The Domesday Book is now online, although to be correct it is actually two books, Little and Great Domesday, which were a kind of medieval census listing land, livestock and tenants of the King. The records can be searched for free, but you have to pay £3.50 to download the information. I visited and had a look at the listing for the village I was born in and discovered it contained people such as Aethelwine the sheriff, Queen Matilda, and two chaps called Earnwulf and Odo - the latter sounds like a baddy in a James Bond film. I'm not sure if I want to fork out cold, hard cash to find out how many pigs these oddly named folk owned, but if anyone is curious about medieval goose ownership in their home town, they know where to go.
Oscar Wilde described fox hunting as 'the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable' Today one of the unspeakable found himself on the receiving end of a £500 fine after a judge decided he was guilty of breaking the laws against hunting with hounds.
Huntsmen and women like to portray those who oppose their 'sport' as a bunch of ignorant townies who know nothing of the realities of country life. Well, I grew up in the country, on a farm for the most part, but I have never understood the appeal of fox hunting. To chase an animal to the point of exhaustion, allow your dogs to tear it to pieces, then claim you are acting in the best interests of that animal is an argument that defies logic. Imagine if a group of thugs gathered up their rotties and staffies and started treating stray cats in the same manner - they would, quite rightly, be labelled cruel and heartless.
An alternative tactic of the pro-hunting lobby is the attempt to tie hunting in with important rural issues such as housing, employment and transport. The arguments they use are misleading. Despite what they say, hunting is obviously not as important as any of those matters, nor is it a majority interest. From my own experience I would say it is very much a minority one. As a child in leafy Warwickshire I only knew one person who hunted, most people had little or no interest in the idea. This why I become quite angry when I hear this argument being used. Rural areas need more affordable housing, better employment opportunities, access to buses, doctors, post offices etc. Without these things, the areas in question stagnate, young people leave and only the older, wealthier people are left. Of course, the hunting lobby generally fall into that last category, so low cost housing, a village school and a bus service are of no interest to them because they live in huge detached piles, educate their children privately and drive large, expensive cars. Meanwhile young couples and less affluent pensioners are moving away. It is wrong to tack the hunting debate onto these important issues. It belittles them, and ensures they do not receive the attention they deserve in the eyes of the population as a whole. Not that the hunters care, those things only apply to the common folk.
Badger baiting, dog and cock fighting were banned long ago, but these were the pastimes of the working classes. As far as I can tell, the only reason hunts got away with this kind of organised yobbishness for so much longer is because their hobby involved rich and influential people. Now, it has been taken away from them, and they don't like it. Whenever I see someone argue against this law they seem to have an underlying belief that they are somehow exempt from following it. As though they can not believe anyone would dare legislate against them. Well someone has, and it wasn't moment too soon.
Technorati Tags: domesday_book, fox_hunting, hunting_with_hounds, rural_issues, country_life
Friday, 4 August 2006
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7 little notes:
thanks for the Domesday link, will have a nose around.
Fox Hunting? Don't let the blonde one hear you say that - raises eyebrows.
I can't see the appeal ALTHOUGH I suspect in certain instances dogs may be the only method to control Foxes (hillsides) IF its necessary
I agree with pretty much all of what you say re hunting not being tied in with the rural economy.
But I disagree that it is entirely the province of the wealthy. I think that this is probably an area thing and there are undoubtedly some - possibly most - hunts that are like that. But there are also a sizeable minority of people who aren't from that kind of background who hunt in Somerset. For example, someone who works p/t for my Ma, who pretty much works on the land to support her hunting. She averages an income of seven or eight grand a year and is definitely not in that kind of bracket.
I am in two minds about this - I grew up in the kind of culture where hunting was seen as normal. As a child I went a few times myself - but I would never choose to go now - it does seem like senseless killing and I can't honestly see that it's an effective method of controlling foxes; but I suppose time will tell.
There is no real justification for fox hunting. As you say, the economic arguments are spurious and in the end it usually comes down to "tradition".
not syre why although is in capitals!!
Pete - it does look interesting, although I'm torn between wanting to know more and not wishing to part with my pennies LOL
Yes, I can see your point, and I wouldn't mind that if it was being done in a controlled way. ALTHOUGH (tee hee, I'm doing it too ) I think there are more effective methods of control even in tricky areas. What really bothers me are the people who race around the countryside en masse and who try to justify a mostly social event by giving it some kind of significance.
Ally - oh yes, there are people who hunt but who come from outside the traditional groups. Our local hunt was very much the preserve of the upper middle classes, but there were a few people who came from other backgrounds, and of course you got the hunt followers.
I had the chance to go myself, but it didn't appeal, although at that age I think it had more to do with a dislike of the girl who asked me rather than any sense of injustice towards foxes LOL My Mum went when she was a girl, but stopped when she got into her teens, I'm not sure why. In my teens I went over to the dark side and became a sab which was an interesting experience.
Kim - I do think tradition is the main reason behind it. At one time, it probably made sense to control foxes that way, but times change. I'm a big fan of tradition, but some aren't worth keeping.
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