1 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: Choo too. Two friends and neighbors all aboard. We want 2 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: the train to run on time. My name is Ben. 3 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: We are going off the rails on a train of 4 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: the dead on My name is Nolan. This is ridiculous history, 5 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: that's right, that's right. No, Uh, we are looking into 6 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:48,199 Speaker 1: something relatively morbid today. I would say even more so 7 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: morbid than ridiculous. We're looking at a very particular railway 8 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: in London, that's right. From eighteen fifty four to nineteen 9 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: forty one, London Necropolis Railway was operational. Uh. It took 10 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,919 Speaker 1: mourners and they're dearly departed on a forty minute, twenty 11 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: three mile ride to a very specific cemetery outside of 12 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: London Town. Yes, the Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, which at 13 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: the time was the largest cemetery in the world, or 14 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: the largest acknowledged, and it came about through the efforts 15 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: of something known as the London Necropolis Company. They were 16 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: established in eighteen fifty two by an Act of Parliament. 17 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: Because it turns out this wasn't just some grizzly macab lark. 18 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: There wasn't you know, some creepy like Adams Family type 19 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: Gomez figure who wanted to cart dead people around. London 20 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: was in the grips of a crisis, a aial crisis. Yeah, 21 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: that's right. It was actually a twofold problem because around 22 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: about the mid nineteenth century, the cemeteries in London proper 23 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: were just absurdly overcrowded because of a booming population that 24 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: more than doubled from the early eighteen hundreds to the 25 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: mid eighteen hundreds. Um, not to mention that there was 26 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: a pretty serious cholera outbreak. Uh So London nurse were 27 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: burying in the neighborhood a fifty thousand dead every year 28 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: before the cholera epidemic. The cemeteries were so overcrowded that 29 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: it was impossible to find a new grave without running 30 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: into an older grave. So when the cholera epidemic hit 31 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty eight and killed almost fifteen thousand people 32 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 1: from cholera alone, the bodies were left stacked like cordwood 33 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: waiting to be buried, and people were exhuming even recent 34 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: graves to make room for new corpses. Yeah. There's a 35 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: fantastic article from the BBC by Amanda Rigary, and she 36 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: says that one way of dealing with this is pretty grizzly, 37 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:19,360 Speaker 1: was actually digging up bodies and cremating them under cover 38 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: of night. And the only way that you could escape 39 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,799 Speaker 1: this potential fate of your loved ones was if you 40 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,519 Speaker 1: had all the money. That's just all the money. Oh gosh. Yeah, 41 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: we are going to encounter some very strange issues of 42 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: class and social hierarchy here. So as the city falls 43 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: into this crisis, they're trying to figure out how to 44 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: address it. And there were a couple of different ideas 45 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: that were tossed around, of varying degrees of plausibility, but 46 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: the one that one out was the idea of transporting 47 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: the new deceased, the you know, the recently passed on 48 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: from London proper to an area outside of it that 49 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: would be Brookewood Cemetery or the London Necropolis. Is Noel mentioned, Uh, 50 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: this isn't too far out of town thirty seven kilometers 51 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: or so. Yes, that's exactly right, twenty three miles or 52 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: thirty seven kilometers outside of London. And this was all 53 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: done in tandem. The railway was built at the same 54 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:29,040 Speaker 1: time as the Brookwood Cemetery to deal with this overcrowding 55 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: because you know, the folks that came up with this 56 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: idea thought this would be a pretty elegant solution because 57 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: it was not very efficient to take a horse drawn 58 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:42,919 Speaker 1: hearse with a single body thirty kilometers out of town. 59 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: That would just be a prohibitively long trip and just 60 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: you know, how would you even accommodate all the people 61 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: that wanted to go along and for the procession, And 62 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: the train was sort of a combination of that, where 63 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: you could have many people going at predetermined times each 64 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 1: day that this train made this journey um and it 65 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: was kind of on all encompassing, for lack of a 66 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: better term, kind of a package deal, right, It was 67 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: the total package because not only did the mourners get transportation, 68 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: there were even um snacks provided You could have these 69 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 1: homemade sandwiches and