1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,280 Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Minkie. Listener discretion is advised. 3 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: In the early hours of the morning on Good Friday 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventeen, when the streets were still dark but 5 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: the faintest glow of sunrise was just appearing on the horizon, 6 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: a strange woman wandered into the village of Almondsbury, to 7 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: the northeast of Bristol. She wore strange mixed matched clothes, 8 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: a heavy black stuff dress with a full fringe at 9 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: her neck, a red and black shawl, a large black 10 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: turban covering her dark hair. She looked tired, but still 11 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 1: her big brown eyes were pretty and bright. She had very, 12 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: very white teeth. A cobbler happened to be outside at 13 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: dawn and he saw the woman. Was she a girl 14 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: strolling up the main road. He stared at her while 15 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,839 Speaker 1: she came closer, and then, to his astonishment, she continued 16 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: to come closer to approach him. A beggar, he thought, 17 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: a pretty beggar, but a beggar. Nonetheless, he waited to 18 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: hear her appeal for money, but it didn't come. The 19 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: woman just looked at him and then gestured towards her 20 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: stomach and her mouth. She said something, but it was 21 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: in the language he didn't understand. He sighed it was 22 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: a stranger and she was hungry. The least he could 23 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: do was offer her some food. He invited the woman 24 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,040 Speaker 1: into his home. By this time his wife was awake, 25 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: and the cobbler explained the situation. The cobbler's wife found 26 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: some bread and milk, which the stranger ate hungrily, as 27 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: if she hadn't eaten in days. The cobbler and his 28 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: wife watched her as she drained the cup of milk 29 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: and returned the cup to the able with the satisfied 30 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: lip smack. She thanks them, at least it seemed like 31 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: she thanked them in whatever foreign language she spoke. And 32 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: then she started gesturing that you would like a place 33 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: to sleep. The couple exchanged a look, oh no. The 34 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: cobbler's wife said, enough of this. Take her to the overseer. Mr. 35 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: Hill was the town overseer of the poor, the man 36 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: charged with collecting taxes and distributing help to those in need. 37 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: Like the cobbler and his wife. He was baffled by 38 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: this young woman who looked to be about twenty five 39 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: in her well exotic get up a woman who seemed 40 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: to be unable to understand a single word of English. 41 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: Mr Hill decided, not knowing what else to do, that 42 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: he would bring the girl to Knowl Park, the estate 43 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 1: led by the town clerk, Samuel Whirl. She doesn't speak 44 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: any English, it seems, Mr Hill said, I can't actually 45 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: tell what language she speaks. Ms his Whorrel listened from 46 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: the next room. Nothing unusual tended to happen in Almondsbury. 47 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: It was a small village where the most exciting going 48 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: on of that year was Mr Warrell trying to start 49 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: a local Tolsie bank. But something about this woman aroused 50 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: equal parts fascination and suspicion. Mr Hale, Samuel Warrell and 51 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: Mrs Warrell all came into the parlor to try to 52 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: speak to the woman, to try to understand her story, 53 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: where she was from, who she was, But it would 54 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: be another week before her story was discovered. She was 55 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: a princess from an island called Java Su in the 56 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: Indian Ocean. She had been kidnapped by pirates but managed 57 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: to make a daring escape by jumping ship. When the 58 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: vessel neared Bristol, she wasn't a beggar. No, she was 59 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: a romantic heroine, one who fulfilled every regency England obsession 60 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: with the exotic from distant lands for a summer. Princess Caribou, 61 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:15,119 Speaker 1: as she came to call herself, would captivate and dominate Almondsbury. 