Those of a nervous disposition look away

I went on a free guided walk around Holborn this morning, aptly named "Horrible Holborn". The guide didn't hold back with the grisly details of executions, to the extent that the man standing next to me actually fainted. I know people faint at the sight of things but I've never known anyone to keel over at a description. We started the tour in Whetstone Park which was famous for being a centre for prostitution in the eighteenth century and where Francis Grose went to research his book "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" a collection of slang terms including "gollumpus" a large, clumsy person and "bum fodder" which means "lavatory paper". Okay that one's more rude than slang but I am adding it to my lexicon. Grose and his assistant Tom Cocking (I am not making this up) took midnight walks through London, picking up slang words in slums, drinking dens and dockyards and adding them into their 'knowledge-box'. The tour finished outside a pub where Dennis Nilsen, the serial killer of the 1980's, picked up one of his victims. He used to work at the job centre around the corner where, to save money one Christmas, the workforce decided to self cater their staff party and everyone brought in something to share. It came out at Nilsen's trial that the pans he cooked his contribution in, were the same as the ones in which he boiled up his victims. Brings a whole new meaning to Pot Luck suppers.