sweasel.com

Interesting history about the teaching of the boundaries. I had never heard that, though it makes great sense. “Reputation of boundaries” is one of the ancient exceptions to the hearsay rule in Anglo-American jurisprudence, and I can understand why they would want the boys to get it right.

We always used to gather on the lawn next to the church on Rogation Sunday for what our priest called The Blessing of the Dandelions. I think the Benedicite Omnia Opera is one of the loveliest hymns in all Christendom.

Cows? No bull!

“a ritual in which all the boys were marched along the parish boundaries while the men threw them into ponds and briar patches and slammed their heads on boundary rocks and markers.”

um. Damn? No wonder it was called the dark ages. they all got their retinas smashed on a frickin boundary marker.

Yes, I thought it was really beautiful, Pavel. I had to scramble all along the web to find it, though, because I couldn’t remember the name at first.

I read somewhere the boundaries were regarded as so important, the whole procession marched through the middle of houses and destroyed hay ricks and such, if anyone was stupid enough to build things across the line.

In the true Irish tradition, we celebrate this day by drinking.

Of course, we celebrate every day by drinking, but no matter…

Rogation Sunday here is marked by prayers for and over all manner of property. We do walk the bounds of the Church property complete with incense, prayers and hymns….and yes, the “BENEDICITE OMNIA OPERA”.

For Mike C.:
But do the Irish not celebrate SOME days more than others? And so is Rogation Sunday one of the more celebrated days? Or merely one of the lesser?

Nothing starts a war faster than not knowing where the boundaries are!

Off subject: I was looking at your artwork—thinking about stealing something. But there are no badgers! Won’t Uncle Badger sit still and let you draw him?

Which is a significant reason “Good fences make good neighbors.”

For Can’t hark my cry:
Especially if YOU get to place the fence, and your neighbor does not REALLY know where the boundary is…

}:-]

I’ve never heard of this, but it sounds charming. 🙂

Mark M: Mm. That only works until someone decides to sell their property, and the buyer decides to have a survey done. But until then. . .yeah! Oh, the stories I could tell! 😉

Here you go, Deborah. I found this while I was backing up an old hard drive:

Oh, that is splendid! Thank you Swease–and Deborah, for having asked!

For Can’t hark my cry:
What? No squatters’ rights? If you use the property without protest by its REAL owner for a certain number of years, you do not get to keep it merely because a surveyor says it’s not yours???

How positively un-Progressive!

Mark Matis–
Adverse Possession. Yup. Still works in New York (where I practice) and, I believe, all the 49 other states. HOWEVER. . .it’s not entirely straightforward and, um. . .well. You know. You have to go to court to prove it. Or, come to that, to disprove it if the one asserting it is being sufficiently obstreperous. Not by any means an ideal way to acquire title. But it can happen that way.

Oh how funny—I can’t stop laughing. Poor Uncle Badger! Thank you Weasel!

Who is up to writing a children’s book about a stoat and a badger? I know someone who can do the art. 🙂

That stoat hanging from the badger’s ear — perfect! It looks just like my ferret Sophie in that position, down to the belly fat.

Coincidentally, I just read a sort of step-by-step process of someone who wrote a wrote a children’s book and how the illustrations came to be:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2011/04/twenty-steps-to-writing-a-childrens-book/