things called fairy cakes, which are sort 70 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:24,160 Speaker 1: of the English equivalent of cupcakes, yeah, specifically ham sandwiches, 71 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:27,160 Speaker 1: and then take the same train back returning to London 72 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: mid afternoon at three thirty p m. This was an 73 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,600 Speaker 1: efficacious solution, but as you might imagine, folks, it was 74 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: a very controversial one for a number of reasons. The 75 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: Bishop of London testified on the proposal before a House 76 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: of Common Slight committee in eighty two, and he said, 77 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:52,479 Speaker 1: I consider it improper at present, we are not sufficiently 78 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: habituated to that mood of traveling, not to consider the 79 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: hurry and bustle connected with it as inconsistent with the 80 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,600 Speaker 1: limnity of a Christian funeral. So he thought, you know, 81 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:10,839 Speaker 1: it was disrespectful to the dead and not blasphemous, but 82 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: not proper in terms of the Christian religion. Do you 83 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,160 Speaker 1: think he was it was because of the noise, you know, 84 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: the the noisy engines, and just the nature of traveling 85 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: by train, the fact that it was kind of considered 86 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: newer technology. Maybe what I wonder what his beef was. 87 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:30,799 Speaker 1: It's hard to tell specifically from that quote, don't you think? Yeah, yeah, 88 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: I think he I think you're on the right track, though, 89 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: on the right rail, because he did seem to feel 90 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:45,039 Speaker 1: that the technology was impinging upon the traditions, the rituals 91 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,679 Speaker 1: of burial. And when we were looking into this earlier, 92 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: I was wondering if it would be comparable to something 93 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: like having someone skype in at a funeral today, like 94 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,359 Speaker 1: that would be controversial to some people. Right, That's a 95 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:01,600 Speaker 1: really good parallel. Ben I kind of that's a really 96 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: good way to look at it, and I think we've 97 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: kind of hit on what this bishop's problem really was. 98 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: But you know, the company that put all this together 99 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: really did try to make it a solemn and comforting experience. 100 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: Folks on the train were treated to some quite resplendent views, 101 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: including Westminster, Hampton Court and Richmond Park. And you know, 102 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: typically people that plan train routes looking for the most 103 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: efficient path, not necessarily the most scenic um. But this 104 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: was a completely different animal, wasn't. Yes, absolutely, There's there's 105 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: a book on this called the Brookwood Necropolis Railway by 106 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: an author named John m Clark, and in there he 107 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: details some of the amenities that were available to the 108 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: living and one of the other controversies that may be 109 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: surprising for us today, which is that in addition to 110 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: concerns about religious editions, there were class concerns. After you 111 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,559 Speaker 1: had a relative or a loved one pass on, you 112 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: could buy them a ticket for their coffin to go 113 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: to Brookwood Cemetery. But you could buy one of three 114 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 1: types of tickets. And we had the prices attached for 115 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: this travel, right, like the fancy one first class that 116 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: would be a pound. Is that correct? Yeah, it was 117 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: a pound, and it was divided up. You know, you 118 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: had to pay for the living and the dead as well. 119 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: That makes sense. So live passengers were charged six shillings 120 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,359 Speaker 1: I believe for first class, so it was less expensive 121 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: to transport the living, probably because of space. To be 122 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: honest with you, we know it was five shillings for 123 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: the dead and second class, a little over two shillings 124 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: in third class. And we did some of the math here, 125 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: so in eighteen fifty four one British pound from eighteen 126 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: fifty four today would be about eighty six pounds, so 127 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: this was not an insignificant expense. This was still a 128 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:09,719 Speaker 1: pretty pricey endeavor. Yeah, funerals to this day totally still are. 129 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:14,080 Speaker 1: I found a review of a BBC for Extra radio 130 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: documentary about the the Necropolis that has some interesting references 131 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: to the signage one might have seen Um laying out 132 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: these these different classes and prices, and it's referred to 133 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: here as uh corpses artisan five shillings, corpses popper two 134 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: shillings and sixpence. That's that's some pretty strong language, right, papper. 