Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Weird Laws? Compared With What?


Fall Town Meeting is just over a month away.

Although we here in Amherst love to complain about the complexities of our laws and political process (how often do we hear that this or that proposed measure is "too difficult to understand"?), well, things could always be worse.

Just consider these bizarre Scottish laws:
  • In Scotland, it is illegal for a boy under the age of 10 to see a naked mannequin
  • In Scotland the law obliges citizens to allow whoever knocks on their door to use their toilet
  • The head of any dead whale found on the Scottish coast automatically becomes the property of the king, and the tail of the queen
  • Any Scotsman found to be wearing underwear beneath his kilt can be fined two cans of beer
  • It is illegal in Scotland to be drunk and in charge of a cow
  • In York, it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow
  • In Carlisle, any Scot found wandering around may be whipped or jailed
Curious to know the backstory? Read the rest.

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