I am not a walrus!
I am a human being!
MYSTERY of 19th-century DEAD WALRUS found in London graveyard
The finest specialists in British archaeology have confessed themselves baffled by the mysterious case of the dead 19th-century Pacific walrus found buried in a London graveyard. The remains of the deceased, 12-foot-long pinniped - which may have weighed as much as two tons when alive - were discovered in a coffin interred in …
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Wednesday 24th July 2013 12:47 GMT Don Jefe
At least you were able to post something directly attached to the relevant article instead of creating or digging through a bunch of unrelated forums to find the story. So there's no excuse for you :)
If the article was in any was controversial though you would have to go off to the forum dungeon though so you could be pardoned for posting in the wrong place.
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Wednesday 24th July 2013 15:30 GMT Frankee Llonnygog
Re: Babbage shrugged
Tenuous connections:
The walrus bones were found in the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church.
Sir John Soane is buried there.
Giles Gilbert Scott copied the design of Soane's mausoleum for the original GPO red telephone box.
Students used to enjoy cramming into phone boxes.
When not cramming into phone boxes, students like to protest against repressive regimes such as (back in the day) Rhodesia
Sir Cecil Rhodes is buried in the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church.
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Wednesday 24th July 2013 08:52 GMT Pascal Monett
Wait, what ?
"... some Lovecraftian tale of a horrific walrusoid abomination - created perhaps in the lab of some insane experimenter, only to break free and terrorise the foggy streets of old London town in a bloody campaign of tusky or red-flippered slaughter, then later to be buried along with its victims' remains ..."
I want to see that film !!!
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Thursday 25th July 2013 01:33 GMT Irony Deficient
Terje, there are three walrus subspecies: Atlantic, Pacific, and Laptev Sea. It would be reasonable to conclude that tests were done on the remains to determine which subspecies were represented (in case there were bones from more than one walrus present). As to the why, perhaps someone desired to have a walrus in his collection of stuffed mammals, but the sale fell through? Certainly its tusks would have been valued as ivory.
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Wednesday 24th July 2013 10:28 GMT xyz
You sure this isn't a Dr Who Xmas special plot line
....or the back draft from the Heart of Gold taking off.
Can you imagine trying slip a 2 tonne smelly thing onto the No43 omnibus without anyone noticing and then asking the grave diggers for an 'Merican sized hole as your poor dead granny was a bit of a chuffer?
Mind you I have helped push a stuffed camel through central London and no one batted an eyelid, so I suppose...
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Wednesday 24th July 2013 12:25 GMT rob_s_smith
Maybe a specimen from the nearby Royal Vetinary College? There was also a large taxidermists nearby in the 19th century.
The Beatles also visited the churchyard for a photo shoot, the day after recording Hey Jude, not I am the Walrus unfortunately
You can hear more about the churchyard on our River Fleet walks http://footprintsoflondon.com/walkingthefleet
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Wednesday 24th July 2013 15:47 GMT Nigel 11
non-Lovecraftian explanation?
London Zoo had asked for a very large grave to bury a walrus in. The gravediggers didn't know what a walrus was, except one who said it "you know, grey skin, long tusks". So they dug an elephant-sized grave. Lots of space left when they found out what a walrus was, so they gave a day's worth of paupers a free burial at London zoo's expense. Man with hole in head? He'd fallen off a fourth floor scaffolding onto the cast-iron railings below.
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Wednesday 24th July 2013 16:57 GMT Anonymous Coward
Article itself gives answer!
"...a coffin {interred in a St Pancras graveyard during excavations for a new railway terminal}." (my braces, meaning curlies)
Clearly an echo of the ancient custom to bury a sacrificed (alive?) human (or walrus) under the fundaments of bridges etc., to placate the gods or something.
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Thursday 25th July 2013 08:10 GMT David Pollard
... be very afraid ...
Supposed walrus remains in excavations for a new station? Reg readers eagle-eyed with fear will have noticed that the review of the Quatermass and the Pit documentary appeared just minutes later.
This could be serious, They don't make boffins like Prof. Quatermass any longer.
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
