asks “D,” who is originally from New York, but now lives in Charleston. For this question we turned to a local expert — John LaVerne, who is the head and founder of Bulldog Tours. John says, “The wall around the CofC Cistern/Randolph Hall is made of brick with stucco over it. When built, the masons opted to use ox blood instead of water when making the mortar mix. The closest creek was several blocks away so the ox blood was easier to get. I assume the ox was killed for food or perhaps died in the area – I can’t imagine they killed a work animal just to use its blood for mortar mix.” So there you have it, right from the cow’s, um horse’s, mouth. Thanks John… and thanks for the question D.