Sumer Is Icumen In. Hot sun and a cloudless blue sky. But still with the freshness of spring. I have work to do, but that must give way to a long walk. There are hordes of people aiming for Verulamium Park. Not me. I'm going to Gorhambury. Apart from the odd cyclist and walker, it's beautifully quiet. Three bullocks dozing in a sunny paddock. A bank of white violets. Ewes bulging with lambs. A murder of crows, and a nye of pheasants.
Yes. A nye. I just checked to see whether a murder of crows is any particular number (inconclusive, but I'm sure what I saw qualifies - there were about thirty of them, dotted around a field like mole-hills), and I found a whole list of collective nouns for birds.
 |
| Excerpt from The Boke |
Most of which comes from 'The Boke of St Albans', printed in 1486. It has three sections - hawking, hunting and heraldry, and was the 1486 equivalent to Harry Potter (ie very popular). It also hosts the first appearance of specific collective nouns in the English language.
 |
| Action Nun |
The hunting bit of the Boke was written by prioress Dame Juliana Berners (go, the sisterhood - obviously an Action Nun). Very pleased to discover that her nunnery was none other than the one at Sopwell, which has already made it into my blog (see Day 102).
So in honour of Dame Juliana, a nye of pheasants. In the state she'd like to see them.
No comments:
Post a Comment