Mick Jackson's imaginary bestiary, Bears of England, charts the relations between bears and men in a series of eight interlinked stories. From the spirit bears who roamed the shadowy woods to the underground bears who maintained the London sewers – and traded lost jewels with spivs and chancers – Jackson brings to life the creatures who have been written out of history.
In this story, Sin-Eating Bears, he summons up the bears who swallowed offerings of food, so that the dead could rest in peace.
View a gallery of David Roberts' illustrations from Sin-Eating Bears