A Lion-Tamer’s Tale – 14 December 2004

Directed & recorded by Alexandra Briscoe

Lorenzo the Lion-Tamer was James Wilson’s great-grandfather and one of the 19th century’s great circus showmen – the equivalent of today’s football star or pop-singer.

James himself has a colourful fairground ancestry, and now in very different circumstances runs an amusement arcade in Arbroath.

James admits to being obsessed by Lorenzo and has managed to piece together details of his life.

Now he wants to know more, and this film follows him on a quest to discover the real Lorenzo.

What was the life of a lion-tamer like, and what were the circumstances of his death?