Pudducks, Poveys and Parsons: By Charles Martin

A consideration of bird folklore as a form of ‘alternative’ ornithology.

10^th March 2009.

This was more a ‘story’ than a talk and I was spellbound. Charles Martin gave us strands of ornithology, history, mythology, bird lore, literature and folk medicine skilfully woven with invisible seams; you couldn’t tell where one stopped and another started.

The names are old; a pudduck is a hawk, a povey an owl and parson is an old name for the raven. Of the 500 or so birds on the British list these caught the interest of man and fired his imagination well before written history. Peregrine feathers and bones have been found at Stone Age burial sites, hawk and raven bones at hilltop forts. The finding of eagles’ beaks and talons gave the name to the Tomb of the Eagles on North Ronaldsay in Orkney.

Later, we have written evidence of the importance of these birds to man. When a roman emperor died an eagle was released to bear his soul to heaven. Ravens find their way into the bible where they feed Elijah in the desert. In literature Shakespeare’s witches throw a ‘howlet’s’ wing into the cauldron, making a ‘charm of powerful trouble’ and, also in Macbeth, a raven croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan.

The owl, especially the barn owl with its silent flight, often figures in folklore. The haunting cry, the face with large, forward facing eyes, its formidable claws and association with the night, all these have led to man associating the owl with the foretelling of misfortune, from a thunder storm to death - but this has also given them, in our eyes, the power of wisdom. There is the wonder of the owl’s neck; it has 14 vertebrae instead of the usual 7 and this enables it to turn its head nearly all the way round. This led to the belief that you could break an owl’s neck if you walked all the way around it!

The birds are found in our everyday language; we say “she’s got eyes like a hawk” or “he’s a night bird”. We may be ‘ravenous’, coming perhaps, and rather gruesomely, from the fact that feeding ravens go for the most nutritious parts, the eyes, of a newborn lamb. And this is a good example of the fact that many of the old myths and beliefs are based on primitive man’s accurate observation of the behaviour of these birds. The observations often formed the basis of folk medicine, for instance a mixture of raven’s spleen and celandine was used to treat eye infections, as was also owl egg paste. Clever associations!

We heard about falconry and how, throughout Europe, it was a sport for all; but it came with a built-in class system. Only an Emperor was permitted to fly an Eagle, while the Gyr falcon was for a King and a Peregrine for a Prince; the Lanner falcon was permitted to a Squire and the Sparrowhawk for a Priest. The male Merlin, the smallest bird of prey, was acknowledged as a ladies’ bird and Mary Queen of Scots, when first imprisoned, was apparently still allowed out to hunt with her Merlin.

Charles Martin gave the term ‘alternative ornithology’ to this wonderfully varied and comprehensive talk. A short report cannot do it justice but I hope this has given you a flavour of it so that if you were there you’ll remember it with pleasure and if you missed it you’ll wish you hadn’t!

Penny Avant