RUGBY LEAGUE NEWS:
| 800 Years of Rugby League | ||
| Written by: Dave Q (Rabbitohs) | ||
| January 25th 2010 09:28 PM | ||
“It’s about thyme the Squire he doth buildeth a welle closer to the village." she thought. Meanwhile, over a hundred leagues away by leather-bound ugg-boot , a group of drunken noblemen, were seated around a table adding the finishing touches to an ochre parchment. There was complete silence, until after a time one stood up and proclaimed: “Forests? What of the forests? We need the right to chop down trees and hunt game where and when we so chooseth. Record that one my young be speckled sprog or I will verily slice off thee hands” The men sat down for another period in deep thought until another man, stood up and announced: “Sons and daughters of England, are we not fellow fans of the National Jousting League? Is not the price of attending our happy tournaments becoming too expensive for the common man? Why a seat near the court jester is now more than two crowns! And look at how much the villagers pay for a bowl of pheasant rings and a quart of ale. I doth reckon we should put something in thy lawe about that. Fans are leaving the sport in droves to watch the evil super croquet.” Of course, the fact that our buddies were seeking access the ancient forests at the time was completely understandable given that in 1215, one- third of England, Scotland and Wales was covered in unspoilt trees, brush and heather. Much of these ancient forests were guarded almost 24/7 by heavily armed Sheriffs and their deputies with standing instructions to shoot (an arrow) to kill. Of course the laws to protect the forest did not arise out of any good-natured attempt to save threatened species or the environment, but was staunchly upheld and lethally enforced to ensure that the King had plenty of forest available to damage, destroy, tear, burn and to otherwise exploit as he travelled throughout the land with his huge entourage visiting his mates, judging people and collecting taxes. And so it was that this right and entitlement to fell trees and hunt beast was enshrined into the document that became no less, the Magna Carta. The mighty Magna Carta, that semen of modern constitutions, mankind putting into writing a law of the land. An unholy bible. For mine, the language of the text itself is not of as much interest as the idea behind it. The overall idea was that the privileged should have fewer resources and that the poor and needy should have a bit more. Regrettably, this notion did not apply to jousting tournaments and this most exciting and dangerous of 13th century sports died along with drowning witches, the occasional beheading by blunted axe and wooden disposable codpieces. But I digress(eth): The Magna Carta has been diluted into our own Australian Constitution, along with numerous highlights stolen from the Constitution of the United States. We only started recognising what was left of our forests a hundred years ago or so having wiped out heaps of Aussie style squirrels and quite disgracefully, a fair few decent indigenous people along the way. Our constitution was a fair effort but our founding fathers forgot to put much, no, anything, down into our national law about solemn rights and entitlements of ordinary folk. They simply became like hysterical dehydrated 1950's librarians and got carried away with the Commonwealth v State powers and setting up the Courts. Just a bit of an oversight that one…like building a house minus the roof! But the more things change, the more they stay the same. So when I visit ANZ stadium, all of the law ever written in history will not save me from having to pay $6.30 for a plastic cup of young ale. What about the $4.70 for a Coke? Why did I buy a $200 club membership for the right and privilege of being greatly impoverished at the game itself? I cant bring in a stuffed pheasant and cannot bring in a drink. For the poor its an involuntary hunger strike for the duraton of proceedings. So after 800 years, it seems to me, laws or not, that we still have this inalienable right to be ripped off. At this rate, our noble sport of Rugby League looks certain to go the way of jousting and it seems, Gwen will have to wait another millenium for her new well. __________________________________________________ 747 words including the title, betweeneth the lines. Bibliography: 1215 The Magna Carta. Posted in the F7s Matches forum in June 2009 The F7s is an article writing competition hosted on The Front Row forums here on LeagueUnlimited.com To join a team, click on the banner below  FOR ALL F7s MATCHES, CLICK HERE |
