Wednesday 28 January 2015

Magna Carta, David Starkey and Fracking


All this David Starkey
malarkey
About Magna Carta,
The Great Charter,
And Life, Liberty and Property;

I saw him on the telly,
With his usual pomposity,
But without a hint of irony,
As he talked of ending tyranny;

For as a consequence of fracking,
Our homes now face ransacking,
And so pockets can be lined,
Our homes are undermined.

                                              An English home is your castle?
Why, that’s oh so medieval -
Magna Carta’s not for us,
Our basements turn to dust.

Oh brave new world that has such mining in it.

1066 And All That
Here are a few of the comments of Sellar and Yeatman, from their 1930 classic, on Magna Charter (‘on account of the Latin Magna (great) and Charter (a Charter)’):
1.     That no one was to be put to death, save for some reason – (except the Common People).
2.     That everyone should be free - (except the Common People).
3.     That everything should be of the same weight and measure throughout the Realm - (except the Common People).
4.     That the Barons should not be tried except by a special group of other Barons who would understand.
Magna Charter was therefore the chief cause of Democracy in England, and thus a Good Thing for everyone (except the Common People).

And, for 2015:
1. That no one’s home should be subject to fracking – (except the Common People).

4 comments:

  1. I thought that I just posted a comment on this , which it would appear has vanished into the (virtual) ether!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Any way the jist of what I wrote was thus: 'tis a case of "the same old story" I fear.... 'tis maybe a time to be taking a leaf, or maybe a chapter, maybe more from the Modern Greeks textbook? Only time will tell, I guess?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Any way the jist of what I wrote was thus: 'tis a case of "the same old story" I fear.... 'tis maybe a time to be taking a leaf, or maybe a chapter, maybe more from the Modern Greeks textbook? Only time will tell, I guess?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I thought that I just posted a comment on this , which it would appear has vanished into the (virtual) ether!

    ReplyDelete