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People & Parliament - A …er's Guide to Westminster
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People and Parliament - A Stranger's Guide to Westminster (1998)(House of Commons).iso
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00388_Text_woolsack.txt
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1998-03-19
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THE WOOLSACK
In front of the throne is the Woolsack - the traditional
name for the large cushion on which the Lord Chancellor
sits. At the insistence of Edward II, who wanted to
remind the spiritual lords of the pastoral basis of the
country's economy, it was originally stuffed with the wool
of English sheep - at the time the main source of the
country's wealth. For symbolic reasons, it is now filled with
wool from several Commonwealth countries.
In front of the Lord Chancellor are two smaller woolsacks, on
which the judges sit during the State Opening of Parliament.