Bill the Butcher

William ‘Bill the Butcher’ Poole (or William Cutting if you prefer his fictionalised name), for ‘Mr Dandy’ himself, Steven (RelaxingDragon1) over on FA.

This piece was way too much fun to work on and the pre-prep for it presented the perfect opportunity to find out more about a figure I knew so little about. In all honesty, I had never seen Gangs of New York all the way through before and finally watched it a few days ago, as required research. I immediately realised just what I had been missing! It’s a truly great film, albeit slightly confusing because there are many details that have been changed, including Bill the Butcher’s real name. Anyway, thanks go to Steven for recommending it!

So yes, Bill the Butcher, an ‘actual’ butcher, New York City gang member, bare-knuckle boxer, knife-thrower… and racist git (bloomin’ pro-‘native born’ American, anti-immigrant, anti-Irish, anti-Catholic whatnot!) Lol! I know that Steven would hit me hard over the head for mentioning that again, because the whole turf-war was a huge issue back then, but thankfully the word ‘unity’ has a little more meaning these days.

…Oh yeah, and he dispatched Liam Neeson damnit! Why? WHY? Wahahaha!

(Artwork © Leona Preston / Steven Burse 2009 /
Inspired by the motion picture ‘Gangs of New York’ © Miramax Films)


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