135 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: That's what they call third class popper and artisan. I 136 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: guess that would be like the mercantile class. I don't 137 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: know artisan. I always think of artisans like artisanal Jesus right, right, especially, 138 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: you know, if you're in a fancy boutique of some sort. 139 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,680 Speaker 1: We don't usually associate the phrase artisan or artisanal with corpses. 140 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: I guess you could have an it is an artisanal 141 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:06,440 Speaker 1: coffin though, right, like a handmade bespoke coffin. Yeah, totally, 142 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: you absolutely could. We're just not used to thinking of 143 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: actual human remains that way. And I'm glad that it's 144 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: weird in this day and age, because isn't death supposed 145 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:24,439 Speaker 1: to be the great equalizer. This leads us to one 146 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: of the concerns that baffled us, the social class idea. 147 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 1: One of the worries that people had was that different 148 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 1: social classes might mix. For that reason, there were separate 149 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:40,959 Speaker 1: carriages for each class, and this was the custom at 150 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 1: the time, and so even though you know, a titan 151 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:49,960 Speaker 1: of banking and a very poor family could ride the 152 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:55,560 Speaker 1: same train and arrive at the same station, they would 153 00:10:55,679 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: be segregated. And the cemetery itself, how ever, was not 154 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: divided by class or status. It was divided by religion. 155 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: You know, once you're in the ground, we're all equal, 156 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: right the not if you're Anglican. They had their own spot, 157 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,680 Speaker 1: that's true. But at the same time, you could have 158 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 1: that tightened of industry buried next to a pauper that 159 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 1: was in his same religion, unless you were such a 160 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,440 Speaker 1: tightened of industry that you could afford a private plot 161 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: somewhere like Highgate Cemetery, which was a very exclusive and 162 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: very expensive And today in eighteen is Noel and our 163 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:39,960 Speaker 1: superproducer Casey Pegram and I record this. People in the 164 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: West tend to keep death as far away from us 165 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 1: as possible, right, But at the time, especially when this 166 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,880 Speaker 1: city is literally getting crowded with corpses, people were much 167 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: more intimately familiar with the concept of mortality. And during 168 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: its peak, London's Necropolis Railway transported more than two thousand 169 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:06,680 Speaker 1: corpses per year. Uh that's you know, if we count 170 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 1: the live mourners, then the number of bodies reaches the 171 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: tens of thousands. This was a very successful thing. Also, 172 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:16,960 Speaker 1: there were bars, did you find that too, Yeah? Yeah, well, 173 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: I mean, like you know, the the concessions were licensed 174 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: to serve alcohol and pints, so you know, if you 175 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: opted to do that instead of a nice lemonade and 176 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 1: a cupcake or a fairy cake as it were, you could, uh, 177 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: you know, get smashed, which you know happens sometimes it 178 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: wakes and other funereal rights for sure. UM. It's interesting 179 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: that John Clark, who wrote the book you mentioned, um, 180 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: the Brookwood Necropolis Railway's overall he's he's it's a railroad historian. Um. 181 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: He seemed to think that this was pretty forward thinking. 182 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 1: He referred to it as pioneering, revolutionary and it's quoted 183 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: as saying, as far as I know, it was the 184 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,320 Speaker 1: first use of the railway for a dedicated service from 185 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 1: one private station directly into a cemetery at the other end. 186 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 1: And a man by the name of George Nash were 187 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: in an essay called Pomp and Circumstance Archaeology, Modernity and 188 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: the Corporatization of Death. He notes that discretion was very 189 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 1: important because the biggest railway station in London at the 190 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: time was Waterloo Station, and the York Street station was 191 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: built just far enough from that station. York Street was 192 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,679 Speaker 1: where you'd get on to catch the Necropolis train was 193 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: just far enough away to be separated from normal commuters 194 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:35,200 Speaker 1: in their day to day route. So it was all 195 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: about kind of segmenting that while also making it accessible 196 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,719 Speaker 1: and speaking of being pioneering in terms of the technology, 197 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: these trains had to be specially outfitted to store these coffins. 