62 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: And then the newspapers and the truth arrived. I'm Danish 63 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:31,159 Speaker 1: Swartz and this is noble blood. Though Samuel Worrell was 64 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: the town's minister, he still had a bit of an 65 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 1: unsavory reputation. He was a drinker, and there were rumors 66 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:44,600 Speaker 1: of behavior as unsavory as gambling, but those rumors were 67 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: in the past. He would make sure of it. He 68 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: lived with his American born wife, Elizabeth, in the large 69 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: house called Noell Park. Every day he went into town 70 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:58,839 Speaker 1: to try to start his Tolsie bank, but it turned 71 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: out that most of the at work would be just 72 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: trying to prove to the townspeople that he was trustworthy again. 73 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: When Mr Hale, the overseer of the poor, arrived on 74 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: Good Friday, Samuel and Elizabeth were already awake. Mr Hall 75 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: explained what he knew that this girl with big brown 76 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: eyes and strange clothing had just wandered into town, had 77 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,280 Speaker 1: asked the cobbler for some food and a place to sleep, 78 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: and then it seemed like she couldn't understand English. The 79 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: Worlds had a valet from Greece who had traveled in 80 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: his youth and could speak half a dozen languages. They 81 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,839 Speaker 1: called on him to try to understand the girl, but 82 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: after a few seconds of her speaking, the Greek valet 83 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: just shrugged his shoulders. It doesn't sound like any language 84 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: I've ever heard, he said, and I've heard a lot 85 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: of languages. The stranger had very few belongings with her, 86 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: a bundle of soap tied in linen, a few halfpennies, 87 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: and his single sixpence, which was counterfeit. When they examined 88 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: the items, the girl just smiled up at them blankly. 89 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: Well this is no good, Samuel Warrell said, finally, holding 90 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: the counterfeit sixpence. I'm trying to start a bank. We 91 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: can't have a girl staying with us who's involved in counterfeiting. 92 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: Samuel had decided that the woman was just a random beggar, 93 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: maybe addled in the brain, but Elizabeth refused to send 94 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: her back out onto the streets. Since the woman couldn't 95 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,039 Speaker 1: stay at their house. Elizabeth went to the local inn 96 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:39,480 Speaker 1: called the Bowl, and got the stranger a room. Elizabeth 97 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: began setting up the bed, but to her shock, the 98 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: stranger lay on the floor ready to go to sleep there. 99 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:51,719 Speaker 1: How strange, Elizabeth thought. She benevolently showed the woman that 100 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: she could instead sleep in a soft bed, which the 101 00:06:55,440 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: woman eventually did with a bemused acceptance. The next morning, 102 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,839 Speaker 1: the town clergyman arrived at the Bowl, carrying in his 103 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: arms a stack of books, ready to meet the visitor. 104 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: The stranger sat with him, eyes bright, smile ready as 105 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: he flipped through the travel books, showing illustrations of distant places. 106 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 1: When he reached the chapter on China, she became excited, 107 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: clapping her hands. When he pointed at a picture of 108 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: a pineapple, she shouted, ananas. That settles it. The clergyman said, 109 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,520 Speaker 1: she must be from Asia. That's the word for pineapples there. 110 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: The real fact of the matter is that didn't narrow 111 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: it down at all. Ananas, or a close variation of 112 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: that word, is the word for pineapple in almost every 113 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: language except English, around the world, from Azerbaijan to Finland 114 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: to Turkey. The poor girl is stranded. Elizabeth Worrell said 115 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: to her husband, we have to put her, Absolutely not, 116 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: Samuel Warrell said, she's a beggar and a counterfeiter no 117 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,119 Speaker 1: matter where she's from. She stayed one night in town, 118 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: but now it's time for the authorities to take care 119 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: of this. The stranger was brought to Bristol, where the 120 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: mayor and magistrate there tried her for vagrancy and imprisoned 121 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: her in the St. Peter's Hospital for vagrants. But Elizabeth 122 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: Warrell couldn't stop thinking about the mysterious woman. There had 123 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: to be someone who could identify her language, someone that 124 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: she could communicate with. Samuel still refused to have the 125 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: stranger stay at their house, and so Elizabeth went into 126 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: Bristol and brought the woman out of the vagrancy hospital 127 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: to stay at her husband's office in the city. All 128 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: the while, she invited anyone back who might be able 129 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: to solve the riddle of the stranger's language to come 130 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: and try to speak with