David Castleton (Author) on Nostr: An odd London legend claims that a colony of huge, ferocious feral pigs can be found ...

An odd London legend claims that a colony of huge, ferocious feral pigs can be found in the city's labyrinthine sewers. A pregnant sow apparently tumbled into a sewer, couldn't get back out and so began a strange subterranean dynasty. The pigs were the terror of the toshers - men who earned a living roaming the sewers looking for valuable objects. The toshers also had legends of a Queen Rat, who could transform into a beautiful woman and would take a human tosher for her lover. She would protect him from rat attacks, which - it was claimed - could kill a man. My article: https://www.davidcastleton.net/hampstead-wild-pigs-sewers-london-great-stink-queen-rat-bazalgette/ #folklore #London #urban #cities #gothic #weird #psychogeography #Victorian #history #architecture