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

Wasn't it something to do with saving fallen women and it was alleged that he'd saved one or two for himself?

for the info - yes that all fits.

Ekky +3 clearly you know the story. Yes, the 'Prostitute's Padre' got his comeuppance.

I'll explain in the close exactly why and how.

That just leaves the barrel.

One is I believe a by-law offence.

The other was a criminal matter...

Neither of those Taff.

there was a film with michael palin about a vicar saving fallen women in the eastend, the missionary i believe it was called,

never saw it but i gather the plot was along the lines of

vicar saves women, but cant get funding for mission, saved women go back to work to fund mission to save them. etc. etc. etc.

Doesn't sound like our boy.

I'm not tempted to award any points for his defrocking beyond this point. Ekky's got most of the salient details.

What's left is what he got up to inside the barrel that got him into so much trouble on two occasions.

he stood on it at hyde park speakers corner then started dishing out communion wine from it and got everybody tipsy

Did he get over-excited and have to "relieve" himself?

RF

He'd have to be *really* over-excited if he needed a barrel!

No, no, no,no.

He was very popular in fact....

*bump*

Maybe he really was working with the working girls - was he trying to save them?

I remember reading somewhere that there was a "Prostitute's Priest"

Maybe the Church thought that his intentions weren't quite as honourable as they should be

>>What's left is what he got up to inside the barrel that got him into so much trouble on two occasions.<<

So this would have to be an activity which was illegal /even in the privacy of the home/ but does not involve other persons (considering that there would be no room inside for anyone else inside)?

Actually, the size of the barrel was not specified in the question and I guess different people picture different things in their heads when someone else uses the word.

If you'd said 'keg' we'd probably all be thinking of those shiny thinks which are delivered to pubs.

If you'd said 'tun' (not a typo) and this was any other than a QI forum, you might have had some blank looks. The loading of cargo into Medieval ships is a bit of a niche industry, these days.

I still do not know quite what size a 'firkin' is and that is in spite of once having lived within walking distance of the Frog & Firkin pub, near Westbourne Park tube station. In Glogoe Street View, I see it has a new name and hooptiously blue colour scheme.

I reckon that, at about 73 minutes after sunset, it should blend into the colour of the sky and look like it isn't there - except for the glow from the windows. On the other hand, on overcast days, when the sky goes orange, the sight of a blue pub against an orange background could leave you a bit queasy and in dire need of


EYG

btw, Happy carnival!

Yikes I forgot about this one!

My source doesn't specify on the dimension of the barrel but I think it was a snug fit for just one.

The activities for which he was in trouble were both committed 'in public' and not in private, and one did involve other people, the other did not.

*bump*

I'll wrap this one up soon if it doesn't get any TLC soon.

I'm looking for two offences the defrocked rector was accused of doing (in one case successfully) whilst in his barrel on the Blackpool promenade?

heresy or blasphemy

causing a nuisance

breach of the peace

blocking traffic



i'm back tonight

I'll award that +3.


He was indeed subject to prosecution for causing an obstruction. Since he was in the habit of charging 2d for his barrel performance, and without a licence, the local magistrate took exception and found him guilty.

However this latest round of persecution pre-freddy the lion, was not to be the last - so what did the benighted rector do next that attracted the ire of the authorities?

perform on the court house steps/outside the police station????

Nope.

He did re-locate briefly to do a small tour of the Birmingham music halls with his fiery denunciation of his defrocking and his barrel, but then returned to Blackpool for the final humiliation.

He went swimming at Blackpool and got arrested for indecent exposure and failure to wear a proper bathing costume. It seems all this man's problems were of a sartorial nature - he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't - people were either defrocking him or telling him to put some clothes on. We are all born naked but some are chosen to stay that way forever. And ever. Amen.

~jwf~