death penalty for crimes committed. Those not able to read were subject to far worse.

After hearing about the awful conditions prisoners endured and the punishments received, I wanted to know from James if the place was haunted. He said that some visitors have reported something tapping them on the shoulder when no one was around. Five or six times during our visit, a single notecard I had for the interview dropped from my hands onto the floor. Who knows: maybe it was a ghost, or just a combination of my clumsiness coupled with a good scare from James.

In any case, I loved hearing about it!

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