MONKEY BUSINESS

One of the most interesting stories I have heard recently concerns a small town north of London on the east coast of England.  It is called Hartlepool. 

Hartlepool has a rugby football team which competes in League One which is the third highest division of English football. Their team mascot is the monkey. They are known to their rivals as the Monkey Hangers. 

How did they get such a name?  As the story goes, during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century, a French ship wrecked off of the coast of England near Hartlepool.  There was only a single survivor.  It was an ape dressed as a French soldier - probably kept on board for the amusement of the crew.  The people of Hartlepool had never seen a Frenchman nor an ape.  They immediately put the ape on trial as a spy.  He refused to answer questions posed to him - at least in a language they could understand - so he was convicted and sentenced to death.  He was hung from the mast of a ship until dead. 

I can't vouch for the validity of the story but it makes me smile to think of it.  I hope it made you smile too.
:-)