A Swiss state has passed a law to

ban naked hiking – but that’s nothing compared to these other weird and wonderful laws*.

* which may actually be urban myths but we haven’t got the time to check through the old legal statute books. Have you not seen how big they are?

Don’t bathe donkeys in Arizona

1. If you’re pregnant (and a woman) in the UK then you are allowed by law to relieve yourself anywhere you want – even in a policeman’s helmet, so we’re told.


2. Welshmen are prohibited from entering Chester before the sun rises – and have to leave again before the sun goes down, according to an old bylaw.



3. Which perhaps explains the fact that it is still technically OK to shoot a Welshman on a Sunday inside the city walls – as long as it’s after midnight and with a crossbow.

4. If a whale is found on the British coast the King can claim the head and the Queen has a legal right to the tail – just in case she needs some new bones for her corset.

5. Alligators in Arkansas may not be kept in bathtubs.

6. But in Arizona it’s donkeys which are forbidden from having a soak in the tub.

7. In Michigan, anyone who commits adultery is also committing a felony, according to that state’s penal code, which reads: “Any person who shall commit adultery shall be guilty of a felony; and when the crime is committed between a married woman and a man who is unmarried, the man shall be guilty of adultery, and liable to the same punishment.”

8. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament – apparently because otherwise they would be eligible for a state funeral and that is a bit costly for the authorities.

9. Conversely, however, an unrepealed law from 1313 makes it illegal to wear a suit of armour when entering the Houses of Parliament – surely making death more likely.

10. Oliver Cromwell decided he didn’t want people eating mince pies on Christmas Day, so banned them from doing so in the 17th century. Seemingly, you still can’t.