Quoth the Raven

None of the Ravens at the Tower of London are named "Edgar," but given their association to the famous poem by Poe, it would be appropriate.

We watched this guy - named Edgar, by me - rummage though the trash bin pulling out wrapper after wrapper, littering the ground with refuse, until he found the perfect leftover fish-and-chips morsel. I was left wondering whose job is it to pick up ravens' discards?

The legend of the Tower Ravens is that they originally arrived as carrion-eaters - their "leftovers" were the remains of the gruesomely executed. Remember what happened to Mel Gibson at the end of Braveheart? The further legend is that if they ever vacate the Tower of London, the monarchy will fall. Care is taken to avoid this in that their wings are now clipped. No one I asked admitted that this had ever happened, but I read an article in National Geographic that claims the unthinkable once did happen, witnessed personally by the author. In 1993, a raven named Jackie "got hold of a favorable wind and was last seen gliding toward London's traffic-choked business center." This was during the time of the Queen's declared "annus horribilus," and it seemed just possible to imagine her reigning days were numbered.

Happily, that story had a fairy-tale ending. Jackie was found in a neighboring yard by a woman who tried to feed him. He obliged by biting her.

A Ruined Castle

There is a natural order of decay in the universe.
But Nature has its own way of preservation and beautification.


Originally, the home of the Earls of Marischal, Dunnottar Castle played pivotal roles in the history of Scotland, including the rescuing of the Scottish Regalia from the destructive clutches of Oliver Cromwell. The "Honours of Scotland" are on view today in Edinburgh Castle only because they were securely hidden, then spirited away from this fortress location.

The last Earl was convicted of treason for his part in the Jacobite uprising of 1715 (was he hung, drawn and quartered at the Tower of London?) The Castle was seized by the government and thereafter neglected until 1925 when the 1st Viscountess Cowdray embarked on a systematic "repair."

However, it is clear that Nature still rules.

Braveheart's Castle

It wasn't his castle exactly. But like George Washington, William Wallace slept everywhere and this was one of the places. In our minds, we pictured Mel Gibson flapping around in his kilt. There is nothing like a man in a kilt...

It was a mystical, magical place, a perfect setting to spark the imagination and flights of fantasy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunnottar_Castle