Pub trivia: Strange laws
Strange laws
You may consider yourself to be a moral and law abiding citizen but you'd probably be wrong. You are in fact an outlaw on the lamb from the rozzers thanks to your downright ignorance of these ancient laws. Please read the following to avoid further criminality.
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Fact
Different eras call for different laws, but some seem universally weird. How about the one that stipulates if you break a boiled egg at the sharp end, you’ll be sentenced to 24 hours in the village stock? Or a Scottish law that deems it illegal to be drunk in possession of a cow?
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It is technically illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas day– unless you are trying for a baby. This unchanged Pagan law states that the consumption of mincemeat is strictly for fertility rituals.
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A law dating back to the middle ages states that every Englishman over 14 should practice the art of killing with a longbow, for two hours every week and under church supervision. At this time there was no standing army and the church was the only centralised instrument of bureaucracy.
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During medieval England, it was once illegal to stand near the monarch when not wearing socks. It was also illegal to place a postage stamp with the image of the monarch upside down.
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One 19th century British law stipulated that those who successfully committed suicide would be executed. Of course, it was later withdrawn due to a lack of candidates.
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The Welsh are named in several historical laws. In Chester, they can be shot if seen inside the city walls – but only after midnight. Similarly in Hereford, Welshmen can be killed in the Cathedral close - except on Sundays. And Scots beware too – it is permitted to kill a Scot if spotted in York after dark.
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Some bizarre historical laws still exist today. For example, men urinating in public can be arrested for indecency. But there is an exception, according to an unaltered Hackney Carriage Law. It states the deed must be done on the rear wheel of the gent’s motor vehicle, with his right hand touching the car.
