The Bankside Book of Revelation John Constable aka John Crow
The Southwark Mysteries by John Constable (Oberon Books)
The Liberty of the Clink dates back to 1107 when the Bishop of Winchester was granted a stretch of the Southwark Bankside, which lay outside the law of the City of London. The whores of The Liberty were known as Winchester Geese.
The Vision Books of The Southwark Mysteries were first revealed by The Goose to John Crow, trickster familiar of the writer John Constable, at Crossbones, the whores’ graveyard unearthed during work on the Jubilee Line Extension. She initiates him into a secret history spanning 2,000 years – a vision of the Spirit in the flesh, the Sacred in the profane, Eternity in time.
The Mystery Plays were performed in Shakespeare’s Globe and Southwark Cathedral on Easter Sunday, 23rd April 2000 – with a new production in Southwark Cathedral in 2010. The third part of the work is a Glossolalia of local history and esoteric lore, to be read in conjunction with the poems and plays.
‘Past and present, sacred and profane jostle and collide in a glorious tumult in this anarchic drama, inspired by the medieval Mystery Plays… couched in verse that is muscular, ribald, and often dazzlingly rich…’ The Times
The first edition was published in 1999. This new edition includes revised texts of The Mystery Plays.