History Warp (2/13-2/19): Was Henry VIII a Gork?

A website dedicated to the gruesome, but hardly inconsequential number of British royal beheadings in the days of yesteryear lists seven (7) such Tower Green/ Tower of London affairs of note.

Plus a couple dozen more, some related to those mentioned above, at Tower Hill. Which I suppose was a lesser valued venue, where those with less stature than the headliners were taken to meet their maker.

Anyhow, it was on February 13, 1542 that Catherine Howard, the 18 year old wife of King Henry VIII, at the time thrice her age, was shorn of her noggin’. The King, it seems, was more than a bit overweight and generally recognized as being a most disagreeable monarch. Thus, it should come as no surprise that his comely bride slipped off for a tryst with one Thomas Culpepper, a fellow more age appropriate.

Legend has it that Howard’s last words were, “I die a queen, but I’d rather die the wife of Culpepper.”

* * * * *

Having subjected ye, my readers, to the disturbing history of the monarchy across the sea, it’s time for something lighter.

Something more jolly. Actually more Jolly.

I’m advised that on February 16, 1868, a New York-based fraternal organization then known as the Jolly Gorks changed its name. After that date, the group was known by a more unwieldy moniker, Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks.

A gork, a term of medical slang apparently, is “someone who has suffered a traumatic head injury and is comatose or in a persistent vegetative state.” Which is not exactly the same species as a red deer, native to North America. Or so I would posit.