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.




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17 comments:

  1. Cathy1 July 2019 at 06:02

    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.

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    1. Cro Magnon1 July 2019 at 06:12

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

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  2. Susan Heather1 July 2019 at 06:02

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

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    1. Cro Magnon1 July 2019 at 06:15

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

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  3. Susan Heather1 July 2019 at 07:43

    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.

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    1. Cro Magnon1 July 2019 at 09:05

      That sounds much like the games we had here.

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  4. The Weaver of Grass1 July 2019 at 09:06

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

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    1. Cro Magnon1 July 2019 at 09:41

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

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    2. Gwil W1 July 2019 at 11:23

      Gore blimey!

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  5. JayCee1 July 2019 at 09:53

    Ah, but their outfits were nice.

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    1. Cro Magnon1 July 2019 at 10:00

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

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  6. Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe1 July 2019 at 12:14

    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.

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    1. Cro Magnon1 July 2019 at 14:44

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

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  7. Sue1 July 2019 at 16:03

    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.

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    1. Cro Magnon1 July 2019 at 16:38

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

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    2. Sue1 July 2019 at 19:46

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

      Delete
  8. wisps of words3 July 2019 at 18:13

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

    ✨✨✨✨

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