Ancient census of royal swans helps to conserve the bird

The word ‘upping’ may come from ‘hopping’; the catchers hop from brood to brood getting one-up on the swans.

The practice dates back to the 12th century. No medieval feast was complete without roasted swan. Cygnets, but not mature birds, could be eaten. John Rutty in his Essay towards a natural history of the county of Dublin’ (1772), remarked that swan flesh ‘is succulent, but tough and hard of digestion except when very young’. The French term ‘cygnet’ denoted a swan young enough to eat. Once the brown feathers of a youngster gave way to white ones towards the end of the year, the bird was no longer edible.

In most European countries, swans were shot or clubbed to death but a more sophisticated approach to harvesting them developed in England. There, cygnets were rounded up each autumn and the pinion joint of one wing removed, preventing the growth of the large flight feathers. The pinioned youngsters were released but, grounded for life, they would not wander far and could be caught relatively easily when required for the table. Prior to a major social event or celebration, birds would be recaptured, kept in watered pits and fattened with grain before slaughter.

Swans became livestock and flocks are still known as ‘herds’. For hundreds of years, seeing mute swans in flight, or hearing the mewing sound of their wing beats, would have been a rare experience.

N F Ticehurst, in his 1955 book, The Mute Swan in England, wrote that King Edgar gave the Abbots of Croyland rights over stray swans in their area in the year 966. By then, the taking of swans had become the prerogative of the monarch. Gerald of Wales, remembered for his unflattering remarks following visits to Ireland, referred to the swan as the ‘royal fowl’. The king or queen would reward favourite courtiers and monastic institutions by granting the rights to harvest swans. As the numbers of landowners allowed to take swans increased, determining the ownership of cygnets became an issue. Systems of ‘swan-marks’ were devised. Cygnets would have a logo branded on the bill, or nicks made in the webbing of their feet.

At the foundation of the Irish State in 1921, ownership of crown property here was transferred to the relevant minister. It’s often said that swans in Britain are the property of the monarch. This is not strictly true; the queen doesn’t actually own swans, but she has the right, at her discretion, to claim ownership of any one found in the realm. It’s an important qualification. Were she or our Minister for the Environment the owners of all swans, electricity and telephone companies could seek compensation from them for the damage caused by swans colliding with aerial cables.

Swan ‘upping’ was originally a cruel exploitation of birds. Now, its bird-ringing successors help to conserve swans. This year’s upping will continue until the boats reach Abingdon, Oxfordshire, on Friday.