Edward Mordake
Edward Mordake was reportedly the 19th century heir to an English peerage. He supposedly had an extra face on the back of his head, which could neither eat nor speak, although it could laugh and cry, and also frequently ask for a cigarette. Edward begged doctors to have his "demon head" removed, because, supposedly, it whispered satanist language to him at night, but no doctor would attempt it. He committed suicide at the age of 23.[1] The description of Edward Mordake's condition is somewhat similar to those of Chang Tzu Ping and Pasqual Pinon. Both Mordake and Pinon are featured as the 2 Very Special Cases on a list of 10 People With Extra Limbs or Digits in The Book of Lists edition of 1976.[2]
It is difficult to establish the facts behind Edward Mordake's condition due to the lack of reliable medical records. Not even his date of birth and death are recorded and there are conflicting accounts regarding his suicide, as well as placement and position of his extra face. Much of what is known is based on oral retelling.
The 1896 text Anomolies and Curiosities of Medicine mentions a version of the story and Edward has not been featured in many texts, plays, and songs. However, the tale was considered false for quite some time. It was simply too fantastic to believe and, obviously, many parts of the story simply do not make medical sense – years of retelling warped what was likely a very real occurrence.[3] Tom Waits wrote a song about Edward Mordake titled "Poor Edward" for his album Alice. Waits performs the song on an album with the same name.[4]
References
- ^ Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine, pp. 188-189. George M. Gould, Walter L. Pyle. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7661-3211-5 (2003)
- ^ The People's almanac presents the book of lists, p. 314. David Wallechinsky, Irving Wallace, Amy Wallace. Morrow. ISBN 978-0-688-03183-1 (1977)
- ^ "EDWARD MORDAKE – "Poor Edward"".
- ^ Hoskyns, Barney (2009), Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits, Random House, p. 405, ISBN 978-0-7679-2709-3
External links
- "Edward Mordake – 'Poor Edward'". J. Tithonus Pednaud. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
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