Brawling

Brawling, the offence of quarrelling or making a disturbance in the church or its appurtenances, and it was formerly punishable by cutting off the offender's ears. By a statute passed during the present reign - 24 and 25 Vic, c. 32 - the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts in England and Ireland in suits for brawling was abolished as against persons not in holy orders; and persons guilty of riotous, violent, or indecent behaviour in churches and chapels of the Church of England or Ireland, or in any chapel of any religious denomination, or in England in any place of religious worship duly certified under the provisions of 18 and 19 Vic, c. 81, or in church porches or burial grounds, on conviction before two justices were made liable to a penalty of not more than £5 or imprisonment for any term not exceeding two months.