her. Finally he appeared at 131 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 1: the door, a Portuguese sailor named Manuel Ennis, who had 132 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: briefly been with the stranger at the vagrancy hospital. He 133 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: came to the World's Office and told Elizabeth that he 134 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: could translate on behalf of the woman. Her name was 135 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: Princess Carribou, and she was the daughter of the king 136 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: of a wealthy and distant island called Java Su. She 137 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,559 Speaker 1: had been kidnapped by pirates, but while they were sailing 138 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: in the Bristol Channel, she managed to jump overboard her clothes. Oh, 139 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: these weren't her original clothes. She had been wearing a 140 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: dress of silk interwoven with gold, but when she came 141 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: ashore in England, she traded clothes with a woman who 142 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: lived in a cottage. No, she couldn't say who the 143 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: woman was or exactly where the cottage was located. Elizabeth 144 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: Whorl was elated. The visitor wasn't a random vagrant. She 145 00:09:55,240 --> 00:10:01,439 Speaker 1: was a princess, a beautiful princess from a amorous foreign land. 146 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: Elizabeth took the woman home with her to Nol Park immediately. 147 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,679 Speaker 1: What followed was a summer at Nol Park that could 148 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:18,559 Speaker 1: only be described as triumphant. Samuel Laurel, who was initially 149 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: so dismissive of the foreigner who might reduce confidence in 150 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 1: his banking endeavor overnight, instead became delighted at the legitimacy 151 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 1: that was lended to his bank. Now that they were 152 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: hosting a royal visitor, with a slew of admirers and visitors, 153 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: reporters and hangers on, Nol Park became the center of 154 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: the Bristol social scene that season, full of people eager 155 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:49,080 Speaker 1: to meet Princess Carribou and see what strange and exotic 156 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 1: thing she did next. Carribou would write in her native 157 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: Javastu language to people ooing and aweing over her shoulder. 158 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: She cooked a curry and showed off archery skills. She 159 00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: bathed naked in the garden and went swimming in the 160 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: Bristol Channel. It was a one woman parade of a 161 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: foreign culture no one had heard of. She did a 162 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 1: war dance with a gong, climbed onto the roof to 163 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: pray to her god, whom she called Allah Talah, and 164 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:27,400 Speaker 1: took a live pigeon, cut its head off, buried the head, 165 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:31,440 Speaker 1: and then poured its blood into the dirt. She refused 166 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 1: to eat any meat that she didn't prepare first with 167 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: that ritual before every Tuesday, she fasted. Slowly, more details 168 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:45,840 Speaker 1: emerged about her life on Javasu, astonished Brits listened to 169 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: her tell stories about her mother, who had blackened teeth 170 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,959 Speaker 1: and a painted body, who wore a jewel in her 171 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:58,200 Speaker 1: nose with a chain extending from it. Carribou's father, the King, 172 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: had three other lips and traveled only via palanquin. Eventually, 173 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 1: the worlds had Carriboo choose her own clothing from materials 174 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: and fabrics they provided for her, and she fashioned a 175 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,960 Speaker 1: dress with a short skirt but with sleeves long enough 176 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: to reach the ground. She wore no stockings and twisted 177 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 1: her hair atop her head, securing it with a skewer. 178 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:29,679 Speaker 1: Princess car Aboo fulfilled every fantasy that nineteenth century englishmen 179 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: and women had about the foreign and exotic life in 180 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: the quote Far East meant strange customs for them to 181 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 1: gawk at and celebrate in their delightful and entirely unthreatening eccentricity. 182 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:50,559 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Warrel made sure that Carribou had a proper social reception. 183 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: She had her portrait painted, and she was the guest 184 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 1: of honor at a ball in Bath. The only person 185 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 1: who didn't seem enchanted by the visit a ng royal 186 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: was the world's Greek valet, Convinced that Carbou was a fraud. 