Like me , if you were curious: According to local folklore, during the Napoleonic wars<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_wars>, a French ship of the type *chasse marée<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasse_mar%C3%A9e> * (literally, tide-chaser) was wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool. The only survivor was a monkey, wearing a French uniform (presumably to provide amusement for those onboard the ship). On finding the monkey, some locals decided to hold an impromptu trial on the beach; since the monkey was unable to answer their questions, and many locals were unaware of what a Frenchman may look like, they concluded that the monkey was in fact a French spy. Just to make sure, the animal was thus sentenced to death and hanged from the mast of a fishing boat on the Headland. Nowadays, many Hartlepudlians have positively embraced the term, and only a small minority still consider the term 'Monkey Hanger' offensive. It is often used to refer to supporters of Hartlepool United Football Club <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartlepool_United_F.C.> by supporters of their arch rivals Darlington<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlington_F.C.> .
In 2002, Stuart Drummond <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Drummond> campaigned for the office of Mayor of Hartlepool in the costume of the local football team <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartlepool_United_F.C.>'s mascot, 'H'Angus the Monkey <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%27Angus_the_Monkey>'. He narrowly won. His election slogan had been "free bananas for schoolchildren", a promise he was unable to keep. Despite this, he stood again three years later and won with a landslide victory. He won a third term on 4 June 2009, with a reduced majority of 844 following consideration of second preference votes. Dr Michael Benjamin, Community Psychiatrist ------------------------------- myRay: On-line Self-Help CBT http://www.myRay.com ------------------------------ Mental Health: http//www.MyDoctorExplains.com -------------------------------- Auditing || Quality Control http://www.MyDoctorExplains.com/alamo/ -------------------------------- Blog: http://www.DrMichaelBenjamin.com Sent from Ramat Gan, Israel _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist www.leedslist.net
