The Condottieri
As the renaissence scholars amongst you will know the Condottieri were mercenary soldiers contracted and paid to fight for the Papacy or their Italian City State employers; Florence, Vience etc. Freelance Professional Soldiers.
We encountered exactly that on my last visit to the golf course only he probably replied to an advert for a ‘caretaker’.
I was walking around the golf course with Cosmo, my friend Sue and her dog Maisey talking about presentations for a project we had just finished working on together, when a 4×4 with two blokes in drove across a couple of fairways and rolled up right in front of me.
The driver leaning out of the window explained that we should keep to the foot path. This was because his Doberman Pinschers were roaming around and he didnt want them hurting us, or our dogs. Had we not seen the signs or read the newspaper articles saying this was private land?
Er……no must have missed those. Which path exactley do you mean?
The one which runs across the golf course and under the motorway…..Yes that one there. This is private land and stay on the path as it is dangerous here with my dogs around! In fact I live in what used to be the club house now.
Ok fair enough we wont upset your dogs.
You can walk on that side of the path I dont mind you right over there. Stay away.
We watched them drive off back to the club house and figured that this was about preventing a new Dale Farm Traveller Community from piching up. These guys were ‘looking after the place’ and living on site untill the site was developed. I wondered if he had as many dogs as he had tattoos. If so then that would be a pack of dogs. In my imagination I saw 4×4’s with rocket launchers and machine guns patrolling the golf course like Lybian revolutionary fighters.
