Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye;
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie!
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Oh, wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?
The majority of English blackbirds seldom move any distance from where they were hatched. They are equally at home in the suburban garden as they are in the woods. This common and conspicuous species has thus given rise to a number of literary and cultural references. We all have heard or recited the nursery rhyme "Sing a song of sixpence" without ever paying much attention to the words. The origin of this rhyme comes from the practice in medieval times of placing live birds under a pie crust just before serving only for them to fly out when the pie was cut.
The Beatles song "Blackbird" was inspired by a blackbird singing and includes recordings of its song.
Greek Anthology maintains that the blackbird is under the special protection of the gods, and cannot be trapped in nets.
"The Bird-catcher (Fowler) and the Blackbird" was one of Aesop's Fables. "As a Fowler was bending his net, a Black-Bird call'd to him at a distance, and ask'd him what he was doing. Why, says he, I am laying the Foundations of a City; and so the Bird-Man drew out of Sight. The Black-Bird mistrusting nothing, flew presently to the Bait in the Net, and was taken; and as the Man came running to lay hold of her; Friend, says the poor Black-Bird, if this be your way of Building, you'll have but few Inhabitants."
Common blackbird
(Turdus merula)
Sony A77ii
Tamron 150-600
f/6.3, 1/25s, ISO3200, 460mm
Stamford, (UK)
Dec - 2020
www.thekeyislooking.com