h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Nope. I'll help out: England,

ealing/pinewood

Ah I see. No this was not a special effect the poor man really was mauled by a lion...

was this some sort of religious thing that went wrong

some preacher giving a sermon about how the lord protects him from the lions, like daniel, when all of a sudden it all goes sigmund and roy??????

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Seigfriend and Roy -5

Technically that was a tiger with it's left testicle caught in a trapdoor. *ouch*

On the other hand have a DGI +1 to soften the pain for

"some preacher giving a sermon about how the lord protects him from the lions"

But why go to such extraordinary excess of involving a real lion?

because there was a yank snake handler/faith healer evangelist in town and he needed to up the stakes to get the congregation???

vicar of longleat

On the contrary his congregation were apoplectic


but that is less than half the story.

Longleat - ah I see what you going. a good thought. No.

Up a bit. 90o to the right and then straight ahead, keep going till you hit the coast.

Also, slightly more worthy than a vicar.

Right I'm taking advantage of the the predicted fine weather and having a garden-day today; I've got a couple of odd-jobs need doing and some planintg I want to get done before August get's too far advanced.

So I'll be popping in and checking progress here periodically.

Leaves any guesses and suggestions as normal; and I'll reply en masse when I'm about.

Harrods sold a lion cub, subsequently called Christian, around the late sixties/early seventies one Christmas.

Welcome Masaqui, to h2g2 and to The QI Society!
We are most honoured to be the first place you have posted to!

You should be visited on your personal space soon by one of our Assistant Community Editors who will show you around the site, and be a friendly point of contact should you have any questions.

but in the meanwhile....

An inspired thought - but wrong alas - this was a real honest to goodness Lion called Freddy, and a real person of faith and ordination who met an untimely end.

And the year was 1937.

I've just remembered something:

The Romans weren't the only militaristic empire knocking around southern Europe/West Asia - there were the Persians. The Parthians were relatively peaceful and tolerant, allowing all sorts, until the Romans captured Ctestiphon (sp?), causing them to lose power to the Sassanians.

The Sassanians were much more like Rome and more religiously fundamentalist than their predecessors. Anyone who followed a religion identified with the Roman Empire was persecuted. Christians were initially safe because the Romans were clearly persecuting them.

The Sassanians also had a wicked sense of humour and like to torment those they defeated. When they did something no-one had ever done before and captured a Roman emperor in battle they decided to rub it in: building a whole Roman city in Mesopotamia complete with temples, fora and coliseums, where they staged events to show the depravity of the Romans.

The Romans converted to Christianity and then the Christians in Persia became part of the bad guys. Were some of them fed to the lions?

You'll be relieved to now that Persia isn't down on my list of Klaxons (though it probably ought to have been)

Also, that is Quite Interesting: have 6 freshly minted points. +6

>> "I Clavdivs?" as one S.Fry once put it. <<

Yes, but he borrowed that from the much earlier Absolutely sketch.

>> this was a real honest to goodness Lion called Freddy <<

I deny it all, and anyway, I was on holiday at the time that I didn't do it!

RF

Was this the "Dirty Vicar"?

The vicar (priest, shaman...) was trying to convert wild animals from paganism to christianity at colchester zoo (up and right as far as the coast from somerset), and in the middle of the mass accidentally stepped on the lions tail (must be a tail in there somewhere from the title).

Freddy took exception to this.