[kj] A Letter from Jaz to the Gathering

[folk devil]

For those who don't know the reference (from wiki)


..At least six Ravens are kept at the Tower, at all times, in accordance with the belief that if they be absent the kingdom will fall.[18]
To be on the safe side ten ravens (6 on duty and 4 young spares) are
actually housed at the Tower of London at the expense of the British
government. A Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater, has the specific role of
Ravenmaster at the Tower and takes care of their feeding and well
being. The Ravenmaster builds this relationship with the ravens as he
takes the fledglings into his home and hand rears them over a period of
about six weeks. Ravens live up to an average of 25 years, but have
been known to reach the age of 45 years. To prevent the birds from
flying away one of their wings is clipped by the Ravenmaster. This does
not hurt or harm the raven in any way. Clipping their wing unbalances
their flight ensuring that they don't stray too far from the Tower.
Ravens are members of the crow family, Corvus, and are eaters of
carrion and live mainly on dead flesh. The Raven's lodgings are located
next to the Wakefield Tower and are kept at the Tower of London at the
expense of the British government.

It was said that Charles II ordered their removal following complaints from John Flamsteed, the Royal Astronomer.[19]
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.[20]
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 Yeomen Warders to tourists.[21] There is evidence that the original ravens were donated to the tower by the Earls of Dunraven,[22] perhaps because of their association with the Celtic raven-god Bran.[23] 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.[24]

During the Second World War most of the Tower's ravens perished through shock during bombing raids, leaving a sole survivor named 'Grip'.[24] There is evidence that the ravens were used as unofficial spotters for enemy planes and bombs during the Blitz.[25] 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.[26]

The ravens' names/gender/age are (as of June 2009):[27]

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)Fleur (female, 4 years old)Colin (male, 2 years old)
The oldest raven ever to serve at the Tower of London was called Jim Crow, who died at the age of 44.[28]

In 2006, during the H5N1 avian influenza scare, the ravens were moved indoors for some months.


Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:34:24 +0100
From: nortonfelix at googlemail.com
To: gathering at misera.net
Subject: [kj] A Letter from Jaz to the Gathering




 
The Ravens flown and left the Tower

and Albion feels all abandoned

A desecrated cenotaph - surveillance state and waning choices

Guarded by warriors we knew

Guided by our ancestral voices
 
 

 		 	   		  
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