Britain’s annual swan count begins on River Thames, continuing medieval tradition
SHEPPERTON, England (AP) — With a flurry of flapping wings and a cacophony of confused squeaking, the swan and her downy young cygnets were plucked from the River Thames and passed from boat to shore.
But the men hadn’t come to harm the regal birds. Clad in red-and-white outfits emblazoned with the royal livery, on Monday the boatmen were beginning an annual five-day journey to count the population of the waterway’s swans, which have theoretically belonged to the monarch since the 12th century.
It’s a ceremony that mixes royal pageantry with animal conservation. “Swan Upping” — so called because the boatmen catch the swans by lifting them up from the river — dates from medieval times, when the royal family guarded its rights to the young cygnets as a highly valued delicacy at banquets.
Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval History on July 23rd, 2010
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