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Phaeolus schweinitzii - Dyers Polypore

Swan Upping 2017: Day 2

Yesterday began the annual census of the Mute Swan population on the River Thames. It’s day two and we will talk a little about the history of the Swan Upping event. Official royal ownership of Mute Swans in England began in the 12th century when any unmarked swan became property of the crown. In the 14th century the office “Keeper of the King’s Swans” came into existence. There were also several private swan owners who employed swan herds to maintain their flocks. Before the young swans, cygnets, were able to fly they were rounded up along with their parents, the cob and pen, and to claim ownership they were given marks on their bills to match those of the parents. To own swans and to serve them up as a ceremonial dish at banquets was a display of status. 

Along with the Royal Swan Uppers, there are two other groups that are granted rights to the mute swans on the River Thames, the Worshipful Company of Vintners and the Worshipful Company of Dyers. The original purpose of Swan Upping was to ensure ownership of the swans and a ready supply of meat for the royal and livery company banquets. Today the process is more about conservation and ensuring the health of the Mute Swan population.

The images above are from  De Arte Venandi cum Avibus. Ms. Pal. Lat. 1071, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Facsimile reproduction by Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz. Printed in Austria 1969. See our other post featuring this manuscript.

The Royal Swan Uppers, the Vintners, and the Dyers, with their identifying banners, using their skiffs to gather a family of swans.

Happy Feast Day Saint Lydia Purpuraria

1st Century Memorial: August 3 Patronage: dyers Saint Lydia was Saint Paul's first known convert and the seller of purple cloth, as mentioned in the New Testament. On the Sabbath, we went outside the city gate along the river where we thought there would be a place of prayer. We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there. One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying. After she and her household had been baptized, she offered us an invitation, "If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home," and she prevailed on us. -Acts 16:13-15