Wednesday 14 March 2012

Strange Country Ways


This morning I took the dogs down to the marsh because the normal field has been covered with dried poo and Mosely finds it strangely appetising. No, me neither.

When we reached the moat, someone (or some t-h-i-n-g...) had tied a dead rook or crow to a tree. Was it a warning to other rooks? Was it a witch's curse? It looked a bit ominous. Anyone got any ideas?






15 comments:

Tim said...

It's a political statement or warning. A crowD (did you see what I did there?) of rooks is called a Parliament.

Martin said...

It might be Ryanair's way of announcing suspended flights.

Unknown said...

Gamekeeper's Gallows??

Unknown said...

P.s. Norfolk fenland folklore :-

A crow in a crowd is a rook -
A rook on its own is a crow.

Tim said...

Well, I was just thinking hung parliament ... never mind.

Anonymous said...

I have no idea, but I saw a pig's head stuck on a fence post by the road once and thought they might be trying to tell us something!

Rog said...

Tim: You're on fire! And hanging's too good for 'em!

Martin: They do try to rook you with the add-on costs...

Mike and Ann: I was relying on your Country Knowledge to solve this one!

Gabby: Was it outside a house called "Souzere"?

Z said...

If it had a little label on it reading 'Boo!' it could have been a scarecrow. Though Lil doesn't look too bothered.

Unknown said...

I think it was Voltaire who said that the English shot Admiral Byng "pour encourage l'autres", and I think possibly a local gamekeeper is trying to encourage all the other crows to stay away from his patch.
Perhaps Christopher could correct the quotation, and/or its source ?

Unknown said...

P.s. Sorry Rog. NOT Gamekeeper's gallows. Should have said Gamekeeper's Gibbet. When the gamekeeper tried to show the landowner that he (the gamekeeper) was doing his job by displaying the corpses of the predators he'd shot.

Sir Bruin said...

My first thought was a Gamekeeper's Gibbet (as already suggested). It could be a Druidic ghost fence. An invisible and impassable fence to confound the enemy (whoever they may be).
Or it could just be a dead bird on a bit of string.

Rog said...

Z: There'll be Boo-Birds over...

Mike: I wish he'd come round my garden and produce a display of moles on the fence.

Sir B: It has mysteriously disappeared now so it may have been taken away by a crack SAS Rookie team.

Christopher said...

Is/was it a rook or a crow? A parliament of rooks, but a murder of crows, as Voltaire used to say. QED.

Nice piece of baler twine.

Pat said...

I've always believed it's what farmers do to protect their crops.

mig bardsley said...

Any robins around?