198 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:50,840 Speaker 1: They had leather straps um and in fact, Parliament mandated 199 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,959 Speaker 1: that the fares be capped, so it was even though 200 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 1: it was a little pricey, the you know, poor people 201 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:01,200 Speaker 1: and rich people alike couldn't be gouged. Right. Yeah. These 202 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 1: were known as Hearse vans, and the Necropolis Company had 203 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: the locomotives and passenger carriages on loan, but it owned 204 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:15,600 Speaker 1: the Hearse vans outright. In the beginning, each van had 205 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: twelve partitions in two rows of six. Each of those 206 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: spots could handle one coffin. In the later vans had 207 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:28,440 Speaker 1: around fourteen coffins guests per van. Uh. They were fitted 208 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: with these partitions to divide first, second and third class 209 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: coffins because God forbid that the poor and uh, the 210 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: wealthy right the same train. Even as remains and they 211 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:49,200 Speaker 1: continued to evolve these Hearse vans. It was an example 212 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 1: of I don't want to say bleeding edge technology, but 213 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 1: it was an example of ingenuity because it became a 214 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: matter of numbers. They are literally, you know, moving bodies 215 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: and calculating how much they make per unit. And the 216 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: location was a big part of it. To um. In 217 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: that BBC article called the Passenger Train Created to Carry 218 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: the Dead, author Amanda Riggary mentions that Waterloo had these 219 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 1: railway arches that were able to temporarily store these corpses, 220 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: so there was I'm gonna go through the way she 221 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: describes in the article um. She says, quote, most families 222 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: have their loved ones picked up by a horse drawn hearst. 223 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: The funeral procession would end at the station. There the 224 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 1: coffins would be lifted into elevators that would carry them 225 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,160 Speaker 1: up to the platform level and onto the train, and 226 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:44,520 Speaker 1: those railway arches offered temporary storage if needed. And here 227 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: we see another controversial point. So we had social class 228 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: right and we had the solemnity of religion. Both were 229 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,760 Speaker 1: seen as very valid points at the time. The third 230 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: issue was that, according to Clara, most people aspired to 231 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: be buried near where they lived and worked, so the 232 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: idea of varying someone miles away from central London was 233 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: a large and significant choice to make. Yeah, it was 234 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:15,200 Speaker 1: a tough pill to swallow, but again we know that 235 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: there just wasn't space, so I'm not sure how best 236 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: to handle that. This seemed like a pretty elegant solution. Um. 237 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: One final taboo that we haven't even mentioned, this kind 238 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: of staring us right in the face, is this idea 239 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 1: of the living occupying the same vehicles as the dead. 240 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: I mean, there was concern of things like odors from 241 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 1: the dead and potential transmission of of diseases even and 242 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: so that was something to be considered as well. Um. 243 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:51,480 Speaker 1: And like you said, Ben, it was seemingly successful with 244 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 1: the amount of dead and mourners that were transported on 245 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: this rail, but it didn't quite take off in the 246 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: way that the creators hoped it would write. Clark says 247 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: this in his book. The original aims of the company 248 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: to effectively offer economic and sanitary burial well beyond the 249 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,360 Speaker 1: city limits forever if necessary. That could have been achieved, 250 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: but the public, having the choice of burial place, decided otherwise, 251 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: And it all came down to that issue of not 252 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 1: wanting to be buried so far away from their home 253 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: base thirty miles outside of town. That was a stretch 254 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:30,199 Speaker 1: for a lot of people. And two other events influenced 255 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:34,439 Speaker 1: the fall of the Necropolis train, One which we cannot 256 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: emphasize enough was the introduction of the motorized hearse in 257 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: nineteen o nine. This started out slowly, but by the 258 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:49,560 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties it became more popular than the horse drawn hearse, 259 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 1: which again, as as you point out, was pretty expensive, 260 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,399 Speaker 1: and the training itself, which had its own sort of 261 00:17:55,480 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 1: issues of propriety versus efficiency, it's too And there was 262 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: also that issue of timing because as we know, the 263 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: trains run on a very specific schedule, and um, a 264 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 1: lot of folks couldn't take off work to meet these 265 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,960 Speaker 1: So unless the funeral or even you know, wanting to 266 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 1: go visit a loved one took place on a Sunday, 267 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: you have to take off work. And as this started 268 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: to wane in popularity, which did happen, the frequency of 269 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: these runs started to dwindle. But the true death knew 270 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: for this particular railway came in during World War Two. 