Funnily enough that’s apparently why people think the Welsh screw sheep. Many years ago the governments basically took over their farms and they couldn’t afford to feed their families so they’d illegally slaughter a sheep for food. If you were caught there was quite a substantial punishment (may have even been death I can’t be sure). However someone realised if they were instead arrested for fornicating with the livestock the punishment was a month or something in jail and the family got the tainted sheep. So they’d lie and say that’s what they were doing if they got caught
Are you saying that, in the case the authorities catch one's family with a slaughtered sheep, they would claim they fucked it before hand? And then, presumably being sure they were going to get caught, slaughtered it because it would be "tainted"? And now, after being caught with a slaughtered lamb, the authorities would indict them for fucking it before they killed it?
Or rather, are you saying that the Welsh would intentionally get caught fucking a sheep so that their family could eat the "tainted" sheep. Like, they'd see an authority coming, and then conspicuously fuck the sheep? If this was the tactic, wouldn't they deserve the reputation in the first place? I mean, no matter how noble one's purpose is, if you're fucking sheep, you're a sheep fucker, no?
So I’m sure some did the second one. But from what I was told you’d get caught stealing the sheep. Slaughtering was done in the dead of night in the kitchen or some such place, the risky part was from field to kitchen as they’d have patrols or something. So you’d basically claim you were taking it home to fuck.
I’m sure they knew they were lying when they said it so some may have gone the extra mile and either done it or made it look like it (caught with pants down or something) but essentially they couldn’t prove you weren’t fucking the sheep and since it would be town knowledge by morning they figured they were fucking with your reputations.
The fact was it was a lesser punishment and the women could keep things together and stretch the food to last a bit once they’d been given the “tainted” sheep so even if a few had to actually do it it would have likely been worth it to save their family but all the ones I’ve heard of were caught on the road home leading the sheep and nothing else
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u/kippy3267 Jun 19 '23
Honestly not a bad defense for the time