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Close Topic OptionsRavens At The Towrs Of London
Ravens Towrs London - Politics, Business, Civil, History - Posted: 14th Jan, 2008 - 1:56am
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Ravens At The Towrs Of London
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| It had been thought that there have been at least six ravens in residence at the tower for centuries. It was said that Charles II ordered their removal following complaints from John Flamsteed, the Royal Astronomer. However, they were not removed because Charles was then told of the legend that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, the White Tower, the monarchy, and the entire kingdom would fall (the London Stone has a similar legend). Charles, following the time of the English Civil War, superstition or not, was not prepared to take the chance, and instead had the observatory moved to Greenwich. The earliest known reference to a tower raven is a picture in the newspaper The Pictorial World in 1885. This and scattered subsequent references to the tower ravens, both literary and visual, which appear in the late nineteenth to early twentieth century place them near the monument commemorating those beheaded at the tower, popularly known as the 'scaffold." This strongly suggests that the ravens, which are notorious for gathering at gallows, were originally used to dramatize tales of imprisonment and execution at the tower told by the Yeoman Warders to tourists. There is evidence that the original ravens were donated to the tower by the Earls of Dunraven, perhaps because of their association with the Celtic raven-god Bran. However wild ravens, which were once abundant in London and often seen around meat markets (such as nearby Eastcheap) feasting for scraps, could have roosted at the tower in earlier times. The legend that Britain will fall if the ravens leave the tower appears to date from fall of 1944, and to come from the Stag Brewery in London, where ravens were used as mascots and perhaps unofficial spotters for enemy bombers. No one can remember the tower without ravens, though during the Second World War most of them perished through shock during bombing raids - the sole survivor being a bird called 'Grip'. However, before the tower reopened to the public on 1 January 1946, care was taken to ensure that a new set of ravens was in place. There are currently eight raven, whose wings are clipped to prevent them from flying away, and they are cared for by the Ravenmaster, a duty given to one of the Yeomen Warders. The ravens' names/gender/age are (as of November 2006): * Gwylum (male, 18 years old) * Thor (male, 15 years old) * Hugin (female, 11 years old) * Munin (female, 11 years old) * Branwen (female, 3 years old) * Bran (male, 3 years old) * Gundulf (male, 1 year old) * Baldrick (male, 1 year old). The oldest raven ever to serve at the Tower of London was called Jim Crow, who died at the age of 44. In 2006, ahead of the H5N1 avian influenza scare, the ravens were moved indoors; as of July 2006, they are once again free to roam about the grounds within the tower complex. |
Here is a little bit of nostalgia about the history of the ravens at the Towers of London. The ravens have for many years been the subject of folk lore and mythology, not to say a popular discussion point between members of the public, on the tower's tour.
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TOPIC: Ravens At The Towrs Of London