271 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: The London terminus of the Necropolis train was damaged by 272 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: a German V two rocket and when this damage occurred 273 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: during the London Blitz, there had already been a couple 274 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: of near missus, and the train had already been kind 275 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:56,920 Speaker 1: of winding down the frequency of trips. And in addition 276 00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: to that, the trips that did have scheduled were occasionally 277 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:04,560 Speaker 1: canceled because there was enemy action somewhere else on the 278 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: rail line. So in April of ninety one, and one 279 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:13,200 Speaker 1: of the last major air raids on London, bombs repeatedly 280 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 1: fell on the Waterloo area and the cars or what's 281 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: called rolling stock in the train world. Uh, the cars 282 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 1: were burned. The railway arch that Noel mentioned connecting the 283 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: main line was damaged. The building itself was okay, but 284 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,679 Speaker 1: again the cars were on fire. Yeah, it caused more 285 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:38,679 Speaker 1: than two thousand fires, as it turns out, and um 286 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: in the neighborhood of a thousand people lost their lives 287 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: in that blitz. Um And you know, faced with the 288 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,640 Speaker 1: choice of rebuilding or just walking away, the company decided 289 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: to do the ladder and just ditchit. And so there 290 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:59,640 Speaker 1: ends the strange story of London's Train of the Dead. 291 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: But if you want to check it out, I believe 292 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:06,720 Speaker 1: that you can still see remnants of the station today. Right. 293 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: It's true, it's gonna be a weird date, but if 294 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:11,359 Speaker 1: you want to take somebody, just let them know what 295 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 1: you're getting into. And the facade of the building is 296 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:15,919 Speaker 1: is almost the same, exactly the same as it was, 297 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 1: minus the signage identifying it as the London Necropolis Railway. 298 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 1: And I have to ask, no, it's it's always a 299 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 1: tricky thing for us to put ourselves in the position 300 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,439 Speaker 1: of someone in the past. But I want to know 301 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: your take. If you were conducting your funeral for a 302 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 1: loved one in this day and age, would you take 303 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 1: the train? Does it do any of their concerns seems 304 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:42,960 Speaker 1: strange or off putting to you in the modern day. 305 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: I mean, it's cliche to say, but it was a 306 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,880 Speaker 1: different time then. My modern mind just can't wrap itself 307 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,399 Speaker 1: around this notion, you know. Plus funerals give me the 308 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,520 Speaker 1: creeps anyway. I'm not a fan. Who is I mean, 309 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 1: Harold from Harold I knew you were gonna say that. Yeah, 310 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,919 Speaker 1: I'm kind of the of the same mind. It's just 311 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 1: if we existed back then. I keep having some voice 312 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 1: in my head of some you know, hypothetical relative saying 313 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: I can't believe you're putting our darling Esmeralda in the 314 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:22,639 Speaker 1: ground with Annikins or something like that. You know, I 315 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:26,399 Speaker 1: say that overall this was a smart solution and was 316 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: a crucial one for the time in which it existed. 317 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: And this is only scratching the surface of strange funeral 318 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,880 Speaker 1: and burial customs around the world. Yeah. For a deeper dive, 319 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:40,720 Speaker 1: check out John Clark's book on the Brookwood Necropolis Railway 320 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 1: or the essay from George Nash Pomp and Circumstance, Archaeology, 321 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:48,679 Speaker 1: Modernity and the Corporatization of Death, both of which you 322 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: can find with a cursory Google search. And on that note, 323 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 1: we would like to hear from you, what are some 324 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 1: of the strange? Do you hear that? Yeah, but I 325 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: was gonna ignore it. We were really trying to power 326 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: through that ending, weren't she thought if we sewed it 327 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: up quickly? Gentlemen, Jonathan Strickland, the Quister. It is I 328 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:15,400 Speaker 1: the Quister returned at last to plague you with questions 329 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 1: about fact and fiction? Do you have an English accit? 330 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: Some sometimes it comes and goes, I've been in this 331 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: room a really long time, guys. Yeah, yeah, how long 332 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 1: have you been here? Like? Pretty sure it's been weeks, 333 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:33,879 Speaker 1: So you know, I hide here ready to spring at 334 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,880 Speaker 1: a moment's notice. But you, guys recorded in the other 335 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: studio like across the way the last couple of times, 336 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:41,919 Speaker 1: and I mean the light was on. I'm not going 337 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,719 Speaker 1: to come in with the lights on, right, So I 338 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 1: just had to keep waiting until you came back in here. 339 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 1: So uh, but that is beside the point. Now you 340 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: are quick and fear as you face a little quister. 