Gormenghast was never like this...

A few years back, I fell into a habit of looking at English stately homes as though they were Gormenghast, mainly through the eccentricity of their contents; a Cabinet of Stones here, a Corridor of Lizards there. But I never had a Corridor of Naked Bottoms on my bingo card.

The Underpeople need Underpantses.

It looks like they are each wearing the crown of Lower Egypt!

What will it take to get to the bottom of this business?

Is it significant that the Underdressed People seem to be wearing the same footwear as the spaceman?

Can we get a "behind you" tag on this?

Sir Mix-A-Lot shakes his head in sadness.

Just a typical pub gents' of a Friday night.

Ooh, I remember this from the old place (which, as @RobertDay wasn't there, is no reflection on him).

I am almost certain someone referred to this as "a 21-bum salute".

But weren't the Underpeople part animal and maybe not identical?

>8 GSSex-noob: IIRC, the "underpeople" were made from animal material but some of them could pass for human. They were individuals though. Those are not underpeople.

They certainly do not have any underpants, those underpeople.

♪ Come, they told me (a rump-rump-rump-rump.) ♪

So many butts, so little time.

Bunch of cheeky devils.

As he stalked down the hallway, Aloysius Starchaser von Tinselsuit couldn't help but think that he might be the butt of an elaborate joke.

As he stalked down the hallway, Aloysius Starchaser von Tinselsuit couldn't help but think that he might be the butt of an elaborate joke.

I think someone else originally wondered if this in fact takes place in France.

@RobertDay, I am charmed by the rating of stately homes by Gormenghastiness. Now you're making me think back to my trip to Britain... yes, some of them are very like. Which is probably why when I saw the miniseries, I had a bit of deja vu.

>16 GSSex-noob: We were visiting one such (Calke Abbey in Derbyshire, whose last owner before the property was transferred to the National Trust had been something of a hoarder - see https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/peak-district-derbyshire/calke-abbey/hist... and I commented to one of the guides that I usually described the place as 'Gormenghastly". They thought for a moment, then said "Yes, that's about right."

(Photos in the article behind the link will show you where I got the Cabinet of Stones - there are several at Calke - and the Corridor of Lizards from.)

>17 RobertDay: You've an errant parenthesis at the end of that link. The correct link is

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/peak-district-derbyshire/calke-abbey/hist...

>18 NomadUK: Many thanks!

>18 NomadUK: Damn. That is indeed something. The photos are quite enough to overwhelm; I can barely imagine the reality.

I love the genteel English-ness on the website, where they refer to the family as "collectors" not hoarders, and the air of "we chose to leave it as-is" rather than "we damn well weren't going to go through all this shite".

The guide agreeing with your bon mot of "Gormenghastly" is *chef's kiss*

>20 GSSex-noob: Well, some of the rooms are conventionally 'stately home pretty'; but the state of other areas was so remarkable that tidying the whole thing up would just have reduced the house to an identikit stately home. Weird collecting on the verge of hoarding is part of Calke's USP.

There is a nursery full of discarded toys which is definitely creepy; and a small parlour that has been literally wallpapered with 18th century satirical cartoons, which must be unique. I've been possibly three times and found something new to boggle at each time.

Off topic, but I just watched the four-part BBC adaptation of the first two Gormanghast books.

>22 TorMented: I just ripped it from my DVD and plan to watch it soon. I hope it's good. I mean, Ian Richardson, so ...