THE FIRST PERSON TO BE KILLED BY A TIGER IN BRITAIN...

Hannah…

A menagerie was displayed in the yard

Of an 18th century Malmesbury inn,

To interest and astound its curious clients,

As beer swilled in a bawdy din…

A barmaid though was disposed to harass

A tiger, shackled by staple to the ground;

Teasing it often, to its keeper’s displeasure,

Until it roared a predatory sound…

Retribution was nigh, it soon appeared,

The staple was ripped free by the beast   

And it pounced for the barmaid’s lengthy gown,

Then mauled and tore at her, ready to feast…

Death consumed the brazen Hannah Twynnoy,

The first in Britain by a tiger to be slain;

Yet strangely the inn was called ‘The White Lion’            

And the irony of this dreadful tale made plain… 

Pete Ray

January 2015

This 1703 incident is recorded and Hannah has a gravestone in Malmesbury Abbey’s grounds, which I photographed on my recent visit.

The words inscribed upon the stone, albeit tough to read now, are: 

‘In bloom of Life

She’s snatched from hence,

She had not room

To make defence;

For Tyger fierce

Took Life away.

And here she lies

In bed of Clay,

Until the Resurrection Day.'