341 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:00,200 Speaker 1: The most cringe worthy segmented all the podcasting. Now out 342 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: you were talking about James K. Polk and so mind 343 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: we did that one already like weeks ago. What in 344 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: together studio? Right? I knew it. I knew it, guys, 345 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,399 Speaker 1: I hit here to give you the perfect Why did 346 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,920 Speaker 1: you talk about today? Those other dead stuff? It might work? 347 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,920 Speaker 1: We talked about the Train of the Dead in the UK, 348 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:27,399 Speaker 1: still thematically irrelevant. So I will pose to you a query, 349 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: and as you know, I always come up with rules 350 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: of arbitrary nature for every single query I posed to you. Yes, yes, 351 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 1: And so you must before asking me any questions about 352 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,680 Speaker 1: the scenario, which I shall lay so graciously before your feet, 353 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:53,800 Speaker 1: the phrase woo spooky spool, guys are on you. And 354 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: then trust me if you don't give me a sincere 355 00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 1: who spooky. You will not like what you get, so 356 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: don't phone it in. Do not, by any means phone 357 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: it in. I mean put your back into it. I wanna. 358 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:12,439 Speaker 1: I want to see spooky waves of spookiness from you. 359 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: Before you ask me a question, right, I will not 360 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 1: give you an answer. Well, quister, you have set the rules, 361 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: as I believe, we have three minutes, that is correct, 362 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 1: three minutes to ask me any questions before you tell 363 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 1: me whether or not the scenario I give you is 364 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: true or fiction. Now I will tell you when to 365 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: start the timer. This one's a bit of a long one. 366 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,200 Speaker 1: So when I tell you, then you hit go. That's 367 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,320 Speaker 1: very you know, for a villain that is tremendously courteous. 368 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:43,679 Speaker 1: I just I find I find that it that it 369 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:47,280 Speaker 1: won't be as as as wonderful victory. I won't be 370 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,679 Speaker 1: able to savor it if I cheat you of some 371 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: of your precious spooky time. So here we are Shakespeare 372 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:00,680 Speaker 1: familiar with him? M yeah, I wrote a few plays. Well. 373 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: He was buried. First of all, spoiler alert, he's dead. 374 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: He was buried in the cemetery adjacent to the Church 375 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:10,679 Speaker 1: of the Holy Trinity. In Stratford upon Avon, but in 376 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: seventeen twenty six his bones were moved from that site 377 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 1: to Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey. Shortly thereafter, the abbey 378 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:23,480 Speaker 1: reportedly was the site of several misfortunes, and the cause 379 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: was attributed to a curse Shakespeare had laid upon his 380 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,920 Speaker 1: own grave, and the bones were thus dug back up 381 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 1: and replaced in his original grave at Stratford upon Avon. 382 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,120 Speaker 1: A statue of Shakespeare was erected in seventeen forty one 383 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:44,360 Speaker 1: in Westminster Abbey, and that just had to do start. Okay, 384 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:50,920 Speaker 1: I'm gonna say, uh, I don't know, man, I remember 385 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 1: reading some stuff about Shakespeare posthumously. Well, I remember here. 386 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:57,040 Speaker 1: I definitely remember the epitaph it was. It was kind 387 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: of like a creepy little poem, a bit of a spoon. 388 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:06,359 Speaker 1: Oh keep christer. What was the epitaph that that Shakespeare 389 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 1: had inscribed on his too much excellent question? Noel, very well, 390 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: good good, too spooky too. Here you go, good friend, 391 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: for Jesus sake, forbear to dig the dust enclose it here. 392 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:21,240 Speaker 1: Blessed be the man that spares these stones, and cursed 393 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:25,280 Speaker 1: be he that moves my bones. That sounds like Shakespeare. 394 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:27,159 Speaker 1: Oh for sure, that definitely rings sure. I remember that 395 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:30,119 Speaker 1: from school. Um, okay, but I've got I've got one, 396 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 1: I've got one. You got who spook possible? Then go ahead, 397 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: we're selling you so much. Okay, alright, fine, quister? Is 398 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:44,240 Speaker 1: is it possible that some of this is true and 399 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:49,199 Speaker 1: some is not? Sure? It's also possible that I have 400 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 1: a golden Cadillac at home. I don't see what the 401 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:54,360 Speaker 1: point of that is. Do you mean, do I make 402 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,360 Speaker 1: something out of whole cloth? Or could there be elements 403 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: of truth woven into a lie? The matter? Yeah, I could. 