A fair "cluster of crimes against God and Man"..... Hares were 'game' - and so he would have probably needed a licence, which he was unlikely to possess. It was pretty certainly on someone else's land - and thus the landowner's property - which added theft. Christmas Day - one of the two Major Festivals in the State Religion's year - was effectively a 'super' Sunday, for which the normal Sunday Laws would apply even more rigourously. There was a rhyme on roughly the same subject: "On the first of September, one Sunday morn, I shot a hen pheasant - in standing corn - Without a Licence. Contrive (if you can) A worse cluster of crimes against God and man." He'd seem to've Got Off fairly lightly in the circumstances ! Gus ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Walker <mikecarolyn@tesco.net> To: <ENG-WORCESTER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, July 29, 2005 11:41 PM Subject: [WOR] EVESHAM-criminal activity - WALKER > My gr grandfather James WALKER of Oat St, Evesham was fined 15/- in 1844 for > "killing a hare on Christmas Day". > > This fine is high compared with fines of other people for assault & > drunkenness etc which average only 2/-. > > Does anyone know if such activity was banned on Christmas Day or is the fine > likely to be just for poaching. > > Mike Walker > Wiltshire, UK > > > ==== ENG-WORCESTER Mailing List ==== > Transcribers wanted for Worcestershire FreeREG > for more information see http://freereg.rootsweb.com > UK Census on-line > http://freecen.rootsweb.com/ > >