Our day will come
It is one of the guiding "principles" of New Labour (and, for that matter, a whole bunch of other governments down the years) that if there is an institution or tradition that has been around for a while, getting on with the job and generally minding its own business, then it must be "modernised". Thus we have seen the abolition of the House of Lords, compulsory metrication and, now, the abolition of the post of Lord Chancellor.
I look forward to the day when a reactionary government comes to power bringing back the hereditaries, reintroducing pounds, shillings and pence and banning the word "metre".
But I also hope that it'll bring back some of those stupider laws, customs and posts, just for the hell of it. Bear baiting, the Lord Chamberlain (Lord knows someone's got to get rid of the rubbish littering the London stage) and compulsory cannabis cultivation are just a few examples that spring to mind.
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But I also hope that it'll bring back some of those stupider laws: ... compulsory cannabis cultivation
Cannabis cultivation used to be compulsory?
Gosh.
Yes, I understand that during Elizabethan times it was - they needed the hemp for ships' sails.
Ship's ropes, surely?
Try saying that fast!
From Homo Excelsior:
Since Cannabis was known to be highly resistant to salt and rot, the sails and rigging of virtually all ships were made from Marijuana-hemp...
...Cannabis Hemp was once so crucial to the navy that King Henry VIII made it a compulsory crop to safeguard supplies for making sails and rope.
So, we're both right.
As a lad I used to fish for roach with hempseed. I must have thrown tonnes of the stuff into the Thames as groundbait. It's a wonder that anyone downstream of Kingston bothered to get up in the morning.
On a lighter note, couldn't we just substitute guardian readers for the bears?
But I also hope that it'll bring back some of those stupider laws: ... compulsory cannabis cultivation
Cannabis cultivation used to be compulsory?
Gosh.
Posted by Andy Wood on June 15, 2003