404 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:06,160 Speaker 1: If that sounds like me, it could happen. Okay, I'm 405 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:09,080 Speaker 1: thinking yes, because I definitely remember that epitaph. That sounds 406 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,480 Speaker 1: completely accurate. Uh. It seems like something that would have happened. 407 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,199 Speaker 1: The whole Westminster Appey thing. What do you think that 408 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:20,199 Speaker 1: I'm going with? True? Westminster Abbey is is historically a 409 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,959 Speaker 1: place for the interment of very significant people in its 410 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,840 Speaker 1: corner is a thing. That's that's the whole thing. Uh, 411 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:29,440 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with true. All right, let's go with it. 412 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 1: We lock it in, let's lock it in, true. True, 413 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: I when your streak of victories has come to an end. 414 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,680 Speaker 1: You'll you'll streak two is a streak here in Atlanta. 415 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 1: As it turns out people who aren't familiar with Atlanta sports, 416 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,119 Speaker 1: two is a streak. I have claimed victory from the 417 00:27:53,240 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: jaws of defeat. You were bamboozled. So here's the real story. 418 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 1: His body was buried at Strafford upon Avon. That is, 419 00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:06,160 Speaker 1: in fact his epitaph on his gravestone. He was never moved, 420 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 1: although in the eighteenth century there was a fellow named 421 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: John Rich who was the a theater manager in London, 422 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 1: very very influential man, who actually suggested that they move 423 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: Shakespeare's bones to Westminster Abbey, and the abbey said, no, 424 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:25,119 Speaker 1: we're cool. Uh So Shakespeare's statue is there, but Shakespeare's 425 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,440 Speaker 1: bones are still at Strafford upon Avon. You can find 426 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 1: other dead poets over at Westminster Abbey, including Chaucer, Spencer, 427 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 1: many others all over in that corner. I remember jumping 428 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 1: up and down on Thomas Hardy's grave myself to a 429 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: corner like where you hide in the podcast studio. I 430 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: mean no, because that's a corner the poets corners, the 431 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: corner on the ground and I always stay in the 432 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 1: one in the upper right part of the ceiling that was, yeah, 433 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: I'm gonna need to replace some tile. Yeah. Well, also, 434 00:28:57,040 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 1: you know you can't blame the guy, because God knows 435 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 1: gonna be tough to keep your grip up there. But 436 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 1: fair is fair. And because you finally won this round, 437 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:10,000 Speaker 1: Jonathan and your incarnation as the quister Noel Casey, and 438 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: I must award you this badge that says winner. I 439 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: have literally never been this happy, Jonathan. You are you? 440 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 1: Are you crying? Shut up? You're crying. So what this means, 441 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 1: I think, is that you might have won the battle 442 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: Old Nemesis, but you have not won the war. No. 443 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,200 Speaker 1: I will return and I will quiz you yet again, 444 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:38,360 Speaker 1: then again, then again for all eternity. But until that 445 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,360 Speaker 1: time comes, I think we're gonna have to go drown 446 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: our sorrows uh elsewhere. Um, that's gonna be it for 447 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 1: today's episode of Ridiculous Story. I am admittedly quite bummed. 448 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: I thought we had it. Yeah, it felt it felt right, 449 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: but now it feels so wrong. I have never been 450 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,960 Speaker 1: so upset about getting a badge that says winner back, 451 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:03,360 Speaker 1: not even in like fourth grade when that stuff really mattered. Hey, folks, 452 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,200 Speaker 1: if you want to write us us some consolations and 453 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,720 Speaker 1: help us to feel better about ourselves, please do so. 454 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: Please do so. We need it, We need it. Send 455 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:13,480 Speaker 1: it to Ridiculous at how stuff works dot com. You 456 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,240 Speaker 1: can also console us on social media, which we are 457 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: ridiculous history on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We would of 458 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 1: course like to thank Lori l. Dove her fantastic article 459 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: London how to Train for the Dead provided some inspiration 460 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:34,120 Speaker 1: for this episode. Are super producer Casey Pegram along with 461 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 1: Alex Williams who composed our theme, and begrudging thanks to 462 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:43,720 Speaker 1: Jonathan the Quister Strickland for tormenting us you get again. 463 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:45,720 Speaker 1: You guys are going to be in the studio again 464 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:48,120 Speaker 1: next time, right because I mean, like, I've got snacks 465 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 1: up there. You know what I don't know right now. 466 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 1: I don't just I think that Nolan, I uh, I 467 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: need to break. We need some time to heal. Yeah, 468 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:00,640 Speaker 1: that's that's fair. Thanks so much for listening, folks, and 469 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:03,680 Speaker 1: let us know if you would have been fooled by 470 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 1: that Shakespeare thing. We'll see you next time. M