187 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:09,559 Speaker 1: He shouted fire when she was alone in the parlor 188 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,080 Speaker 1: one afternoon to see if she would react, to prove 189 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: that she understood English. She didn't react and just continued 190 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: writing in her strange language on the sheets of paper 191 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: that the worlds had provided. But clearly an expert was required, 192 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 1: and so in came a man named Dr Wilkinson, a 193 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: polymath from Bath who made his living giving subscription lectures 194 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 1: on any scientific subject that there ever seemed to be 195 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: an audience for. He would be the one to figure 196 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 1: out the truth about this show called car Aboo. He 197 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: brought with him to Almondsbury a massive tone Edmund Fries pantographia, 198 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 1: and he identified the language that Carbou was speaking as rage, 199 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:05,640 Speaker 1: the native tongue of Sumatra. Next in his examination, he 200 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,559 Speaker 1: studied Carbrew's head. She had a number of strange scars 201 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,960 Speaker 1: lining the base of her skull, usually hidden by her hair, 202 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:18,680 Speaker 1: but Dr Wilkinson ran his fingers across them, just as 203 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 1: I suspected. He said these scars could have only come 204 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: from Indonesian rituals. Confident in his assessment, Dr Wilkinson began 205 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: to make plans to go down to London, to get 206 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: funding from the Foreign Office to pay for Princess Carbrew's 207 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 1: care and to pay for passage for her to return 208 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: to her native land. Dr Wilkinson published the findings of 209 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: his report in the Bath Chronicle, writing quote, nothing has 210 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 1: yet transpired to authorize the slightest suspicion of Carribou, nor 211 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: has such ever been entertained, except by those whose souls 212 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: feel not the spirits of benevolence, and wished to convert 213 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: into ridicule that amiable disposition in others. But it turns 214 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: out those cynical souls were right. As soon as Carribou 215 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 1: story hit the national press, a woman named Mrs Neil 216 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: contacted Elizabeth Worrell to tell her the unfortunate truth. The 217 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: woman calling herself Carriboo all summer used to live in 218 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: a boarding house that Mrs Neil ran. Princess Carribou was 219 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: the daughter of a cobbler born in Devon, and she 220 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: was named Mary Wilcox. Elizabeth Warrell, shaken by the news, 221 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: told Carriboo that the artist painting her portrait needed one 222 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: final sitting from her, and that they would need to 223 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: go into Bristol. But when they arrived, they met not 224 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 1: with the artist, but with Mrs Neil. Confronted face to face, 225 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:03,239 Speaker 1: Princess Carribou burst into tears and in perfect English, confessed 226 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: to everything. When Mary Wilcox was still an infant, she 227 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:16,320 Speaker 1: came down with rheumatic fever. According to her father, she 228 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: was never entirely right in the head after that. At nineteen, 229 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:23,480 Speaker 1: she left the village she was raised in and made 230 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 1: her way to London, where at some point afterwards she 231 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 1: received a crude, poorly done cupping operation at a poorhouse 232 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,520 Speaker 1: hospital that gave her the scars that she would bear 233 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: for the rest of her life. If you're not familiar 234 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: with what a cupping operation entails, or perhaps if you 235 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 1: only associate it with Olympic swimmers, the writer George Orwell 236 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: described it during a visit to a Paris hospital in 237 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: his essay How the Poor Die in nineteen forty six. Quote. 238 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,120 Speaker 1: First the doctor produced from his black back a dozen 239 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: small glasses, like wine glasses, and then the student burned 240 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:10,119 Speaker 1: the match inside each glass to exhaust the air. And 241 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: then the glass was popped onto the man's back or chest, 242 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: and the vacuum drew up a huge yellow blister. Only 243 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,160 Speaker 1: after some moments did I realize what they were doing 244 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: to him. It was something called cupping, a treatment which 245 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 1: you can read about in old medical textbooks, but which 246 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: till then I had vaguely thought of as one of 247 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 1: those things they do to horses. Orwell's essay was written 248 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:42,920 Speaker 1: in over a hundred years after Mary's procedure had been 249 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: done in a poorhouse hospital. Back then, cupping also involved 250 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: slicing the skin so that the cups could draw out blood. 251 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:58,119 Speaker 1: Mary's quote wet cupping operation was meant to relieve the 252 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 1: pressure on an overheated rain. The back of her head 253 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 1: was shaved and then blades were used to cut parallel 254 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:11,040 Speaker 1: slices in her scalp before hot glasses were applied to 255 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:18,640 Speaker 1: suck out blood. Eventually, Mary got a job working as 256 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,440 Speaker 1: a nursemaid for a family and Clapham called the Matthews. 