Home / Bizarre Laws / “Legal to Shoot a Scotsman in York”
“Legal to Shoot a Scotsman in York”
You will often see it said that it is legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow in York, except on Sundays. It is not.
- Status
- Myth. No such law has been found.
- What is actually true
- Killing someone is illegal in York, as everywhere else
The claim
The line goes: in York it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow, except on Sundays. It turns up on lists of “weird laws” every few years.
The facts
A York St John University law blog looked into it and concluded that a modern court would not let any supposed old rule override the offense of murder. It quotes the Law Commission: “it is illegal to shoot a Welsh or Scottish (or any other) person regardless of the day, location or choice of weaponry.” A list of supposed laws published by HuffPost UK as part of an LSE constitution project marks the claim “False.” We have not found any statute, bylaw or case that supports the claim.
Why it matters here
Our motto is “Every story is real,” so the myths get labeled as myths. A good test for a weird law: can anyone point to the statute? If the answer is “it is just widely known,” be suspicious. There is no affiliate link on this page.