This morbid scene prompted Charles Dickens to include it in one of his books and rename it, the churchyard of Saint Ghastly Grim…

“One of my best beloved churchyards, I call the churchyard of Saint Ghastly Grim; touching what men in general call it, I have no information. It lies at the heart of the City, and the Blackwall Railway shrieks at it daily. It is a small small churchyard, with a ferocious, strong, spiked iron gate, like a jail. This gate is ornamented with skulls and cross-bones, larger than the life, wrought in stone; but it likewise came into the mind of Saint Ghastly Grim, that to stick iron spikes a-top of the stone skulls, as though they were impaled, would be a pleasant device. Therefore the skulls grin aloft horribly, thrust through and through with iron spears. Hence, there is attraction of repulsion for me in Saint Ghastly Grim, and, having often contemplated it in the daylight and the dark, I once felt drawn towards it in a thunderstorm at midnight. ‘Why not?’ I said, in self-excuse. ‘I have been to see the Colosseum by the light of the moon; is it worse to go to see Saint Ghastly Grim by the light of the lightning?’ I repaired to the Saint in a hackney cab, and found the skulls most effective, having the air of a public execution, and seeming, as the lightning flashed, to wink and grin with the pain of the spikes. Having no other person to whom to impart my satisfaction, I communicated it to the driver. So far from being responsive, he surveyed me–he was naturally a bottled-nosed, red-faced man–with a blanched countenance. And as he drove me back, he ever and again glanced in over his shoulder through the little front window of his carriage, as mistrusting that I was a fare originally from a grave in the churchyard of Saint Ghastly Grim, who might have flitted home again without paying.” –
Charles Dickens, The Uncommercial Traveller.

Thank you, Gentle Author for your work
yours, Ruben Lenger, Tel Aviv

And to the annotators who would like to read Pepys’ Diary, I recommend the free on-line blog, which will send you one day at a time. You can read more, of course, but the annotations sort out who’s who, the 17th century whys, and the background to the politics and war, making it a very rich experience. https://www.pepysdiary.com/

I look forward to visiting St. Olave’s in June.

I was also very well received by the clergy and members who were there. This is a wonderful place to visit for those who are in London.

And my visit inspired me to read Samuel Pepys’ diary as well.

Ronald Harnack
Sunnyvale, California USA

I have just finished reading a massive 800+ page historical novel by Ken Follett called Fall of Giants which starts in 1910 and follows the interlinked stories of families in Britain, Russia, Germany and America through to the beginning of the Twenties. So there is a massive amount about all the politics leading up to the Great War and the Russian Revolution etc, and given the present situation I was ‘looking forward’ to reading all about the Spanish flu epidemic but that wasn’t even mentioned in passing as that particular year was skipped in the story – shame!

My reaction in any situation is to go into an “at least” mode… So – at least we haven’t just finished fighting a pointless and devastating war where millions of young lives were lost, only to be confronted with a flu pandemic which killed even more people.

As always, you provide valuable escapism as well as education, especially in these strange times.

I am currently reading the diaries. I started on the 1st January 2020, as he did his on 1st January 1660, and I am reading the entries by the day. It will take a while…..

“And so, to bed”

Take care, GA,

Yours gratefully,

Karen