Monday, 1 July 2019

A Load of Bull.


When we first moved to our village, one of the regular summer entertainments was a travelling show which pitted teams of young men from local villages to a variety of 'Bullfighting Games' known as Courses Landaises.

No Bulls were injured during the games, but plenty of foolhardy young men were tossed about, and bruised a bit.

Mostly the games involved grabbing a rosette from a Bull's horn, attempting to leap over the Bull as he charged at you, or twisting sideways just in time to avoid being trampled.

These games died a natural death, and haven't been played for over 30 years or more. I only went once; it was extremely hot, and, frankly, rather boring.

Below gives a rough idea of what it was all about, although I don't remember the Bull being attached to any rope.




17 comments:

Cathy said...

I take it those chaps were part of a traveling group. Wanna be bull fighters!
Bit like the rodeos in Queensland- only for the young and foolhardy.

Susan Heather said...

I remember going to something similar when I visited St. Remy de Provence in the 1950's.

Cro Magnon said...

Yes I think so, but the ones who took part here were just local lads.

Cro Magnon said...

I thought St Remy had 'proper' Bullfighting. In the deep South they're a braver breed; as are the Bulls.

Susan Heather said...

I went to the fight at Avignon from memory and the bull fighters had to remove something tied to the horns. They were not killed.

Cro Magnon said...

That sounds much like the games we had here.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Sounds prettyboring to me so perhaps it is a good thing it died a natural death.

Cro Magnon said...

It wasn't my cup-of-tea at all. I think they were running-out of foolhardy young men as well..

JayCee said...

Ah, but their outfits were nice.

Cro Magnon said...

Not as nice as the 'suits of lights' that the real Bullfighters wear.

Gwil W said...

Gore blimey!

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

Young men have always been known for doing foolish things to show off their manhood. It has often resulted in bad endings. It is good the games died a natural death.

Cro Magnon said...

Nowadays they hang around in bars, whilst their girlfriends chew gum outside.

Sue said...

I remember going to watch a bull run at Salviac a few years ago. The poor old beasts were too old and tired to run anywhere.

Cro Magnon said...

Was it the same as the Lumberjack version, with games, etc? I haven't seen any mention of such things for years.

Sue said...

I don't think there were any games, just a few bulls 'chasing' the local lads through the street.

wisps of words said...

Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!

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