BEARS

The last vestige of Britain's native brown bear population was hunted to extinction during the Anglo-Saxon era.

Bear Pits

During the 16^thC and 17^thC there were a number of bear-baiting pits in Southwark.

Act 3, Scene 3 of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale contains the enigmatic stage direction Exit, pursued by a bear . This has been taken to have been connected in some way to the proximity of the Globe Theatre to these pits.

The final Southwark bear pit closed in 1682.

Location: Bear Gardens, SE1 9ED (red, brown)

Bear-Baiting

What is now Farringdon was a place of raffish entertainment in the 17^thC.

The Coach & Horses was once the site of a bear garden

In the 1830s bear-baiting was outlawed.

Location: The Coach & Horses, 26-28 Ray Street, EC1R 3DJ (red, turquoise)

Bearskins

Following the Battle of Waterloo (1815), the members of some British regiments took to wearing the bearskins hats that had previously been sported by their defeated opponents.¹ The headgear is worn by members of the Coldstream, Grenadier, Irish, Scots, and Welch Guards. The pelts are derived from Canadian black bears (Ursus americanus) that are hunted under conservation quotas. A full-grown bear can make one to two caps. The females have glossier, smoother pelts. These are used to make the officers hats, while the rougher male pelts are used for those of members of the other ranks.

Location: Buckingham Palace, SW1A 1AA (orange, white)

¹. Busby-like hats were being worn by some Marines for almost a century.

class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:normal;tab-stops:14.2pt'>The Tower of London Polar Bear

In 1252 King H kon IV of Norway gave a polar bear to King Henry III. The animal was kept in the Tower of London menagerie. The creature was exercised by being allowed to swim, under supervision, in the Thames. It also used the river to hunt for fish.

Location: The Tower of London, EC3N 4AB (purple, orange)

David Backhouse 2024