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albanian albanian
 
M$3 March 02, 2009 04:38 PM

Is the claim that Edward VI made a law against breaking a boiled egg at the sharp (little) end a hoax?

This claim is made on countless dumb or crazy law sites. It seems to trace to a compilation made by the Welsh law firm John Collins and Partners LLP of Swansea, Wales, UK, during the holiday season 2006. It was picked up by a tabloid, the Mirror, but also reported by the BBC. From there it spread all over. As most computer nerds and literature lovers will know, this sure looks like a hoax. Can anyone find real evidence that this is a true law or a hoax? It might take a British lawyer or scholar or someone with access to a British law library to answer this question, I am not interested in secondary quotes like dumblaw.com or tabloids. Also, perhaps a historian could explain why Edward VI would or would not have made such a law.
Interesting Question?  Yes (0)   No (1)   
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thinsurfac... thinsurfac...
 
 March 05, 2009 06:42 AM
No positive proof yet, but a few interesting things:
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/4493/britishlawsjx9.jpg

I did a little more research, and found these links to show that this legendary law

predates the alleged Holiday 2006 timeline by about four years.

http://www.council-of-elrond.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1842.htmlhttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_35_18/ai_92352712
2004http://www.ncsu.edu/oisss/pdf/news/Spring2004newsletter.pdf

It seems that King Edward VI was an interesting fellow, because according to the

link (also mentioned above in another post), he also enacted the law, "It is illegal to stand within one hundred

yards of the reigning monarch when not wearing socks."

Page 12 of the Law Society Gazette reports that the law in question was repealed

in 1561.
http://www.lawsociety.ie/Gazette/Gazette%202008/Law%20Society%20Gazette%

20Vol%20102%20No%203%20April%202008.pdf
Asker's Rating:
• Darn! You have shown that it is an old list which has been passed around. That member of a Tolkien forum in 2002 says he found them looking around on the web but no other source. That probably means there is no one that can or will own up to starting it.



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albanian albanian
 
March 05, 2009 01:18 PM
Hm. The Clink Prison London Bridge turns out to be a tiny tourist trap four room "museum" on the site of the old Clink Prison (long demolished). It is not some big government or other museum with actual researchers. But as you say, interesting.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g186338-d211853-Reviews-Clink_Prison_Museum-London_England.html

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albanian albanian
 
March 05, 2009 04:35 PM
Well, let us suppose that there was such a law, unlikely as that may be. King Edward VI was a bright, even precocious boy not some demented loony. It seems he even was aware of the danger of confusing and silly laws and wanted to reform the law code. If there was a reason for this law it would have had to do with the disputes between Protestants and Catholics and their respective symbols. So I have asked a follow up question under the Religion category.

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thelastsci... thelastsci...
 
March 02, 2009 05:04 PM
So far I have found a section of the BBC that reported the law as "strange but true laws." See this link...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6204511.stm
There is this law society magazine that said the law was repealed... look on page12. I think it was a real law. I just can't find access to the actual statute. It must be archived someplace.
http://www.lawsociety.ie/Gazette/Gazette%202008/Law%20Society%20Gazette%20Vol%20102%20No%203%20April%202008.pdf

Steve Penny, Managing Partner at John Collins and Partners, said:
http://www.jcpsolicitors.co.uk/newsevents/news/12570.html Shows he is actually a partner.
http://www.jcpsolicitors.co.uk/12835.html
"We thought that we should give the people of Wales a light-hearted warning about what they could be letting themselves in for.

"The Law Commission is responsible for sifting out ageing laws in an attempt to bring the system up to date, but a few bizarre rules have managed to stay in place. Every year around 3,000 pages are added to the law books so it’s no wonder a few slip below the radar. We wouldn’t expect people to worry too much about most of these laws – though any Welsh person visiting Hereford or Chester may want to keep their wits about them on Sunday!"

