The taught portion of the LL.M. in International Law has now finished and all of the postgraduate students are in the middle of researching for their dissertations, which are due on 21 August 2009. Some LL.M. candidates have opted to conclude their course work from their home states, while others find Edinburgh and the law library at Old College an ideal work place for dissertation research and drafting. The long summer time days and warmth of the sun which seemed vacant during the winter and spring months is a both a blessing and a curse for dissertation research, as being outside is far more appealing than a law library filled with leather bound volumes.
I have found time to venture away from my studies and play tennis with some very good friends of mine. Diane and Ségo, from France - Paris and Versailles respectively - and a third friend, Charles from near Heidelberg, Germany have been my gracious tennis opponents in weekly singles matches on The Meadows’ courts. The former is not nearly as attractive as the latter two, but then again what guy can concentrate on a tennis ball when the tall French girl on the other side is physically and intellectually beautiful, in addition to being a good friend. It seem appropriate to be playing with the French, as tennis originated from a 12th Century game played in France, called paume (meaning palm).
Paume used the hand to hit the ball instead of a racquet. By the beginning of the 1400s, a racquet had been added to the game, giving rise to Real Tennis. Shakespeare even mentions tennis in Henry V, where the King Charles VI of France sends three tennis balls to Henry V and states that the ‘ball is in your court’. It was this scene which led to the great Battle of Agincourt in Northern France in 1415.
I have found time to venture away from my studies and play tennis with some very good friends of mine. Diane and Ségo, from France - Paris and Versailles respectively - and a third friend, Charles from near Heidelberg, Germany have been my gracious tennis opponents in weekly singles matches on The Meadows’ courts. The former is not nearly as attractive as the latter two, but then again what guy can concentrate on a tennis ball when the tall French girl on the other side is physically and intellectually beautiful, in addition to being a good friend. It seem appropriate to be playing with the French, as tennis originated from a 12th Century game played in France, called paume (meaning palm).
Paume used the hand to hit the ball instead of a racquet. By the beginning of the 1400s, a racquet had been added to the game, giving rise to Real Tennis. Shakespeare even mentions tennis in Henry V, where the King Charles VI of France sends three tennis balls to Henry V and states that the ‘ball is in your court’. It was this scene which led to the great Battle of Agincourt in Northern France in 1415.
