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Martini Maccomo (died 11 January 1871) was a renowned lion tamer in Victorian Britain. ==Life== Maccomo is recorded as being born in Angola, although he was also reported as being either born Arthur Williams from the West Indies, or as previously being a sailor born in Liverpool, and also described as a Zulu.〔''Birmingham Daily Post'', 10 January 1860〕 His year of birth is also unclear as his death certificate gives his age as 35, his gravestone claims 32, his age in the 1861 census gives his age as 25 (and birth place as Angola)〔United Kingdom Census 1861, RG9/1685/6/17/28/104, Putney Road, Bathwick, Bath, Somerset〕 and his death notice in the ''York Herald'' states he was 31, thus placing his birth year between about 1835 and 1840.〔''York Herald'', 14 January 1871〕 Although his origins are somewhat unclear, it is known that Maccomo joined William Manders' Grand National Mammoth Menagerie (later known as Manders' Royal Menagerie and later still as The Grand National Star Menagerie) in late 1857 at Greenwich Fair. Advertisements for Manders' shows were well publicized in national newspapers, wherein Maccomo was given such sobriquets as 'the African Wild Beast Tamer',〔''Birmingham Daily Gazette'', 1 July 1865〕 'Angola's Mighty Czar of All Lion Tamers',〔''Birmingham Daily Gazette'', 1 June 1865〕 'the Black Diamond of Manders' Menagerie',〔''York Herald'', 11 November 1865〕 'the Dark Pearl of Great Price',〔''Bradford Observer'', 30 November 1865〕 'the most talented and renowned Sable Artiste in Christendom' and 'The Hero of a Thousand Combats'.〔''Dundee Advertiser'', 13 April 1866〕 Maccomo used whips, pistols and knuckledusters during his act. While performing at Great Yarmouth in 1860, a lion attacked Maccomo and his pistol was accidentally fired into the audience, resulting in a piece of wadding becoming lodged in the eye of a local carpenter named Gillings. In the resulting case of ''Gillings v. Manders'', the plaintiff was awarded £150 in damages. During a show at Liverpool in 1861, Maccomo's hand became wedged in the mouth of a Bengal tigress, which only became free five minutes later when one of the keepers pressed a hot iron bar against her teeth.〔''Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal'', 10 April 1861〕 In 1862, a lion bit Maccamo's hand during a performance near Norwich Victoria railway station, dragging him across the floor and resulting in him losing part of a finger. In 1869, Maccomo was attacked by a lion named Wallace while performing at Sunderland. The lion died about four years after Maccomo and was bought by Sunderland Museum (adjacent to the site of the former hotel where Maccomo died) in 1879, where it has been displayed ever since. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Martini Maccomo」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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