John Collins and Partners top ten weird laws are:

1.
In Hereford you can shoot a Welsh person all day on a Sunday, with a Longbow, in the Cathedral Close.
2.
It is legal for a male to urinate in public, as long it is on the rear wheel of his motor vehicle and his right hand is on the vehicle.
3.
A bed may not be hung out of a window.
4.
It is illegal for a lady to eat chocolates on a public conveyance.
5.
It is illegal to be drunk on Licensed Premises.
6.
Taxi drivers are required to ask all passengers if they have smallpox or the plague.
7.
Any person found breaking a boiled egg at the sharp end will be sentenced to 24 hours in the village stocks (enacted by Edward VI).
8.
Any boy under the age of 10 may not see a naked mannequin.
9.
Throughout the whole of England it is illegal to eat mince pies on the 25th of December.
10.
You can shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow in Chester, inside the city walls and after midnight.

I'm not sure where they are finding this information. Basically all I am doing is relying on the creditability of their research.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/03/20/did-you-know-it-s-illegal-to-die-in-the-houses-of-parliament-britain-s-silliest-laws-revealed-115875-20356691/ this mirror story reports it as a law too. Though no sources. they said they unearthed it.
Source(s):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6204511.stm
http://www.lawsociety.ie/Gazette/Gazette%202008/Law%20Society%20Gazette%20V...


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albanian albanian
 
March 02, 2009 05:12 PM
I mentioned that in my question, they are the ones who sourced the Welsh law firm. I am still convinced it is a hoax and want to see something independent and convincing.

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thelastsci... thelastsci...
 
March 02, 2009 05:23 PM
I'm working on it. Normally for me to accept it I am going to have to see a proclamation or an actual article of law.

I can't find the article of law. until I do I would call it suspicious.

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albanian albanian
 
March 03, 2009 10:29 AM
The law society magazine with the repeal is something that I didn't find. Notice that it claims the law was repealed in 1561. Not exactly breaking news, or believable. But not easy to disprove on paper. Note that it is the April issue.

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albanian albanian
 
March 03, 2009 01:46 PM
Hm. I have found where it would be if it ever were (although I'm sure it wasn't, if you follow me). :

"This was followed by a Commission set up in 1610, and if you visit the British Museum you will in fact find a manuscript there which has a list of statutes from 3 Edward I to 2 James I which had been repealed or had expired with further ideas for repeals and changes."
http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/lord-mishcon039s-address-the-law-society039s-national-conference

The more you look at this question, the more interesting and educational it becomes!

People on Chowhound are still discussing which end of a soft boiled egg you should open first. Meanwhile there is a whole hobbyfull of pocillovists one of whose sites says the first reference to an egg cup in England was not until 1690 and they began to be popular in the early 1700's. And that's not even considering the computer, the literary, and the religious angles. I think I will be asking a series of questions to get this straightened out.

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angilla angilla
 
March 03, 2009 07:18 AM
Well, I've done a fair share of searching and haven't found anything other than the dumb or crazy law sites. Looks like a hoax to me, but unless this hoax was randomly created by some drunk person, it must have a basis in SOMEthing. So in trying to think of who would be the best people to ask, I'm thinking law school professors in England. They have a wealth of information to access at their universities, and they might even appreciate the question to pass on a little lesson to their students about what they find. So here's some ideas of who you could ask:

Bristol University, Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, Faculty Research Support Officer Wing-Fai Leung, W.F.Leung@bristol.ac.uk

The University of Buckingham Law School, law.school@buckingham.ac.uk

University of Cambridge, Centre for European Legal Studies, cels@law.cam.ac.uk

King's College School of Law, enq.genlaw@kcl.ac.uk

Good luck!
Source(s):
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/fssl/research/
http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/law/contact.html
http://www.cels.law.cam.ac.uk/contact/
http://www.umds.ac.uk/schools/law/contact.html


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albanian albanian
 
March 03, 2009 09:58 AM
An interesting approach, thanks. But there is nothing random about about it, which is why I said computer nerds and literature lovers would expect it to be a hoax.

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thelastsci... thelastsci...
 
March 03, 2009 02:12 PM
I think it is going to be a matter of going to a Museum and getting your hands on a good hard copy version of it.

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albanian albanian
 
March 03, 2009 02:26 PM
Thelast, although I have been learning about the statutes of the time, this particular one is still clearly a hoax and a trip to the British Museum would prove in vain. I think the task is to gather enough evidence and put it in coherent form and confront (by email) the perpetrator(s) who, in this case, are fortunately known by name and address (the Swansea lawyers).

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