First Day in England

On our first day in England we traveled to the Cotswolds, spending the night in Moreton-in Marsh. The next day we had a tour which took us through small villages and past grand manors such as this one, Chastleton House. We learned it is Jacobean in style, built by a Welshman named Walter Jones in 1607.  The same family owned the house for 400 years. It is now in public trust and has been a movie site, most recently for the BBC series "Wolf Hall."

Although this a beautiful and  tranquil rural area with sheep farms, the sheep herders once had a particularly vicious sport called shin kicking.  Two contestants would grab onto each other by the collar and thrash about with heavy boots. The referee was called the stickler, and presumably when we say someone is a stickler for details we are harkening back to this old sport.  When the pummeling got too tough for a contestant to bear, he could end the fight with a cry, "Sufficient!"  British understatement, I'd say!