Just
to whet your appetite, here's an extract from Graham Parker's article,
“Is a Duck an Animal? An Exploration of Bestiality as a Crime”,
Criminal Justice History, 7 (1986), p. 96.
(Disclaimer:
this extract appears here with
the permission of absolutely nobody. In fact, when you come to think of
it, we have shamelessly pirated Mr Parker's hard work for our own ends.
If you are Mr Parker and you don't appreciate your work being used in this
way, please let us know and we'll scuttle this page immediately)
...On the other hand,
there are remarkably few recorded cases of bestiality, even though the
folklore and the studies of the sex experts would suggest that it is a
quite common practice. It does not seem to be taken very seriously. For
instance, consider the nineteenth-century case where George Gilbert was
charged with bestiality performed with a sheep. Albert Harris, an agricultural
labourer, was called as witness for the Crown. The examination-in-chief
included the following:
Prosecutor:
Mr. Harris, on the
day in question, were you proceeding along a lane adjacent to the farm
of Mr. Clarke?
A.H.:
I was.
Prosecutor:
Would you describe
for His Lordship what you saw.
A.H.:
Well, George Gilbert
was standing in the doorway of the barn with a sheep.
Prosecutor:
Yes, and what was
he doing?
A.H.:Well,
he was messing round with the sheep.
Prosecutor:
By that statement,
are we to understand that the accused was having sexual intercourse with
the sheep?
A.H.:
Er, yes.
Prosecutor:
Mr. Harris, what did
you do when you observed this shocking spectacle?
A.H.:
I said “Morning, George.”
[Index]
[Return to School of Swashbuckling]
[Pirate
Economics] [Sex and the Seas]
[Recreational Violence] [Drunkenness]
[The
Practicalities of Piracy] [Women
and Piracy] [Punishment]
[The Philosophy of Piracy]
[Final
Exam] [Biography] [Patron
Saint] [References]