The Tower Menagerie

As the true tale goes, widely reported in 1830, the animal warden at the Tower of London is in the process of cleaning the pens when he unwittingly raises the partition between two stalls, thus allowing a Barbary lion (a North African species, now sadly extinct) and a Bengal tigress to meet. They set upon each other at once and a vicious battle ensues, leading to a tragic and unpleasant end. In this story, I will be telling a rewritten narrative of events; a tale of what could have been.

As he absent-mindedly operates the pulley system on an empty cage, the young wildcat warden is distracted and tired. The iron-barred door before him begins to creak and raise as usual, although now he hears an echo of the sound all around him. He turns his head in confusion, and sickeningly realises he has triggered the central pulley, releasing all the cage doors. Before he can fathom his mistake, every beast in The Tower is released. Quietly at first, and then building to a crescendo, a cacophony of excited cries and shrieks rings out, reverberating around the stone courtyard. The warden swiftly flees for his life, fearing the animals’ wrath for their years of misery at the hands of The Crown.

The King’s lion lets out an almighty roar, before setting off over the cobbles at quite a pace, lashing out at any object in his path. He is closely pursued by the tigress, bewildered and confused, but ecstatic and elated to be free. The pair bound effortlessly and joyfully, stretching their limbs and flicking their tails for the first time in several long years. Following behind, the zebra is a little more cautious in her approach; She gently steps out of her enclosure, sniffing and pawing at the ground. The reason for her apprehension becomes apparent when, from behind her flank, a set of unsteady, spindly legs appear. She has a foal in tow, and she knows this mistaken release may be his only chance of safety. With a toss of her head and a flick of her tail, she bravely leads her young into the unknown. They trot across the courtyard toward the open iron gates, left mangled and dangling from their hinges by the great elephants before them. Above their heads, bursting forth from the aviary, the parrots sing and squabble. Confined to their enclosure since their capture, they have been too cramped to fly or even fully stretch out; Now, they swoop and twirl about in sheer joy at their situation, calling to those poor creatures too afraid to leave their stalls. Their jewel colours glimmer and shine, and they fly low through the passages of The Tower, seeking their escape.

The beasts of The Menagerie follow the parrots’ song and are lead dancing through the halls to The Jewel House. They crash their way through the precious artefacts, gathering adornments as they twist and twirl, out through Traitor’s Gate and on into the parks of London town.