257 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 1: It was a role she seemed born for. She would 258 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 1: captivate the children by making up stories for them Before bed. 259 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:34,719 Speaker 1: Mary's employers lived next door to a Jewish family, and 260 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: when she was on her brakes, Mary would watch them, 261 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: fascinated by their clothing and customs. She found out that 262 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: the daughter of the family was going to get married, 263 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: and so she asked her boss, Mrs Matthews, for the 264 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:52,159 Speaker 1: evening off so she could attend the wedding. Mrs Matthews 265 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,680 Speaker 1: said no, but Mary, so desperate to see the Jewish 266 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,040 Speaker 1: rituals she had only ever heard about second hand, in 267 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,399 Speaker 1: vinced a servant at another nearby house to write a 268 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,679 Speaker 1: forged letter pretending to be the lady of the house. 269 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: The letter said that they were short on domestic staff 270 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 1: for a dinner, someone was sick, would they mind terribly 271 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: sending Mary along for an evening to help. The letter 272 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,119 Speaker 1: worked and Mary left and then went to the wedding. 273 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,400 Speaker 1: But then a few days later Mrs Matthews ran into 274 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:27,919 Speaker 1: her neighbor. She asked how the evening had gone and 275 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: how everyone was feeling. Of course, the neighbor was utterly baffled. 276 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: When Mrs Matthews confronted Mary, Mary ran and never returned. 277 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 1: Mary's next up was a Magdalene hospital for fallen women, 278 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,280 Speaker 1: or in other words, women who had worked as sex workers. 279 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 1: Mary had never been a prostitute, but she liked the 280 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:55,200 Speaker 1: costumes that the women at the hospital wore, long sleeved 281 00:19:55,320 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: brown dresses and flat straw hats. She would want the 282 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,399 Speaker 1: group of them walking slowly in the park in the afternoon, 283 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: and she imagined what it would be like to have 284 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:10,639 Speaker 1: a place to belong. When they found out that Mary 285 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:15,360 Speaker 1: wasn't let's say, qualified to actually be at the Magdalen hospital, 286 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:20,320 Speaker 1: she was kicked out from there. She traveled, taking odd jobs, 287 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: living in a workhouse, traveling to France and back, eventually 288 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: getting pregnant, but leaving the baby at a foundling hospital 289 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: and coming up with several different stories about who the 290 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:35,400 Speaker 1: father was. For a little while, she traveled with Romani peasants. 291 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,719 Speaker 1: Pieces of the Romani language and culture would eventually circle 292 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 1: back into her carbow routine, but not quite yet. While 293 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:49,719 Speaker 1: she was begging in Bristol, Mary noticed that the girls 294 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,720 Speaker 1: who tended to get the most money from passers by 295 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 1: were the Breton girls who wore traditional Celtic headdresses, and so, 296 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:01,399 Speaker 1: having learned a bit of French, Mary pretended to be French, 297 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,880 Speaker 1: which worked a little too well because she was brought 298 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,640 Speaker 1: to the local French consul. Naturally, once she got there, 299 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,879 Speaker 1: she claimed to be Spanish. What a coincidence. The clerk 300 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,359 Speaker 1: helping her said, our cook is Spanish here, let me 301 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: get him. It was then that Mary realized for her 302 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:23,640 Speaker 1: act to work, she needed a language that no one 303 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 1: else could speak, and so Princess Carribou was born. I 304 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:33,159 Speaker 1: don't know if the Portuguese sailor was in on the 305 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 1: bit to begin with, whether he was working with Mary, 306 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: or whether he made up a story and Mary decided 307 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: to yes and him all the way to a brand 308 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:48,119 Speaker 1: new character. But however it happened, the character of Princess 309 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 1: Carribou came together and for a summer all of Almondsbury 310 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:59,879 Speaker 1: was fooled. After the news of the fraud came to lay, 311 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: the newspapers that had been fonding over Princess Carribou for 312 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:10,719 Speaker 1: weeks immediately about faced into abject mockery of Dr Wilkinson 313 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:15,119 Speaker 1: and Mr and Mrs Warrell. You can almost imagine the 314 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,119 Speaker 1: reaction to this sort of scandal that would happen if 315 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: Twitter had been around the memes and photos of Dr 316 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 1: Wilkinson that would circulate Samuel Warrell's bank collapsed. It was 317 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: also around this time that Samuel Warrel received word back 318 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: from Oxford University, where he had sent pages of Quote 319 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: car Abows writings to be studied. Archbishop Weighty wrote that 320 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 1: it was a humbug language. This must be some sort 321 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:49,480 Speaker 1: of joke, he said. The text has quote, many pot 322 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:54,280 Speaker 1: hooks and unmeaning scrawls, several words and some half sentences 323 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:58,400 Speaker 1: in Portuguese. It is the writing of no known language. 