Tony Robinson examines disgusting occupations from Stuart times, including saltpetre men who collected urine and dug up latrines to gather the gunpowder ingredient potassium nitrate. He also looks at the petardier's assistant, who had to blow the gates off besieged castles, and discovers the modern violin was only made possible because string-makers rummaged for their raw materials in the guts of dead sheep.

It's like Netflix for history... Sign up to History Hit, the world's best history documentary service, at a huge discount using the code 'TIMELINE' ---ᐳ http://bit.ly/3a7ambu

You can find more from us on:

  / timelinewh  

  / timelinewh  

This channel is part of the History Hit Network. Any queries, please contact [email protected]