m&dp71 - ouch!

[Paul M]

 Slight Spoiler - more a digression













"Mason, willing to try anything, stands his ground and with the help 
of ***certain Gloucestershire shin-kicking Arts*** acually defeats 
his Assailant." This rang a bell, since I'm from round those parts ( 
as appears to be Mason) so I enquired of one of my relatives. Shin 
kicking is a Gloucestershire, more strictly Cotswold, tradition once 
pracised at the Dover Hill Games (known as the Cotswolds Olympics) 
near Chipping camden and in many Cotswold Villages.
 Two men, with Iron plates attached to the front of 
their boots grasp each other shoulders and then proceed to kick each 
other on the shin s(OUCH!). Though regarded as a sport there is no real 
goal it is more a test of endurance. It apparently was taken very 
seriously, people would undergo a strict training regime (which 
consisted of hitting one another on the shins with hobnail boots and 
planks of wood.) and the scars were displayed with pride. I have hazy 
memories of seeing this as a kid so it may well still go on  today. 
Such appartently lunatic pursuits seem something of a local 
speciality others include Shingle Sticks where two men would hit each 
other about the head with long sticks until one of their heads was 
split open (this done for money) and the more famous Cheese Rolling ( 
of which my Uncle was once champion) where eopole throw 
themselves over the edge of a near-cliff in pursuit of a  
cheese. And they say TV is a deadening influence.
Paul M.                 tallpaul at hiatus.demon.co.uk
"You have no expectations until you come face to face
with what you're looking at, and then everything about you
says 'I wasn't expecting this' "
Ann E Imbre Spoken In Darkness"