324 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Quarrel took pity on the humiliated Mary and booked 325 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:08,199 Speaker 1: her passage to America. In Philadelphia, Mary took up with 326 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: a showman who had her peer as Princess Carribou for shows, 327 00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 1: but none with any success. After seven years in America, 328 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: Mary returned to the UK and tried to exhibit herself 329 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 1: once again as Carribou, charging a shilling in London to 330 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:29,240 Speaker 1: anyone willing to pay to see her. The Carribou act 331 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: died there. Mary changed her last name to a cousin's 332 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: to prevent recognition. She married a man named Richard Baker 333 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,199 Speaker 1: and got a job that she'd work at for the 334 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,760 Speaker 1: rest of her days until she'd died at age seventy. 335 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:50,920 Speaker 1: Mary Wilcox Baker, formerly known as Princess Carribou, the woman 336 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: who spent her youth begging on the streets and then 337 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:58,640 Speaker 1: taking money from people she fooled, had a successful business 338 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: for the rest of her life selling an essential medical 339 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: tool to hospitals, leeches. That's the story of Princess Carribou, 340 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 1: or should I say quote Princess Carribou, But stick around 341 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,360 Speaker 1: after a brief sponsor break to hear one more legend 342 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,880 Speaker 1: from her life. In the meantime, just a quick reminder 343 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: that you can support Noble Blood on Patreon at patreon 344 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:31,400 Speaker 1: dot com slash Noble Blood Tales if you want access 345 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:36,440 Speaker 1: to behind the scenes information, my bibliographies and episode scripts, 346 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,880 Speaker 1: and you can follow me on Twitter at at Danish 347 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 1: wartz with three z s. There's one final, let's say, 348 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: wrinkle in the story of the legendary Princess Carribou, one 349 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 1: final mark that Mary Wilcox hit before she retired her 350 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 1: act and lived a quiet domestic adulthood. When Mary's ship 351 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,400 Speaker 1: was sailing from Bristol to America, the ship was run 352 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,440 Speaker 1: off course by a storm and ended up not too 353 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:16,359 Speaker 1: far from Saint Helena, the island where Napoleon Bonaparte was 354 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 1: being exiled. According to the journal of a man named 355 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: Felix Farley, on September thirteenth, eighteen seventeen, Mary Wilcox came 356 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 1: to Saint Helena, pretending to be a carboo. She introduced 357 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: herself to Sir Hudson Low, the man in charge of 358 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,280 Speaker 1: Napoleon on the beach, as soon as she came ashore, 359 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,760 Speaker 1: and said that fate had intertwined her with the former 360 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:47,200 Speaker 1: French emperor and that she wanted to meet him genially. 361 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: I suppose Low agreed, and according to our source, Napoleon 362 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 1: was charmed. Quote he intimated his determination to apply to 363 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 1: the Pope for a dis in station, to dissolve his 364 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: marriage with Marie Louise, and to sanction his indissoluble union 365 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:11,160 Speaker 1: with the enchanting Caribou. There you have it, and act 366 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 1: with one final mark, and a pretty good one with that. 367 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:23,879 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is a production of I Heart Radio and 368 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,000 Speaker 1: Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. The show is written 369 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 1: and hosted by Dana Schwartz and produced by Aaron Mankey, 370 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:34,680 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, and Trevor Young. Noble Blood is 371 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 1: on social media at Noble Blood Tales, and you can 372 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: learn more about the show over at Noble Blood Tales 373 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,400 Speaker 1: dot com. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit 374 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,639 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 375 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.