swan stew 71

On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 09:38:21 +0000, June Hughes

I buttume it started out just meaning the right to kill and eat. The elite have always had a lot of control over what the peasants were allowed to catch. The monk in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales loved a fat swan best of any roast. It seems to be part of a general dig at him loving worldly luxury rather than monkish pursuits so they must have liked swan. Perhaps it was specially bred and fed for the table? I suppose the Queen's ownership is now just supposed to be quaint or something.

I haven't heard of local swans being poached (and there are loads of them on local waterways) so I buttume they're not very palatable. We rescued a couple of large cygnets that were wandering past our house. They'd come a long way, judging by the sore feet, and allowed themselves to be rescued very easily. They were surprisingly scrawny under all those feathers.

There was a story in the Sun about asylum seekers but see

The swans in Brayford Pool in Lincoln were evidently dying off recently. This was eventually put down to them being thrown too much junk food by the public (apparently). Swans have also suffered a lot from eating lead fishing weights. Bismuth can apparently be used as an alternative but I don't know if it is. At least it would be good if they've got indigestion. -- Phil C.

We can but hope. -- Phil C.